The Fundamental Right to Privacy For All.
In 2010, all my high school friends were either already on or signing up to join Facebook, and I, at 14 years old, happily joined as well.
In 2010, Facebook had on average 518 million monthly activity users.
In 2010, I knew enough that I placed my Facebook page on private and only friends/acquaintances could see my profile and photos.
Because of this, I felt comfortable sharing my likes, dislikes, the music I was listening to, and conversations I was having, all on Facebook. I willing put how old I was, the city I was living in, and the school I went to, all online.
I was more scared of how strangers on the internet would take advantage of me, similar to stories of how this young child was groomed on Snapchat.
I was more aware of technology being used to harm society in the extreme and visible sense, like in the form of killer-robots in the Terminator movies or as an omnipresent surveillance state like in George Orwell’s book, 1984.
Thankfully, I made it through my teenage adult years largely unscathed but my social media habits largely remained the same.
So what happened?
In 2018, the Cambridge Analytica and Facebook scandal brought the issue of data privacy into sharp focus. As Christopher Wylie, the whistle blower who exposed his employer, states:
“We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people’s profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis the entire company was built on.”
In the end, Cambridge Analytica harvested more than 50 million Facebook profiles. This data was then used to target and influence the voting behaviour of US citizens.
During the Black Lives Matter protests last year, a woman accused of arson was identified by the FBI through “an Etsy review, a LinkedIn profile, a handful of Instagram videos, and a few Google searches”.
This news was unbelievable and made me reflect on just how social media has evolved from a way to connect with friends and family, and now has been coopted, exploited and weaponised by political parties, large corporations and powerful establishments.
The very idea that these powerful entities are trawling through my Facebook, Snapchat or WhatsApp activity. Surveilling and collecting data on every swipe I make, every click, every message sent or even recording what I am saying.
Using algorithms to learn and predict my emotions and behaviours. Then leveraging these insights and selling them to whoever can pay the most, is ultimately horrifying.
What did I do next? And what can you do?
I frantically logged on to all my Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat apps and made sure my privacy settings were as secure as they could be.
For Facebook, I:
- I made sure my Off-Facebook Activity was disabled — this tracks your app, web and miscellaneous activity even when you’re not on Facebook.
- Limited targeted ad tracking.
- Limited who can and cannot see my profile.
For all my social media accounts, I:
- Turned off facial recognition.
- Disabled collection of location history and search history.
Additionally, the Digital Rights Watch is an Australian organisation that advocates for and believes that “digital rights are human rights which see their expression online”. They have an extensive database of tools and guide that I’ve used to protect myself online.
But who cares? I’ve got nothing to hide…
When I’ve talked about these privacy issues with my friends and family, the main response I got was that they didn’t care, they have nothing to hide, or it’s too much of a hassle to change all their settings.
If reading this article doesn’t convince you, then watching:
- and reading The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff
will hopefully grow your understanding of why internet privacy is such an important fundamental human right.
As Shoshana Zuboff says:
“The real psychological truth is this: If you’ve got nothing to hide, you are nothing.”