Privacy in Todays Digital Age

 As a young woman who has grown up with technology throughout my life, the idea of a “digital footprint” of myself on the internet is abundantly so clear. Right when I entered High School the number one thing people always said was “Watch what you put on the internet because it will always find a way to catch up.” Not that I have ever been in a situation where my past has led up to my future, but I have seen it happen to so many people around me. 

Everything and anything you post, say, repost, send a picture that’s saved to chat. Anything you do on your phone can be traced back to you. You can never just delete a post or retweet something because there was at least one person who had seen it before it was taken away. I used to have an Instagram when I was in middle school, and none of these photos are of bad things, but just because I can’t log into this account and haven’t been able to for years doesn’t mean it’s gone. So Sometimes my friends would go on it and make jokes about the little stupid things I posted. This is a harmless example, but people have experienced way worse.

In the Ted Talk "Your Online Life, Permanent as a Tattoo," Juan Enriquez discusses the comparison of digital footprint to your own tattoo. I have a tattoo that has a very personal meaning to my past, which can tell you a lot about myself. I also know that if you search my name on Google, my LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok will all show up. My tattoo on my body can tell you a story, but these three platforms tell you way more about my identity, such as my email, the town I live in, and my family members, all there just on the internet for anyone to access. These are three websites that, even if I delete something, will always be on the internet. This can be scary, especially as a college student looking for internships and job opportunities; I must be aware and smart about what I put online because anyone can find out anything about me with a quick search.

Catherine Crump goes on to talk about how the police departments are using license plates to track every vehicle and where they are going. Police officers are using these scanners to track where pedestrians are and their day-to-day lives. They have each car with multiple scans of their license plates, time stamps, and location. Their logic for holding onto all this private information is for the “future.” The small chance this person might be a criminal they keep tabs on everyone and have a file with numerous photos just to know your day-to-day life. I understand that you have to be able to track cars when it comes to stolen vehicles or criminals, but people are trying to live their lives in peace instead the government is monitoring everyone and every move they make, taking away every privacy right we have ever fought for. There should be rules in place, that make it so local police officers must delete that data once doing a background check. It is not fair to the citizens to have to be scared of police officers, those who are supposed to protect us, but now tracking us.

Technology has taken away all privacy rights, when we click the button “accept” to the terms and conditions we hand our identity away to these companies. Growing up with technology I never even thought about it, and the impact it can have if given to the wrong hands. We shouldn’t be scared to post an exciting moment online or to drive to a friend’s house. There is nothing we can now do without it being public knowledge.