Does Privacy Exist in Online Spaces

‘Surveillance has spilled out of its old nation-state containers to become a feature of everyday life, at work, at home, at play, on the move’ (Lyon 2003, 13). It is for this reason that digital privacy is an issue worthy of consideration and action.

 

According to Bruce Schneier, the harm in digital data surveillance is that ‘you’re under constant scrutiny’ (Alberici 2015). This ‘harm’ doesn’t necessarily relate to what individuals are sharing but to ‘what we don't know is being collected and sold about us’ (Kroft 2014). Personal information or ‘big data’, provides valuable insights into your ‘religion, ethnicity, political affiliations, user names, income, and family medical history’ (Kroft 2014). This data is then used to sort ‘people and populations according to varying criteria, to determine who should be targeted for special treatment, suspicion, eligibility, inclusion, access and so on.’ (Lyon 2003, 20). Companies typically use this data to classify consumers ‘according to their relative worth’, while authorities use it to detect, anticipate and pre-empt crime and likely suspects (Lyon 2003, 14-15). According to Haven (2015, 46) ‘snooping that once required a warrant and was subject to tight regulations is now routine’.

 

The internet is a valuable information and communication resource, however its primary purpose is that of an advertising medium (Kroft 2014). ‘Your search history contains some of the most personal information you will ever reveal online’ (Wood 2014). While you may not have intended this information to become public knowledge, it is making its way into the hands of marketers, who use it for ‘highly targeted advertising and price discrimination’ (Wood 2014).

 

The collection and sale of your personal information transcends online spaces and devices with mobile phones acting as ‘mini-tracking devices’; revealing where you go, who you are with, when and for how long (Kroft 2014). Over a billion people downloaded the ‘Angry Birds’ game and nearly 50 million people downloaded the ‘Brightest Flashlight Free’ app. While these apps were marketed as free, they came with the hidden cost of tracking your every movement, data which was then passed on to other companies (Kroft 2014).

 

So while we may not have control over how our data is used it is important that we understand the implications of “behind the screen” social sorting. As of 2013, there were ‘650 companies working in the personal data business’ (Dwoskin 2013), with one of the largest data brokers, Acxiom, holding an average of ‘1,500 pieces of information on more than 200 million Americans’ (Kroft 2014).

 

Despite being in the comfort of your own home or on your personal device, the information obtained in the digital space is having vast and varied implications on your privacy.

 

What do others think about privacy online?