In the XXI century, information
is the most valuable currency. All companies and corporations struggle every
day to collect as much data about us as possible. Our interests, political
views, culinary tastes, secret dreams – nowadays this information is more
valuable than all money in the world. Funny thing is that very often we give out
the data completely for free.
Probably, your first thought was
something like „That’s not true, I don’t share my private matters with anybody!”.
Now, think about all „Like” buttons you pressed on Facebook or about last time
you were looking for an attractive price for flight using Google. This info can
be used or sold by big companies for millions of dollars. Now think again about
what I was saying, maybe your response will be different.
Corporations collect and collect
our data all the time but we must remember that we also gain many benefits from
this fact. For example, your new, shiny smartwatch sends all data about your
physical activity, sleeping habits or heart rate, but for you it is ok, because
you can improve quality of sleep and you have something that notifies you that
you should practice a bit. You can also easily link all products you bought in
store with your personal account, because in exchange you gain attractive
discounts and notifications about sales. I think that you have no problem with the
fact that Google Calendar sets reminders because of your tomorrow flight. The fact,
that application read your mail to gather this information is not a big deal.
I could present examples for a
long time, but I think that you know what I want to tell you. We consciously give
up our privacy, because in return we get a comfortable life. Maybe from time to
time we think that we should delete our Facebook account or think more about
things we send on the Internet, but ultimately we feel too good in the current
situation. We don’t feel any harm in sharing information about ourselves with
others. There is a big chance that company like Facebook knows You better than
your friends, family and even you. It’s terrifying to think how this power can
be used in the future.
At the end, I should say if we
can do something to prevent further development of this situation. Personally,
I think not. What's more, I think that we do not even want to change it.
Probably a comfortable life is a proper price for our privacy.
Questions:
- What do you think about the processing of data about us by corporations?
- Do you wonder about the importance of the data you place on the internet before sending it?
- Do you think that more comfortable life is a good price for our privacy?
Sources:
- Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A brief history of tommorow, Vintage Publishing, 2017
- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/all-the-data-facebook-google-has-on-you-privacy
- https://techcrunch.com/2015/10/24/when-facebook-knows-you-better-than-you-know-yourself/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_cs=jUN3i1SbAOHKbjFyBUDqEw
- https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/facebook-data-scandal-free-products-sheryl-sandberg-a8294006.html
I do try to protect my privacy and I tend to not post my private life online. From the other hand I know that my every move is watched and I can't do almost anything about it. Maybe VPN can help a bit. The problem with all the data processing is that it can be overused. I don't think there is a way to stop companies from collecting and processing data. The only thing that we can do is to let government regulate those issues and of course don't post online what we don't need to.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if even VPN could help, because we share data when we buy or post something. It would be necessary to live like outcasts without doing anything online. I also try to post online as little information as it is possible.
DeleteI think we have little influence on collecting data. What we give for free is used for making big money and corporation wouldn’t give it up. I don’t want corporations to collect my data, but in many situations I even don’t know that somebody collects something. In other cases to get some information I have to give information about me, but I don’t judge it as a small price. Comfort which we get is not worth it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Some companies, such as Facebook, started showing information that they collect from users, but I think that this is only a fraction of what is seriously collected.
DeleteI think that there is no turning back so that it works with people will more and more easily use the privacy on the Internet of others. The sale of data on the internet is already the norm I think. And I also agree with this that we will not do anything about it despite the fact that we will find it comfortable despite the fact that we do not know that someone uses what we do what we buy. I have already got used to everything I pay for after 5 seconds I got all this advertising in social media. The only solution isnt having any accounts on the internet and bank accounts. I think that's the only solution but who doesnt have an account anywhere? My grandma even already uses all social media and even plays games accepting everything.so...
ReplyDeleteFor a short period of time I believed that these commercials are composed only on the basis of local data from the browser, but now I can receive an email from online shop that I was looking for some kind of products even thought I wasn't logged in.
DeleteBut, as you have said, nowadays everyone regardless of age must have an account everywhere to function in society.
What do you think about the processing of data about us by corporations?
ReplyDeleteDo you wonder about the importance of the data you place on the internet before sending it?
Do you think that more comfortable life is a good price for our privacy?
First of all - this is very interesting topic and I am glad that more and more people are mentioning it. It's great to see that the awareness of the problem is spreading wider and wider. Generally speaking, I am not pleased with the fact that corporations are processing very detailed data about us. I am not really concerned that much about that data being stolen (but that's the possibility we should always keep in mind, apps we use on daily basis often have database breaches and leaks), I am more concerned about how that data is being used. Especially in the topic of marketing. With such detailed insight into our lives, companies can recommend to us products, ideas and really get our attention - because message that they display can be extremely personalised. And that can get close to moral barrier very fast. Is it just personalised experience or maybe somebody is trying to push some ideas? Very interesting topic. I don't think that comfortable life is a good price for our privacy. I am trying to use hardware and software that is not very "data hungry" and my daily experiences are not really uncomfortable.
