Nowadays, everyone uses the internet. I'm sure almost all of us have a Facebook account, or some other social media site account. Most of these sites make you fairly anonymous, except of course Facebook. But how protected is your internet identity? This article really made me think about how anonymous we really are.
The way the internet works now, you can find pretty much anything you want. That also means that the community can take a grainy cell phone video or a blurred photograph and find out who the person in it is. It doesn't even have to be a photo. One man, posing as a Syrian-American girl, was revealed to the web by the internet community. Sites and services claim that, when you sign up, your identity will remain anonymous. But how anonymous can you really be, when a random photo of you can completely reveal you?
There are a few notable examples of how the internet can eliminate anonymity. One I mentioned previously, the American man who was posing as a Syrian American lesbian girl. The internet also revealed the identity of the two people in the middle of a riot in Vancouver. It has revealed the identities of many a raging commuter, shopper, or consumer, as well as the people who do random silly things and post them on Youtube. The internet, which was once thought to well protect anonymity, is now yet other place where it's hard to find.
This article really opened my eyes about this, and challenged what I thought about online security. I mean, I had known about the risk of having your account hacked, but I had never considered the risks of being identified even if I wasn't online. I personally had no idea about the investigative prowess of the internet. I think this article has definitely affected what I post, and what I let be posted, on any site.
My question for you guys is, did you know about anything like this? Now that you do, how do you think it will affect what you post online?
4 comments:
I try to be pretty careful about what I post online because, as we all tend to forget, it stays there forever. It's funny to think that people consider their Facebook profiles to be 'private' when all 500+ 'friends' can see what school you attend, how old you are, and, possibly, your home address.
Statuses are no different. A simple update like "downtown with [Person A] and [Person B]" reveals both your location and two of your friends' names. Think about this.
A) Isn't it a little creepy that all your FB 'friends' (and then some) know where you are at a particular time?
B) The people tagged may not want complete strangers (your other FB 'friends') knowing about their activity.
Anonymity on the Internet is a myth. Thanks for reminding us.
I agree with Lily. The internet isn't a safe place for anonymity and I think we all have a tendency to forget that.
Now we have sites like foursquare, where you post where you are and what you're doing at all times. Then if you're friends are in the same place,they can come and find you. I don't know about everyone else, but I think that's a ridiculous invasion of someone's privacy and thus, a waste of time. This takes updating your status to where you are with your friends to a whole new level.
Honestly, it's pretty scary how much we all just assume we're safe on the internet.
I totally agree with Lilly also. I never really thought about it that way. Thats really creepy when you think about it. Psycos, Creeps, Stalkers, and Pedophiles. I agree with jillian as well. She said we all have the tendency to forget that and i surly did. Idk i don't think about all that when im online. This was a big eye opener though, I'm really going to start watching what i post on the internet.
I definitely also agree. I think the internet has become such an ingrained part of our lives that people use as a tool to do things that wouldn't normally be wrong, but are because its through the internet. For example, if Friend and I took really bad pictures of each other on a disposable camera and got them developed and then got together to make fun of them it would be totally fine. But if we posted them on facebook and wrote silly comments anyone could see, the next thing you know Friend’s boyfriend has broken up with her, I have no facebook friends, and a man with a blur-fetish is stalking us. (Totally made-up example) I think there would be less privacy issues if we didn't substitute the internet for social things that would normally not be done virtually.
Post a Comment