#7 Privacy, Online & Off

 These issues are concerning for me because I share so much of my life on the internet and my social media accounts. I have had internet access since I was around 10 years old, and I have had social media access since I was 11. It is terrifying to think that anything I have posted, liked, commented on, watched, or searched is in a data base right now being collected. 

This means somewhere there is years of data on me and my friends and family somewhere. The third Ted Talk speaker explained that many companies such as Apple and Android have installed anti-surveillance software into their devices to prevent the government or hackers from obtaining information. This is hard for me to believe because the phone companies, such as Verizon have access to all of my texts and phone calls.

It would not surprise me if the government had some access to these texts and calls. Having access to this information and data is a complete and unconstitutional overreach by the government. 

There should be laws put in place to protect consumers. As the fourth Ted Talk speaker implied through her story, the internet has been around for years and is rapidly advancing. There should be international internet laws put in place to protect victims like the speaker from digital harassment. 

The Ted Talk that scared me the most was the talk about the automatic license plate reader. It is terrifying to know that local and federal police have access to a database with all of my previous whereabouts. They can use this information to understand where I work, what places I frequent, if I go to Church, etc.

A simple step we can take to protect ourselves from incidents like this is ensuring we are not giving the government more information than necessary. AI and technology has advanced so far and is in every aspect of our lives. While it may be tempting, it is imperative that we do not post so much of our information and lived online to protect ourselves and our loved ones.