Privacy

 Life online - Do we have a private life?

    Facebook/Meta, has gotten a lot of flack recently regarding the privacy of its patrons. Since the wikileaks debacle with Julian Asange at its epicenter, the American public have become increasingly weary of their privacy in regards to the lives they lead online. Facebook uses patron data as a means to corroborate online metrics and engagement to aid in third party advertisers and the creation of relevant data tailored to each of its users. Users are then presented with accounts, movements, ads, and posts deemed applicable to their individual lives. People have a serious issues with the internet tracking that comes from being a Facebook user. People think they are signing up for just another social media site but the harsh reality is there is a significant amount of data mining that goes into the catered user experience. Because the fine print has come to light and people actually spent a few seconds longer reading the terms and conditions, there has been a substantial amount of outrage. Privacy data and consumer metrics are stored in Facebook information storage and can be sold to marketing projects all by clicking "I agree", on a quick little privacy update from the company. I for one, do not allow apps to track my data. I am very cautious when using social media sites as I'm just not necessarily comfortable or confident in Mark Zuckerberg's handling of any much less my information. The Facebook data model is all too similar to the NSA and other intelligence agencies which feels eerily similar to China's personal tracking methods which in my opinion directly impede on the individual in society. I don't think the government is doing anything because they too are guilty of it. New information laws being passed take years of editing and refinement to even approach the house floor. To protect one's self its important to read terms and conditions but also log out of accounts and be selective with location services. Moving forward, I do believe that companies will cater more towards the user but there are reasons for concern or at least to question the motives of the corporations.