Blog: Privacy

With the increased implementation of New Media over the last 2 decades, information sharing and confidentiality has always been a concern. Back to the Facebook scandal with Cambridge Analytica, where Facebook was shown to have sold data to an app developer, to increased tensions with big social networking websites regarding protecting information. The issue with New Media is that, to an extent it is bridging the gap between people through easier and quicker communication mediums, but at what cost. Information is becoming more and more valuable in this era of E-commerce. Having worked at an advertising technology company before, I saw first hand how information with big data and cookies can be used for a company to increase their sales and concentrate their marketing campaigns. I feel that one thing people need to realize is that their information on these social media sites is actually pretty protected. The information that you provide on your profile is encrypted so that third parties that use this data to market to you aren't really able to see anything that the user doesn't want them to. So in the case of Facebook being hacked, the information that would leak would be all encrypted.

With the increase size of New Media mediums like social networking sites and blogs, as does the issue with confidentiality and privacy. The more these venues grow, as does the information that they contain. The growth of new media directly correlates with the growth of the issue of confidentiality and privacy. This is an issue that has to be more directly addressed in the future if New Media continues to grow at this rate.

Comments

  1. Thank you Brannon for telling us that our online information are actually portected by the companies very well. That makes at least me feel good when it comes to the leak of our privacy by certain companies. However, I have a question about why we still keep receiving advertisings that are about our interests or habits. Is that only because of the cookies inserted in the websites? If so, how can we avoid the tracing of those cookies? Just simply "don't allow them be with us" when we are surfing online or do something else because I know that some websites cannot be accessed until you allow cookies to be with you. I'll appreciate it if you could give me some suggestions.
    Best,
    Yang

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Yang Yang, thanks for asking. Under GDPR, a huge amount of EU based websites actually have to show you who your data is going to, and are forced to give you the option to elect to share or not share your data. If you go further into the menu that pops up, you can also see exactly what companies are using your data if you elect to share it. I hope this helps you feel more secure, and if it doesn't, I would recommend using Adblock if you are using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox as browsers, as it blocks ad spots and video ads for your browsing experience.

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  2. Usually when I think of how our data is protected online I don't feel to comfortable with it. However, based off what you wrote pertaining to the encryptions and protections I feel more safe. But it is still worrisome how we could be talking to someone about an object or company and then receive advertisements on them minutes later. It's important that as new media continues to advance, so do our protection protocols.

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