"What might be the most worst case scenario possible if a company like WhatsApp or Google has my data?". This is a question that recently popped up in my campus community group. A question that many of us has come across. Instead of communicating every time, I thought of jotting down my notions on privacy. That idea ended up here.
First off, let me be blunt; privacy is a myth these days. There's no running away once you enter the realm of internet.
To answer why privacy matters, it is a basic right everyone deserves. Just because someone can, doesn’t mean they’re allowed to invade our homes and ransack us. That’s what tech companies have been doing. Collecting any and every data they can, about us, and selling it to reap profit.
The argument that most people might put forward is “I have nothing to hide”. That is along the lines of saying that “freedom of speech doesn’t matter to me because I have got nothing to say”. Privacy is a basic right that we’re all entitled to have and we shouldn't disregard it.
What these companies are doing with our data depends on the individual company. Theoretically, they should be collecting the data to improve the app/service using usage statistics and also for ad revenue. They shouldn’t be selling our interests to another company but that’s how ad systems work. They may also use this data to provide us with personalised content.
Serving us with personalised content is not bad per se. In fact it is useful when considering apps like YouTube. But this type of personalised content delivery has a lasting impact on us. We only see what we want to see. We’re being hooked up to the screens for hours because we are fed with content that entices us. In essence, we are being controlled by AIs and algorithms. You won’t sit and watch an idea contradictory to your believes for hours would you?
As an effect, our thoughts are constrained and our vision tunnelled. We may still be open to opinions but we just won’t listen. To say that “I can’t be manipulated” is dumb. Because you’re being manipulated that’s why you’re in front of the screen more than anywhere else.
To a large population, social media IS the internet. They believe what they see there. So these apps/services should be responsible for whatever unethical activities are going on in their platforms.
But companies like Facebook just don’t accept that. Facebook had the chance to remove hate speech from their platform using algorithms but they just won’t because apparently hate speech keeps us hooked on the screen more than positive content. There have been multiple instances of Facebook’s ‘algorithms’ being partial to particular communities or groups. The removal of the farmers' protest page being a recent example. Believe it or not, apps like Facebook can decide election results and cause havoc in countries.
They do this because they have data about us more than any government does and they have absolutely no regard for our well being. The only thing that matters to such companies is profit. They’re constantly monitoring and influencing us on everything that we do, anything that we purchase or even what friends we make.
Data is power and it isn’t supposed to be held by one conglomerate like Facebook or Google and decide the fate of humanity. We all saw what happened when Google went down for a day. That’s the power they hold on us. And it is something to be wary of.
Top comments (1)
Super awesome! I get asked this question all the time "but I have nothing to hide?". spot on. Google actually went down one day (or a couple of hours) and bad things happend