Decline of Privacy
Question
• Is 2 pages in length minimum
• Is typed
• Is double spaced
• Incorporates at least 2 credible, reliable sources
• Follows MLA guidelines for formatting


Solution
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.




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