Technology: Surveillance
Questions / Concerns:
Should citizens of the U.S. be concerned about their privacy?
Does all of our data collected via surveillance safely contained / who has access to this information?
We are currently living in an era where social media has become the powerhouse of identity representation. A decade or two ago, this was unheard of, now, to “be somebody” you have to have some sort of social media presence. These social media powerhouses have seen a rapid growth of users in the past decade, and now, behavioral data from these users is practically as valuable as diamonds. With all of these reports and studies on the use of social media data being given to marketers, America’s citizens beg the question: Should we be concerned about our privacy as citizens?
I personally have no concerns about my privacy, this may be because the only reason for concern that I’ve been made aware of, is that companies are trying to target people to buy their products. However, if this data was given to the wrong hands, which it may very well be and nobody has found out yet, I would definitely have a concern over my personal privacy. Jeremy raised an interesting point in class on Thursday, we he asked how my group would feel if “Someone just came into the class and dropped a folder of all of your data on the table in front of you”? I decided to rebuttal back, “Well it depends on who’s in possession of my data”? Though I decided to give a somewhat cheeky rebuttal, he did bring up a good point that got me thinking about where my data is going. I feel as if data collection is an interesting topic because it can be used to get the right products to the right consumer audience without us even realizing it. I mean that’s how it should work, right? While that’s how it should work, I cannot confirm at all if that’s how it really works, since I’m not employed at any of the social media moguls. See, data collection can either be really interesting or really scary. If you don’t have an understanding of the data collection process, then how can you put your trust in the process?
A lot of concerns are made out to seem like they only come from older generations. Whether this is because older generations are seen as ‘less tech-savvy’ than their millennial counterparts, or the fact that they are the target audience for scammers on the internet. The fact of the matter is, we as the product of this data deserve the right to know where our data is going and how it is being used. When looking at this graphic provided by the PEW Research Center, we see that roughly half of America is concerned about the use of our data.
From this data, we can comprehend two things, one, that over half of the adult population is concerned about their data from Social media sites and the government, and two, the fact that the lack of knowledge is one of the primary reasons for concern among citizens. Only 9% of social media users feel that they have most of the control when it comes to data and information collected, while 91% of social media users have anywhere from a little doubt to no confidence in social media platform’s data collection at all (PEW).
The interesting fact to note is that even if users feel some concerns over their data from social media platforms, they still use them since these platforms are the ‘trend’ so to speak. This may be because social media platforms are designed to get the users to use their platforms for as long as they can while staying connected and amused. The question that I must ask is how many users feel that they get a good amount of amusement from using these platforms? According to another PEW Research Center study on the process of behavioral data algorithms, it seems that users have mixed emotions when it comes to social media.
This study’s findings honestly shocked me, except for the amount of users who found themselves amused. I mean 25% of social media users reported that what pops up in their feeds or timelines causes them anger? The same amount of people who feel connected through social media, which is what social media was created for, also felt angered by what shows up for them in these platforms. If these platforms are collecting our data in order to enrich our experiences as users on said platforms, then why are a hefty amount of these users angered by what they are ‘suppose’ to enjoy. It just proves the point that the behavior data collection from these platforms do not work as intended, and until they do, the users of these platforms will have a hard time putting their trust into them. Can you blame them?
Sources:
(https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/27/americans-complicated-feelings-about-social-media-in-an-era-of-privacy-concerns/)
(https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/13/7-things-weve-learned-about-computer-algorithms/)
(https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/05/many-facebook-users-dont-understand-how-the-sites-news-feed-works/)
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