BLOG POST #8

DIGITAL PRIVACY

After watching and interpreting Andy Yens TedTalk on digital privacy, I can strongly say that I no longer feel safe using internet websites and emails. Yen discusses that the most widely forms of communication are sent through emails. Before we sent emails, people sent letters that no one had access to because they had no digital footprint. Nowadays, any website has access to read any email you send without you even knowing. 

Yen suggests that people should be using encryptions to protect their servers however it's not as easy as it seems because still with those, the government can have access to your personal information. Knowing this information affects me because knowing that many people out there have access to my personal information makes me feel uneasy. As for my friends and family, many of them are unaware of how much the internet actually knows about them which is why I feel it's really important for people in today's society to be educated on this topic. 

If the government could solve the issue of large companies such as google stealing our personal information such as our address, birthday, likes, and dislikes it would be a must safer place. However, that is why companies like Google are thriving because of all of the advertisements they make from learning more about us. 

In Andy Yens TedTalk he states that the big internet companies are making over 137 billion dollars in advertisements. I honestly think there should be a much more secure search engine that doesn't allow location permission settings or asks for any of your personal information to keep everyone safer from these issues regarding digital privacy. If there was a way the government could make a secure base I think that could solve a lot of issues but then if there are no advertisements for finding people's information, how are they going to make a profit? 

To protect ourselves from invasions of our privacy, it is important to remember where you are submitting your personal information on the internet. Using a secure web browser, unlike Google.  Honestly, I think being smart and thinking through before using the internet is the best option. Now knowing that there are companies out there invading my privacy, I will be much more careful about what I submit on certain websites.