Does Privacy Exist in Online Spaces

This digital story telling project focuses on privacy in the digital space. It considers the impact of social surveillance and the collection of individual’s personal information, or ‘big data’. Asking the question of interview participants; do we care about privacy online?

 

Individuals are increasingly living more of their lives on their devices and in the abstract space that is the internet. We share personal information and photos of ourselves via social media, make purchases at online retailers and share our upcoming plans with search engines. As these practices have infiltrated the digital space so too has the need to protect our privacy.

 

This will be explored through the three components of the digital story: 

 

1) Research - which helps us to understand the impact of our digital lives on privacy, what information or data is collected, how is it used and who wants this information.

 

 

2) Ethnographic studies - which provide insight into the digital presence of individuals and their privacy concerns.

 

3) A case study on Facebook -  which demonstrates how an individual’s personal information and data can be used to make certain predictions about their behaviour and characteristics.

 

 

Despite being hidden behind the computer or phone screen, vast amounts of our personal information is being absorbed into digital databases. Do we care about privacy online and more importantly do we understand the implications of social surveillance and how it affects us collectively and as individuals. While maintaining a digital presence comes at a cost to privacy, it is important that we are at least aware of the potential consequences.