I am glad that you enjoyed this topic. I read about that recently in the book I mentioned in sources. Even now we listen to everything that application is telling us, because we think that it knows us so well that it must be right. I think that's a matter of time when apps stop supporting us in making choices and start making decisions for us, and we will mindlessly agree with them.
DeleteWhat do you think about the processing of data about us by corporations?
ReplyDeleteDo you wonder about the importance of the data you place on the internet before sending it?
Do you think that more comfortable life is a good price for our privacy?
I think it is serious thema we are dealing of nowadays. We are on a crossroads of future where one way leads to prosperity, another to oblivion. Why so serious? Did you watch a series Black Mirror? One of episodes tells about a vision of future where people have no privacy at all and everything is rated and valued with 'thumbs up' on an app. Even in reality China started a program to observe, judge and control people all the time. That's mean if a chinese did something the government do not like, he/she will have restricted access to public goods etc. In some cases it can be good, but in another - what will happen when an algorithm made a mistake? Innocent people can suffer. So I think both corporations and governments should take this issue with highest considerations and with carefulness.
I often do not think about data I upload at the internet, because I do not want to be like paranoid. Although I do not do stupid things either. I assume I have no things that any company or government could make use of, no things of such important that they would focus explicitly on me and make a harm. They use my personal data, but this not affect me much. Yet :P Although I am afraid what can be in a future. From one perspective our privacy must be maintained, but from the other, it is benefitial to limit it. I think it is a mix of custom habits that people can't get rid off, but when they will born and grow up in such controllable environment, they won't even notice the bounds. Instead they will gather the advantages of it, like less crimes etc. Although it is a great power in hands of governments so it depends in which hands it will land. If governments do the good work with it it can be really big and good revolution, changing our lives in 180 degrees, but if they do wrong, people would saffer a lot...
Somebody's processing my data? But how? Why?
ReplyDeleteProcessed data usually helps us in our lives. As you put it in an article, they give us comfort of life, but is it really so? Personally, I don't think that data processing is bad. Many algorithms and applications help me in my everyday life and I feel good about it :) Nevertheless, there is a fear that corporations will start using this data in an inappropriate way. And then what? One has to hope that somehow the servers with our data - all servers - will explode. The data I post on the Internet is not very sensitive to me, I think so. I try not to share my data in strange places and use the application wisely. After all, it is not known when and how my data will be used :) There is nothing to get paranoid, and reasonable use of the "benefits" of the XXI century is the recipe for it. People have been paying for their comfort of life for a long time. Over time, the currency we pay has changed. Now it's our privacy, what's next? I am afraid to think.
That's my topic! I'm working in e-marketing company. Data is really a powerful tool. They can be used in a truly unlimited way, on every level of our lives. Their segmentation and exploitation is something that fascinates me enormously. I love working on large data sets. The conclusions that can be drawn from them are really amazing. That is why I am not afraid of using my data. I am only a tiny fragment of a huge warehouse. The data analyst does not focus on the fact that I like Mercedes and I am a football fan. He does not care, he deals with the study of a group of people and their segmentation by searching for behavioural twins. There is no time to focus on the individual and analyse one person.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion about that is like about trade. If I use some kind of service like Google to use it to find some useful information, I 'pay' for it with my personal data and information about my activity. Probably it is not the fair trade in the big picture, but I can't live without for example google so I have to agree for such processing of my personal data.
ReplyDeleteI care about the information I send to the internet. First of all, I try to make it clear and useful (for example on stack overflow). Also, I don't send any pictures of me or my wife to the internet. I don't think it has an impact on how people see me (definitely good impact).
I believe till our privacy is used only to sell more products I would like to buy or promote events I would like to attend it is fair. For me, it is starting to be fishier when our personal data is used for politics and to control opinion on the internet. Then, for me, it is the abuse of our data.
There is a statement that information that goes to the Internet remains in it forever.
ReplyDeleteData about our behavior became a tribute to the services provided to us by corporations. It would seem that it is a low price, but the value of data can change over time - possible benefits go only to the corporation.
I wonder what the enemy could do to me with the data placed by me (eg I do not publish holiday photos before I return home). Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to predict what knowledge the company will have about me by analyzing my behavior while browsing the site or licking posts.
