It is remarkable, but at the same
time a bit disconcerting to think about the technological advances we have made
in digital media. We are constantly interconnected by a network that expands
across the globe. While it is great to have this great power to communicate in
my hands, it also worries me that the giant companies that provide these
services hold so much more in their own. Facebook and Google are leaders in
data collection, using extensive technology to develop profiles based on our
web habits. After exploring what kind of information these two sites had on me,
I am still amazed at what capabilities they possess.
I first looked into my Facebook
data archive and came across seemingly infinite data, just about ME! Each
folder in the zipfile contained information pertaining to my profile, whether
it was pictures, videos, wall posts, contact info or events that I attended.
Literally all of my activity since I first joined Facebook is archived in these
files, accessible at any time. This does not necessarily trouble me as much as
it just simply amazes me. I was also interested to find a file called “ads”
that showed the different ads that had shown up on my Facebook, even noting
which ones that I have clicked on in the past. This did get me thinking about
how Facebook is considered a more private and safe form of social media, but at
the same time, everything you have done is still on record for Zuckerberg and
friends to sift through. Luckily I have no criminal intent and have nothing to
hide, otherwise I could be in trouble!
I was similarly impressed with the
information Google gathered regarding my interest. Many of them actually rang
true, save for a couple random outliers. The interests taken from my previous
searches were basically focused around sports and entertainment topics, which
are what I usually read about or search on the internet. The only two that
confused me were “Toyota” and “women’s clothing”; which I do not recall looking
up on the web recently! For some reason, the interests that they gathered based
on the websites I have visited all related to business, banking and investing.
I check up on these issues on occasion, but I most certainly would have
expected a few more interests regarding sports, music and current events.
Overall, my experience with this
assignment has further opened up my eyes to the dynamic of today’s digital
media society. We are, and from now on, will be living our lives in a fishbowl.
Someone will always be watching us or our online activity. Smartphones can
capture any moment and sites like Facebook and Google can capture almost any
kind of information that we share on the internet. Naturally, this should make
anyone feel uneasy, as the line between appropriate and inappropriate Big Data collection
needs to be closely monitored. I think that it is important for us all as heavy
digital media users to be wary of this issue. Since I have nothing to hide, I
can tolerate the actions that these sites take to gather information about me.
However, as soon that line is crossed, I will definitely fight for my privacy.
No comments:
Post a Comment