privacy

 Throughout my 18 years of living, the internet has grown into one of the most dangerous communications methods ever. Technology is different from what it was 18 years ago. Not only can our privacy be at risk when we use it, but the information we share with others, knowing that we are sharing or not knowing (tracking cookies, etc.) can put us at risk. Tracking cookies can also track your data when visiting websites. They say they are using them to target advertising, but this is not all they are doing.

With the introduction of AI, people are now using it to answer all of their questions, right or wrong. It can also be used to create deep fakes which can mislead people. The scary thing about the internet is that anyone can see anything and anyone can post anything. This happened in one of the TED talks we watched. The speaker was being attacked on the internet by her ex-boyfriend who posted inappropriate pictures of her. When she tried to get them taken down, it seemed that the government was protecting his privacy rights more than hers. It took years for her to get the images removed but it damaged her reputation. She seemed to have no right to her privacy. 

In a TED talk by Catherine Crump, we also learned that police officers can track people's data in various ways. The traffic camera that photographs cars at the light records everything and takes pictures of your car and plate number whether you broke the law or not. It's crazy that these privacy violations aren't a violation of the constitution because our cars are a private location like our homes and if we are not doing anything wrong, why are they tracking us? The Constitution does not directly protect our privacy, so what can we do about it?

The government should not be stalking all 335 million people. A lot of them might not be adults. It can be creepy to stalk children who don't know what is going on, yet the government is doing just that. The government should enact a law or amendment to increase privacy for law-abiding citizens. We haven't had an amendment since 1992, maybe it is time for one that protects us. There is no reason to be looking at someone who is searching for a recipe to make shrimp tacos online. There is no good reason to track a citizen’s movements. They say this lack of privacy is to keep us safe, but having our every move followed does not feel safe to me.