I'm not sure that comfortable living is worth sacrificing my privacy. The problem with the data is that data about a given person collected from various sources / activities, accumulated together, multiply knowledge about the person and his / her behavior. I'm afraid of this.
Even if we try to avoid sharing our information corporations will collect our preferences or private info but a little bit longer. So I’m not avoiding to show my private life or post some of things I like on Instagram or Facebook. Moreover, if I look for something and then I see advertisements connected with previous searching it’s ok for me. I just try not to send some information which is too private. Also now we have RODO, so we can delete (theoretically) our data from places that we visit via Internet.
ReplyDeleteYou are right that the amount of data collected by big corporations is huge. Nevertheless, there are some ways to reduce it drastically. For instance, I use DuckDuckGo search engine that does not spy on me. Moreover I have an phone with iOS operating system that is known from much better privacy than Android that actually gathers everything it can. When texting with my friends I use WhatsApp with end-to-end encryption instead of Messenger so I can be sure that my messages do not leak to Facebook servers. I try to not put too much data about me on the Internet. It requires responsibility, cause the data that was once sent to the global network will stay there for ages. I think privacy is worth more than any over value. It’s inherently connected with personal freedom.
ReplyDelete1. What do you think about the processing of data about us by corporations?
ReplyDeleteI remember many years back when for the 1st time I become aware of how this works. It was the time of Demotywatory and I saw an advert of the stuff I was looking for on some Japanese site. At a time cookies wasn't common for me and I remember how concerned I was when I saw this advert. Since then I'm just using plug-in's that block that stuff from me. In larger scale I don't think that we can do anything about it. It's scary and it can only get more scary.
2. Do you wonder about the importance of the data you place on the internet before sending it?
Yes, I'm always try to avoid putting sensitive data in mails or in messenger.
3. Do you think that more comfortable life is a good price for our privacy?
I think for 'regular' society unfortunately yes. Nowadays you really have to put an effort to avoid of sensitive data leaks and most of us just don't care enough, are not aware of or just don't have enough skills. I think that education is really important in this issue. We won't change the whole society but I think if we'll teach new generation some good habit it might help or rather it should help because new generation will be forced with much more control from comapnies.
Corporations are using their dominant position to get as much information about us as possible. This is a very disturbing phenomenon, but individuals are not able to do much about it. Of course I wonder about the importance of information that I publish on the Internet and I try not to share any sensitive information or information that I don’t have to share. I try to live my life in ‘real reality’, not in virtual reality. I personally think that this price is too high, unfortunately, people always take easy way out.
ReplyDeleteInformation is upmost important factor for ages, who has more or better quality intel always had an edge in whatever they were doing. That being said I completely understand the need to gather information about people, this is usually used to put us in a targeting group and try to sell us something. Data is being collected and process in massive quantities everyday and I honestly don't think there is any way we can stop it.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I post something in internet I always think if I should share it with other and what information I'm giving away, but this is just a pick of an iceberg, 90 percent of data is being collected unknowingly so there is already enough.
Not sure if our privacy is a proper price for comfy life, but i have to say I like comfort that this information processing is giving me :)
What do you think about the processing of data about us by corporations?
ReplyDeleteAt first all of us think that is too much that big corporations are collecting that much informations about us but I think that we are all aware of that by using social media applications etc. We shouldn't be surprised at all because we share most of this data on our own.
That's why always before sending anything to internet I always think twice, because there are several things that I prefer to keep private and since we know that we don't have that much privacy online we should be aware also of sharing data importance.
I've been using a lot of social media and sharing stuff online and never had real problem with privacy. I think the problem starts when we want to share with everything and we think that's not reaching such large amount of people. The biggest problem is in us in this case, if we agree to share such informations we are aware that other will see this and I think that life's comfort in this case is very individual thing.
First of all, everyone knows that information is the greatest resource on earth and whoever has the information, has the power and can rule the world. Countries are constantly looking for new approaches to gain as much information about people and other stuff as possible. Personally, I do not mind having my data processed by some third parties like corporations. Maybe that's caused due to the fact that I am just a regular person, there is nothing extraordinary about myself which I would need to hide. I always pay attention to the data I am sending, everything that was once posted in the internet stays there forever. I strongly believe that everything comes with a price and this one we will pay and it its inevitable.
ReplyDeleteMost of things have a price and internet is not an exception. All this web content, applications and websites require a lot of work and money to be functional. And we, as end users, are paying the price with our data and privacy. It may not be a fair trade but I think that there is not much we can do about it. Do I wonder about importance of my data? A bit. I try to not share sensitive informations but there is a limit to how much I can hide.
