The concept of privacy, specifically online, is like a tattoo. Much to our dismay, there are permanent effects to digitally sharing aspects of our personal lives. Privacy is both a right and a privilege, a perfect example of this is when parents punish their children by removing their doors and confiscating their electronic devices. In today's technologically advanced world, whatever is shared online and off often has a lasting impact on one's personal life and reputation. The government is able to see and share all of our private information, especially if shared online through a public platform. This is true of anything from social media, like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, to your credit score, address, and other types of informational records.
As we live in a technologically advancing society, we are each affected daily by privacy issues. There have been many occasions where people provide and use their personal identifying information online and their data is seen and collected to be sold to other online marketing companies. Some of the information that these privacy invaders look for are your passwords, contact information, and even your location. There are several privacy concerns that have affected me and people that I know. For example, a friend of mine ordered a passport form from a third party website. Though she hadn't heard of this company before, she took a risk and used it anyway. To obtain her passport forms, she had to provide her Social Security Number (SSN), date of birth, travel plans, addresses, and much more. Not only did the website use and sell her information, but she was also scammed out of money that she had to pay for these forms, which she could have done for free through a government resource. You have to be both careful and mindful of who you are sharing your information with because this could lead to bigger privacy issues in the future.
In order to combat further problems from these privacy issues, the government needs to take action against it. One way to spread awareness of potential privacy invasions is the government could provide more room in our budget for homeland security to block out any foreign outsiders from stealing the American citizens' information. They could also establish online privacy learning programs in schools for children to learn about the dangers of sharing personal data online. In order to protect ourselves, we need to share less information online, thus possibly limiting the government's access to our private lives.
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