Does Privacy On The Net Exist? | Week Seven Lecture Reflection

It is no secret that individual privacy is not what it used to be. Whilst intrusions into personal space and physical belongings remain as issues in today’s society, modern digital technology has opened a multitude of doors to make privacy invasion even easier. As Evan points out, our privacy is no longer protected even when on the commute, as public mobile phone conversations can reveal personal information to nearby eavesdroppers. Is reasonable, however, to consider situations such as these as an invasion of privacy when the information is made public by the ‘stalkee’ themselves?

Social media is probably the greatest and most controversial factor in this area.  Users may post or feature in content that, dependent on their given privacy settings, may unintentionally become available to the wider public’s eye. It should also be noted that once content is out there, you can not always trust and rely on the delete button. Just because you’ve erased something from your site, does not mean it has been eliminated from the Internet all together, OR from a strangers hard drive, for that matter (creepy I know, but it can happen).

Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter make it extraordinarily easy for anyone to access your content. In my personal instance, being no ‘Smith’ and having a unique surname makes me even more identifiable on the net. Being merely one of two Laura Doguet’s of Facebook, I must be extremely wary of what I post as future employers, or anyone else on a mission out to sus me out, don’t have to go to much effort to track me down. Therefore, I must be mindful of any material that could potentially be detrimental to me socially and/or professionally later down the track. In saying this, the same applies to anyone, regardless of the commonness of his or her second name.

I want to stress that I’m not saying you must curl up in the ball in the corner and stay away from the Internet all together, but we simply need to be careful. We must all be mindful about how we represent ourselves online – both in a visual and literary format – as you can never be sure what might come back and bite you later on. We can not blame others for invading our privacy when it is our own actions that have lead to the content becoming visible to their eye. So the next time you think about posting a racey photo on Facebook, an abusive subtweet on Twitter or paying a bill over the telephone whilst on a train, for your own good, I’d advise you to think again!

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