Privacy in the Age of the Internet

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2929052

The article is about the privacy on social networking sites. It explains how advertisers and developers use these sites to gather personal information from the users. This happens through surveys, apps, data updates and photos on profiles. What we do not see is this happening; we agree to the terms and conditions, however as we click that little box, we have just sold our information to the world. What we do not consider is that the information we put out there on the web can be retrieved by anyone, anywhere. The privacy that social networking sites have is limited, and unclear. It is private to those we perceive them to be private to, but it is the people we do not know - advertising companies, business, etc. - who use our personal information as a gain for themselves. The articles also describes that users need to be more aware of the fact that their personal information is made public, no matter what settings you set for your profile. It also provides examples of how personal information on social networking sites is used in the real world - from employment opportunities, to divorce evidence used in a courtroom. Privacy on social networking sites, does not exist. Any information, comment, photo, or status can affect what happens in your future.

One issue that was raised in the article was the price people are willing to pay to use a social networking site. It has nothing to do with monetary donations from a user, it is the personal information a user provides is what the companies want. Although it is most likely written in the terms and conditions, nobody reads those. They text is so small, and the whole contract too long. So, people just click and accept. We should be aware that our information is being sold to the public, but they cover that up with privacy settings. No matter what, anybody good with computer could hack onto our account and see all of our information. This information can hurt us the in the long-haul which is why I think there should be some sort of warning that companies give us before allowing us to sign up. Yes, that will hurt their business, but for the users, it will help people think twice about what they are signing up for. We all know that the internet is public, and we should always remember that when clicking that tiny little box and hitting 'I accept'. Privacy in our digital age is out of sight; we may perceive that our profiles can only be seen by friends, however they are open to the public, but we cannot see that, which is why we believe everything we do is private. In reality, privacy is gone, and the only place to find it is on your person, in your possession.