Blog #7: Privacy, On and Off

 In the TED talk by Juan Enriquz: Your Online Life, Permanent As A Tattoo, he talks about how our social media presence is like a tattoo and how apps can track exactly what you look up, what you post, what you see and how it can translate into facial recognition. This issue affects everyone that has a social media page and/or has a active account. 

He uses examples from the Greeks to show use the consequences of using social media and how there is no privacy. He ends his talk by saying "we are all threatened with immortality because of electronic tattoo's". I think this really speaks volume because it just shows how we have no control over what happens after we decide to press the "post" button and how there is nothing we can do, other than be overly cautious, when we decide to post.

The same concept goes with Catherine Crump's talk about how fast the police can know information about about and how they get it. Her whole talk is based around the protest in Ferguson, Missouri and how equipment and technology that is supposed to be used on the battlefield is making it way to the private lives of ordinary citizens. 

Today, you can't even drive your car and have privacy. The government has used license plate cameras that take pictures and overall track where you have been, what you are doing, and even who you are with. The government isn't doing anything when it comes to this issue because they are in on it. 

Christopher Soghoian gives a TED talk on "How to Avoid Surveillance". He explains that our telephone networks were first and foremost wired for surveillance. This has turned into a problem because now anyone could be listening in to our phone calls; the government, criminals, hackers, or stalkers. 

Apple has said that by using iMessage, FaceTime, and WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, has put in strong encryption tools that make it very hard to wiretap. He make it a point to say that because there is no specific "criminal's laptop" or "terrorist's laptop" that in order to have surveillance over them, they have to have surveillance over all of us which obviously comes at a cost. 

Lastly, in Darieth Chisolm's TED talk, she talks about how she was a victim of having explicit photos of her posted all over the internet without her consent, known as cyberharassment, but she wants out to be known as digital domestic violence or even revenge porn. 

She explains how there is a major lack of legislation laws to adequately protect victims and punish perpetrators. The only thing out there right now is fines for the perpetrators. These victims are suffering and it is financially, emotionally, and physically draining to try and even fight this in court. 

Overall, these TED talks show hoe dangerous the internet can be and we have to do everything in our power to protect ourselves, our family, friends, and all those around us.