By Macy Shuper
Privacy. What is privacy?
Something no one can completely have. Something unrealistic, unimaginable; something falsified in our rights as Americans. You may think the information you are setting as “private” isn’t seen by anyone but you, but unfortunately that just isn’t true.
The world of technology increases year after year. There are more devices connected to the Internet than there are human beings on this planet. Every second, someone is sharing a post on Facebook, sending a tweet to Twitter, uploading a picture to Instagram or viewing videos on YouTube.
When you create one of these accounts, the privacy terms and regulations are commonly overlooked. Many people skip right over them in a rush to create an account. One of the top privacy concerns on social media websites for 2014 has been websites “tricking” their users with ambiguous or confusing security policies and universal legislation. As a result, people don’t fully understand that the information they are setting as private is actually not private at all.
These issues, along with the new single access sign on technology allowing users to log into something once and then use multiple websites without having to sign in again, makes it easier for a single social media website to show your actions and activities on other websites without you ever knowing.
The problem is that one day, when you’re leisurely scrolling through your Instagram feed, you will come across an account with a profile picture that looks just like you. Oh wait, is that you? Turns out, your account information has been hacked, and someone has created a fake profile of you. There are millions of fake accounts on social media websites.
You might want to double think the next time you want to send your pictures to “the cloud.” Bad idea. Apple’s iCloud seems like a good way to save all of your information and pictures, but Jennifer Lawrence may disagree. She was a victim of iCloud’s unrestricted privacy problems when her photos that she did not want anyone in the world to see were leaked. Now everyone in the world is seeing. Unfortunately, this is another case of Internet hackers breaking in to online accounts and stealing their so-called “private” information.
Do you think your phone calls, texts, Internet history and emails are safe and sound with nobody but yourself? Not one of those things is being monitored by just you. The government is watching them. Yes, the government! It is unimaginable to think the government could do this. How could the government betray the 4th Amendment rights of Americans to protect themselves against unreasonable searches and seizures?
Recently, the National Security Agency created software that allows them access to every network around the world. This new software, codenamed “MonsterMind,” is designed to send the NSA an alert when suspicious activities occur with phone calls, texts, Internet searches or emails. So whether you’re sending your friend a text to remind them to do their homework or sending your boyfriend a mushy-wushy love note, just remember your texts are not private.
It’s sad to say that the safest way to keep your information private is not to be online at all. That is the only way your personal information remains with you only. No hackers, no government agency spies, no iCloud invaders can access your information if you never put it where it can be seen.
You keep asking, “What does a guy have to do to get some privacy around here?” Sorry buddy, but there really isn’t anything you can do to get privacy around here because there is no such thing.
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