Decline of Privacy

Decline of Privacy

Privacy is a commodity that has been in decline for generations. The advent of the internet, smartphones and social media have contributed to this decline by making it easier than ever to track people’s activities online. This paper will explore how privacy lost its value and what can be done about it. It will first examine the history of privacy before exploring the current state of privacy and why it matters to us today. Finally, it will look at possible solutions for restoring the human right to privacy or finding ways around some of these threats if they are impossible to avoid altogether.

The erosion of privacy can be traced back to the early days of the internet. In the 1990s, when the internet was in its infancy, few people were online, and those who were did not share much about themselves. The World Wide Web was a relatively anonymous space where people could explore new ideas and interact with others without revealing too much about themselves (Boerman, Kruikemeier, and Borgesius 954). Fast forward to the 2010s, the internet has become a more integral part of people’s lives and is used for everything from online shopping and banking to social media and streaming television and movies.

Social media platforms such as Facebook have changed how we view privacy by encouraging us to share our thoughts, ideas, photos and locations with others. Facebook was founded in 2004, and as of 2018, it had 2.2 billion monthly active users (“Facebook Statistics”). This number represents nearly a third of the Earth’s population and is more than double the entire population of the United States.

Further problems arise from how we view privacy today compared to years past. Today, it is not uncommon for people to reuse their passwords across many platforms. If one service like Facebook or Twitter is compromised, an attacker could potentially gain access to users’ accounts on other services (Weber). Additionally, since much of our online activity is public by default, even if users didn’t reuse their passwords, there would still be a chance that someone could learn their information through hacking or data scraping.

In addition to privacy-related problems, social media has been accused of creating other serious issues such as cyberbullying and the filter bubble where people only see news from one political perspective (Baccarella et al. 432). Because social media platforms like Facebook are designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible, many of them use a news feed algorithm that prioritizes the posts from users’ friends and family instead of those shared by public figures or brands. Much of this is due to how algorithms work to keep people on websites for as long as possible to see more ads. In 2014, Facebook researcher Moira Burke found that when people see more than one post in a row from the same source, they are less likely to remember it (Weber). This means that if an algorithm only shows a person positive post from their friends, they are less likely to click on a negative news story even if it is important.

While social media has its downsides, it has also given many people a voice. Sites like Twitter and Tumblr give marginalized individuals the ability to speak up about issues that traditional media may not cover (Murthy). As with social media, smartphones have made it easier than ever for hackers to access users’ data. According to recent research from Google, 43% of people reuse their passwords on at least one account (Security Magazine ). This means that if someone knows someone’s username and password for Twitter, they could potentially access their Gmail or banking information.

To combat these problems, tech companies have started to look into encryption. Some apps like WhatsApp encrypt all messages sent between users so that no one, not even the company itself, can read them (Greenberg). While encryption is a good step in the right direction, it is not a perfect solution. In 2016, the FBI was able to get a court order to compel Apple to help them unlock an iPhone that was used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terrorist attack (Greenberg). This issue is similar to the password reuse problem because even if users delete their email account, it’s still stored somewhere in either Apple or Google’s servers.

In conclusion, the decline of privacy results from many different factors. Social media and smartphones have made it easier than ever for hackers to steal users’ data. Additionally, sites like Facebook have changed how we view privacy by encouraging us to share our thoughts, ideas, photos and locations with others. While social media has its downsides, it has also given many people a voice. Tech companies need to protect users’ data by implementing encryption and better security measures.

Works Cited

Baccarella, Christian V., et al. "Social media? It’s serious! Understanding the dark side of social media.” European Management Journal 36.4 (2018): 431-438.

Boerman, Sophie C., Sanne Kruikemeier, and Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius. "Exploring motivations for online privacy protection behavior: Insights from panel data." Communication Research 48.7 (2021): 953-977.

Security Magazine. 53% of People Admit They Reuse the Same Password for Multiple Accounts. 7 May 2020. https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/92331-of-people-admit-they-reuse-the-same-password-for-multiple-accounts. 04 Dec 2021.