Post 4 - Privacy

 How am I affected?

Google Me!

While there are quite a few people named Luke Harless on the internet, I am the first one to appear. Not only is my LinkedIn page the first actual link result, the first image result is my profile picture for that very site. These search returns could just be a result of searching using my personal google account, which is why I embedded the link above. Clicking the "Google Me!" text will take you to the Google search results for my name.

The information does not stop with me. My internet presence, or "digital tattoos" as one of the TED Talk speakers dubbed them, leads others directly to my friends and family, many of whom I have connected with on LinkedIn. Purely By existing on and using the internet, I have given so much of my personal information away for anyone and everyone to see and use.

What should the government do?

Currently, the government has access to not only the whole of the internet, but the usage data generated by every American on the internet. The government is collecting this data as a preemptive measure, a sort of background check on everyone in case they might commit a crime in the future. However, the very same backdoors that are being used by the government to collect this data are also  breached by foreign entities, be they hackers or governments from overseas.

What the government should do, in my opinion, is shut these digital backdoors to prevent any further data leakages. A vast majority of people on the internet aren't using it to commit crimes, so why waste time, effort, and storage on those people? While it would certainly make tracking the criminals that are out on the internet more difficult, shutting off the constant data stream for the government also shuts it off for everyone else.

How can we protect ourselves?

There are numerous measures you can take to protect yourself and your data. Make sure your messaging application provides end-to-end encryption, as this will prevent your texts from being digitally usurped and read by anyone other than the sender. Beyond that, switching your browser from Google Chrome to a browser like Brave (a secure browser I personally use and definitely recommend), using ad blockers, and using a VPN can protect your data and prevent trackers from embedding themselves in your computer.