The Destruction of Personal Privacy In the New Age of Technology

     We are living in a time of uncharted territory when it comes to digital media and communication. No one really thinks about it, but we're playing with fire when we use the internet. This is because we aren't aware of its limitations, if it even has any. Because of this, we're in a transition period of moving into a digital age, and this can be scary, but it's something we have to navigate wisely. For it is the regulations and standards that we set today concerning the use of technology that will guide the trajectory of how we use these new tools. 

    This is a problem that affects everyone. As seen in this Ted Talk video, one doesn't even have to be using the technology themselves, often times, there's other people's technology that's already watching you. Not only are they watching you, but they're recording every single piece of data they can and storing it for themselves. There's no running from it, not at this point. If you walked down the road on a busy street, there is a high chance that there is some piece of technology that is being used to track or record you in some way. There's really no escape, and that might be the scariest part.

    Probably the craziest thing about this whole situation is that this a truth that is at this point just accepted. We all know it's going on, but we continue with our daily lives anyway. We still use our phones, we still have no problem giving random companies our information so we can "sign up" for their website. It's something we give in to everyday.

    In reality, this doesn't really affect our lives that much today. A normal citizen will not notice their invasion of privacy, but it's what the future holds that's so frightening. In a few decades, when technology has advanced, and the data gathered has grown exponentially, that's when we're in trouble. It could very easily get to a point where the government can use that data to control and manipulate the lives of everyday citizens. 

    It's not just the government that's a problem when it comes to this issue. There are plenty of private entities that are actively trying to steal that information everyday for their own personal use, often for monetary gain. The worst part is that it is very hard for people to know when their information and privacy has been breached. Rarely do companies inform the individual that their information was stolen, most likely, the individual will find out after the thief has already taken what he's sought after. This is especially dangerous to the older generation that didn't always have this technology as a part of their lives.

    The sad thing is that this affects everyone. It affects me, it affects you, it effects everyone you know, and we're all in the same boat. Unfortunately, we're mostly powerless in this fight for privacy. Luckily though, the government does have the authority and the ability to at least tame this problem that we have of invasion of privacy. They have the ability to direct our society in a way that can prevent many of these new technologies from being used as a weapon. 

    There are two problems that we face in this current situation though. The first, is that we are running out of time. Like I mentioned earlier, it is this transition period that we are living in right now that is going to determine how this all plays out. If we can take control of this situation early, then maybe we can prevent it from fully taking away our privacy. There will come a point though where it is too late, and these new technologies will become uncontrollable. Governments around the world need to take action now to create change, but this is where the other problem arises. It's not in the best interest of the government to slow these technologies down. Yes, it is in their interest to prevent other countries from hacking and disrupting our governmental system, but the ability to control the people the way that they have the potential to may be too great of a power for them to pass up. If they decide they want to, the government will utilize these new technologies to control their people, it would naive to think that they aren't at least thinking about the potential control that they can gain from these new tools. So unfortunately for us, we just have to hope and pray that the government puts the interests of the people over the interests of themselves.