Dilemma with Privacy
By: Dunston Chi Esquivel
It is undeniable and common for us that we should value our privacy. From the way we build and border our living spaces, to password protecting our phones and social media accounts. Security and privacy hold hand in hand in delivering constant assurance that only we have access and knowledge to things that matter, that we hold dear and are very important to us. Thus, it also holds true that privacy is important and a right everyone should enjoy and uphold. But more often than not, our very own miseducation and negligence towards use of social media and its networking platforms contribute to the issue and undermine this importance. Let me cite some instances:
Firstly, we are lazy about passwords. We tolerate the fact that we are vulnerable to hacking by using not-so-complicated passwords, writing those passwords down and reusing them for multiple accounts, hence, making it more likely that the information we put into those accounts be breached. We are so used to thinking that maybe it will not happen to us but the thing is, with the digital age we have right now, anything could be possible, that maybe we are next with all of the site breaches that’s happening left and right nowadays. The lazy excuse of not being able to memorize a complex password recommended is a minor inconvenience for such an important factor in our digital life.
Secondly, our obsession with documentation. It is now a plague that every person shares intimate and detailed moments of their life and it is not bad per se, but the content itself and how much of that we put out there risks us of unknowingly sharing unwanted information to the world. May it be showing off that new credit card without hiding your card details, or that expensive watch; resulting in impersonation, stalking or even harassment. The dangers of having all of your information out there is an all-time nightmare that all of us should realize.
And lastly, we do not educate ourselves enough on current technology. Different media platforms collect our data without our knowledge or more so, that knowledge is out there, not just for our interest to read into. They are used for marketing and advertising businesses that could be used against us and they will be used against us. Ads that keep popping from our phones, our accounts are based on our activities online.
The thing is, we simply do not care enough even though the vast consequences are looking right as us in the face. With this negligence, we are in over our heads to think that this could not happen to us, that we are private enough, but it is happening now to others. It is only a matter of some person willing to harm us that until then, we wished we were more careful, we wished we understood, to make our privacy truly private.