ReplyDelete"If something is free then you are the product"
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about the processing of data about us by corporations?
I don't care, if you are using Internet you already sold your privacy. I'm not anybody special, who has some dirty secrets to be scared of anything. And really, who would spend his time to use my online activity against me :D
Do you wonder about the importance of the data you place on the internet before sending it?
Yes, I do. But sometimes there is no option to avoid sharing your private data. I'm not telling about conscious mistake, but for example using Facebook. But I do care about what I share, so I'm not afraid.
Do you think that more comfortable life is a good price for our privacy?
Well, that's for a longer discussion, but we agreed for the world as it is. If anybody has a problem with that, sell your phone, destroy your computer, and buy a shack in the woods. That's also an option :)
Honestly, I don't think about this, of course it annoys me when companies are calling with the offer and I didn't give my phone number. Where does my data come from? Does anyone trade my data? However, I have never had major problems, which is why I am downplays this matter. If I put my data, I only give name sometimes surname and e-mail address, of course something else when it comes to online stores. I have to give my address and telephone number. I can not imagine my life without internet and using it to settle equal matters not just shopping - maybe I'm too comfortable or lazy, or maybe I just miss everyday.
ReplyDeletePersonally I don't see current form of data processing as uncomfortable becouse I have a choice. I can live in some forgotten by God or rather human place and copletly erase my existence from network. In few years I might be able to live "free" life but I don't feel like it. I enjoy my current life style and I'm aware of price I'm paying but to be honest I think that more data control might actually come in handy. Corporations can produce products that provide better expirience for users and positively influence our life's. If I don't want to be expose in some subjects I tend to keep away from internet, especially from social media sites.
ReplyDelete1. For me it’s terrifying and the worst thing is that we can’t really do much about it. In my opinion privacy should be important because in the end we don’t know how our data is used. Moreover technology improves and who knows how it is going to be used in the future.
ReplyDelete2. Yes I do. I hardly ever put something about politics on my facebook profile. I also don’t use my personal e-mail address when making any account. I save it for my cv.
3. I don’t think so. We live in a days when setting an alarm takes few seconds. So I wouldn’t like from google to search through my things and know when I start a job.
I think no privacy exists anymore, we are being spyed all the time e.g. by Google (it is really terrifying how much it knows about us). But I believe the more serious problems are related to the companies that store our data – they are mostly careless and do not comply to security procedures. Hackers can easily steal our data and then blackmailed those companies. It applies even to banks – I have heard about the situation in which bank just sent their zipped database to the external company that was supposed to analyze data from this database (this data was not even hashed/obfuscated – so in the worst case an ordinary employee can just sell some confidential information).
ReplyDelete1. I don't think it is necessarily bad because I don't think that someone wants to know everything about everyone. I read Orwell but I think we are far from the scenario described in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and there is no Big Brother to watch us all.
ReplyDelete2. I don't because I don't share any personal information with anyone except some common information like home address and phone number which you have to share.
3. Yes it is. You can't be 100% private anyway even if you try, it's over 7 billion people on our planet now, it's hard to hide from everyone.
Yes, now the internet is the ultimate source of information, we have to care what we post, as what gets uploaded to the internet stays
ReplyDeletethere forever.
I would worry much more about the government spying on us. I even heard that employees from the revenue office are now using social media to find potential tax cheaters.
But I also acknowledge the positive sides of gathering our personal data and preference. This way we are being displayed advertising corresponding to our interests. This way we will be able to purchase products best suited for our needs, as well I valuable tips regarding our everyday life, health or travels.
In E-commerce gathering information regarding the clients is essential part of the business. Company want to know what kind of people purchase the products and what drives them to make that decision.
They do a have an exact profile of us and are able to categorize us to matching group of people.
I worry how this will develop in the future, when all kinds of new very specific devices will become available. It is interesting what kind of data they will be collecting about us.For example they will be able to track where we go and what kind of people we meet.
I have a small paranoia regarding privacy. I have Facebook due to work, but I do not have it installed on my phone. I use encrypted messengers for conversations with friends, and I often connect with the network via VPN (Internet providers like to collect data from us, and I do not want to share information with them about what interests me, etc.). A nice example was described by the portal "Niebezpiecznik". On April Fool, they published a news that the government was collecting detailed information about us from internet providers (which is possible) for the last two weeks and that the entire database was stolen. many people were very scared after reading this text. so much that they were angry when it turned out to be just a joke. Imagine that suddenly everything about us was stolen. What we talked about with people, what kind of porn we like to watch, etc. It's better to protect our privacy. You never know who collects data about us and how it is secured.
ReplyDelete