In the first chapter of Shirky, he tells the story of the lost cell phone. Technology, such as this cell phone, is used to keep your life organized and easy to manage. When this becomes compromised, it can lead to a crisis, if you allow it. In this situation, it expanded from being about a lost cell phone to a morality issue of security and privacy. I believe this chapter touches on the issue of how we put our personal lives on devices we carry with us, or out in cyberspace for everyone to see.
Luckily, I’ve never had to deal with my cell phone being stolen. But I have dealt with my e-mail and Facebook being hacked. I lost everything, from memories I posted while abroad, to pictures, poems, and videos. I was devastated. But the information is still floating around on cyberspace somewhere, I just cannot personally access it myself. This privacy was taken away from me, even though that information is not so private.
I think technology is taking us away from the essential idea of what privacy is. We share everything on the internet, from songs to work ideas, from pictures to business plans. The internet is an easy access to information, instead of keeping things privately stashed in diaries or folders.
If a stolen cell phone caused so much trouble, an upheaval of sorts, how much information should be publicly posted on the internet for anyone to “steal”?. Shirky said “When we change the way we communicate, we change society”. We have gone from a selective sharing society to an overloading sharing society. I know that my life is openly plastered everywhere on the internet. How could I stop anyone from “hacking” into my “personal information” and keeping me from obtaining it myself? It’s not a personal world anymore, and we’ve definitely changed society.
It is amazing how many people put all of their information on social media sites without knowing anything about their privacy settings, then being shocked when it comes back to hurt them in the end.
ReplyDeleteIt is always difficult to deal with/recover your accounts being hacked though. Knowing proper security is key though.
I think you're right, we've definitely changed society and how we act not only on the internet but also face-to-face. Though I have my phone by my side 24/7, I would be devastated if it was stolen because I have an application that goes straight to my Facebook and Twitter without having to enter my password as I'm positive many others do.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to general access from others computers, my security settings are very high. I'm not just talking about the general settings provided by the website, but what I personally put out there.
I think people just need to be more aware because the ones that are hacked or complain are the ones that haven't taken any precautions.
I agree. I think people are ignorant of the dangers of what they put on the Internet. People are only allowed to see as much as you put up, so knowing what and how much information to post online is definitely key. There's always ways of getting around security on the internet, but the only fool-proof way to make sure that nobody can access your things are to not post it at all. People get caught up in the social media and they want to follow the crowd and many times get carried away with the euphoria of it. Check out Jacob Fenley's blog on spokeo. Its amazing to see just how much information is out there on any given individual.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I think if you do not want it to be seen than you should just simply not post it at all. Reading this blogpost has made me think about what I have on my facebook, and if all the information I have on it is necessary, probably not.
ReplyDelete