Recently, I installed a data recovery app in my smart phone which got the job done and recovered every piece of information deleted since purchase of the device. While the move was out of necessity, it got me thinking about the illusion that is security and probably privacy.
In the modern world, the smart phone is the most personal device held by any individual. The device’s app contains enough information and details able to define the life of the user and even reconstruct their recent past. Message and call logs, deleted or not, make it possible to identify an individual’s social network. The installation and use of fitness apps and fertility apps has also made the accessibility of basic health information easier and so have money platforms made the availability of one’s financial history and standing.
Today, eavesdropping as well as spying on conversations has become easier than getting a group of five friends to share an evening drink with. The ability to tell an individual’s location is a serious security challenge that any individual can do little to avert. After all, anyone in use of a smart phone running on any android operating platform has no option but to agree to Google’s term of service.
According Goggles privacy policies which have not been modified since the October of 2017, the giant admits to having access and storage to all content that you create, upload as well as receive as long you are using a Google affiliated program or android operating system. This content is inclusive of call and message logs and browser search information. The privacy terms, which form some of the most ignored bits of information, admits to Google’s ability to track an individual’s location, build and predict their movement map as well as use the information for marketing purposes. While these services and capabilities maybe veiled under good intentions, concern looms on the damage and harm that can be implicated in the case a malicious individual comes into possession of as much as a user’s email account details. The worry over the safety of personal information has been fueled by the recent accusations and evidence of sale of personal information to interested entities by social media companies.
Social media
Recently, Facebook which boasts of over 2.32 billion monthly users was under scrutiny over the alleged involvement with London-based Cambridge Analytica. The social media giant admitted to having shared the personal data of over 87 million users with the political consultancy firm therefore exposing the users’ privacy.
The carelessness or/and neglect of social media companies in relation to peoples data should register as a warning to users. The insatiable hunger to feed strangers details about our lives should be balanced by questions on how safe we are with that information out there. Increasingly, employers are hiring tech-gurus to aid in digging up recruits’ social media past-deleted or not therefore making the digital footprint a key factor in the job recruitment process. This among some quarters may be argued to be invasion of privacy.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, before the growth of the networks and the multitude of current technological devices, it was almost impossible to gain access into an individual’s private life and details unless physical spying was done. However, progressively, we have given our rights to privacy to technological companies and their affiliated partners knowingly or not. This is evidenced by amount of advertisement pop ups that users receive based on one’s browser information, shopping habits as well as location. The increased spam mails and SMS by advertisement agencies are also in high numbers; mostly, they seem to be aware of your location and needs.
Generally, technological companies have been able to run away with major privacy violations by offering flimsy apologies and incurring fines that can only be considered a slap on the wrist. With the increasing need to use mobile phones to make our lives easier and the millennial’s need to share personal lives with the world, the real question would be: What can we do about our privacy?
