Digital Privacy

Imagine you’re walking down the street on a random afternoon when suddenly someone approaching you says “hey, I know you!” You’re thrown off. You’ve never met this person before, so “how would they know me?” you wonder. You’re no celebrity, nor do you talk to a lot of strangers, so it’s unlikely that you’re simply forgetting who they are. But before you can respond, the person begins listing off the things that you like, activities you participate in, the places you go, and the people who you spend most of your time with. This is, presumably, enough to sufficiently creep you out. At this point, you’re probably starting to wonder how this person knows all of this information. You may even already have the police dialed. Where did this person get access to all your private information?

If this scenario were to occur face-to-face, people would start to panic. However, in the digital world, people often freely give up their private information and data, both knowingly and unknowingly. This information is often shared with third parties and spread among the internet. Without knowing the ways in which our information is being used online, we are giving up our digital privacy. In a world that has primarily gone digital, understanding the consequences of using digital technology is more crucial now than ever before. Lindsey C. Kim discusses the key aspects of digital privacy in her article “Understanding and Maintaining Your Privacy When Writing with Digital Technologies.” Kim argues that in order to write, one needs to have spatial privacy, meaning that they are one of a few, if not the only, person who has access to a private space. When an individual has agency over this space, they are able to shut out potential intrusions or interruptions, exerting at least some influence over the happenings around them. This agency, however, is often limited when writing in digital spaces due to giving up control over our data when using the web.

Privacy is a fundamental aspect of human life. Digital privacy should not be an exception to this, but rather an extension. As society evolves and technology continues to advance, it is vital to be aware of the various aspects of our digital privacy and the consequences that come along with using digital technology. This chapter will review the effects of a digital footprint, how individuals can lose their digital privacy, and the ways in which one can reclaim their digital privacy as well as prevent losing it in the future.

Digital Footprint

Anyone that uses digital technology has a digital footprint. It is something that younger generations were warned about in grade school and up until college. By then, it is assumed that students are aware that what they post or do on the internet has consequences. A digital footprint can consist of social media pages, posts made on those pages as well as posts tagged in, comments posted, content liked, websites visited, emails sent, and any other information submitted online. These factors, specifically the social media aspects, are then reviewed by employers when a candidate applies to a job. Studies show that 70% of employers look at an individual’s online presence when considering them for a role (Harvard Business Review, 2021). While a poor online presence discourages an employer from hiring a potential candidate (54% of employers have rejected applicants because of what they found), no online presence is also viewed negatively. Therefore, it is crucial for individuals to have a well-represented online presence and digital footprint.

In order to ensure that an individual has a good digital footprint, the consequences of using digital technology must be discussed and understood. The saying “nothing is ever gone once it’s online” often surrounds this topic. While the delete button may be available, content online is often duplicated, reposted, or saved by others. Because of this, discarding something that was once online is nearly impossible. Although one is typically fairly conscious of their digital footprint, along with the privacy they are giving up by posting online, there are still many aspects about it that often aren’t understood.

Privacy Lost

When using digital technology, there are numerous ways in which an individual can lose their privacy. As previously mentioned, there are ways that individuals consciously give up their privacy online, such as posting on social media, but there are also ways that people give up their digital privacy that they are unaware of. An individual’s digital activity heavily influences the information and content that they see on the web. This is often due to personalization and algorithms, and can be extremely harmful. In the political world, it is not uncommon to see an individual unwilling to change their views in light of new information presented to them. This can likely be attributed to the heavily influenced content they are seeing online. As soon as one extremely biased video or link is clicked on, the recommended results are suddenly flooded with one-sided information. Oftentimes, this can result in an inability to engage in effective discussions due to the lack of unbiased information. Furthermore, it can cause misinformation disguised as facts to be presented, causing confusion and false understandings. If unaware of the ways in which the web filters and presents content, it is easy to be blind-sided by the lack of diversity within the information one sees.

As the web influences the content one sees based on their digital activity, it is also simultaneously gathering their data. By simply searching something on the web or clicking on a website, information on how long the site was visited for, the type of device being used, location of the device, the time of day of the search, previous searches, apps installed on the device, and numerous other data is being collected. This transaction results in a lack of agency and control among users. Sometimes, people consent to giving up their data without realizing the consequences of doing so. A prime example of this is terms of service and privacy policies. The percentage of individuals who thoroughly read through and comprehend the terms of service and privacy policies on various websites is minute. However, they are an incredibly important aspect of the web. Furthermore, many students are often required to utilize websites for educational purposes whether they consent to the terms of service or not. An example of this would be teachers utilizing canvas for students grades, assignments, and other aspects of the class. Students may be told that they must submit their assignments through canvas in order to receive a grade. However, the teachers do not educate their students on how canvas uses their information. After reviewing this website on ToSDR.org, it can be seen that canvas uses their user’s identity in ads that are shown to other users, track via third-party cookies for other purposes without consent, and collect many different types of personal data along with much more. Implementing various websites into a school’s curriculum and enforcing students to abide by it takes away the digital privacy of many people.

When browsing a website, it is common for a box to appear at the bottom of the screen explaining how this said website uses cookies to “ensure you get the best experience”  The user is then presented with two buttons. The more enticing button reads “accept” while the second button often reads “decline.” When a box is covering nearly half the screen of a website, it is likely that people will quickly hit the “accept” button without fully knowing the implications behind it. So what are cookies? Cookies are small text files with data used by web servers to save browsing information. Essentially, when someone clicks the “accept” button, they are allowing the website to track their personal data and spread it to third-parties. While this is one example of how digital technology consumes one’s information and data, there are copious amounts of ways that individuals can lose their privacy online. So how can we stop this?

Reclaiming Digital Privacy

Preventing privacy loss online may be nearly impossible, especially for one individual person. However, understanding the ways in which the web is consuming and using our data and information is the first step in reducing privacy loss. To start, read up on the terms of service and privacy policies on the websites you most commonly visit. Look into what information various websites collect, what they do with it, and how or if it is shared. Once you understand this, becoming more aware of what information you willingly share on the web is the next step. By doing this, you are exerting more control over your digital privacy.

Once individuals are aware that there are consequences of using digital technology, educating themselves on these ramifications is something that they should do. However, not everyone is capable of teaching themselves. Furthermore, not everyone is aware that there are consequences. For example, young children do not have the means or understanding of how digital technology impacts their lives. Because of this, it is important for these repercussions to be taught. As many schools have started implementing digital technology into their curriculum, they must also start educating their students on the negative effects of this technology.  Turning a blind eye to the reverberations of digital technology, while simultaneously forcing students to use it, can be detrimental and set students up for failure.