You Should Care How Much You Share

            When it comes to privacy nowadays, if there is any, it is vital that each individual does all that they can do to protect it. From Alexa, to Siri, to each signed “terms of agreement,” society seems to be freely giving away the ability to stay individualistic. With every new account we make, we allow creators to know the ins and outs of who we are, and sometimes that is both a good and bad thing. Every like, dislike, follow, or subscription lets the creators of each site decide which products and pages they will throw at you next. In earlier generations, this would have stopped once one shut off their computer, but in today’s day and age, smartphones have taken the individual’s privacy and completely revoked it.

 (Khilko, Aleksey. You can schedule a text message on your iPhone with a third-party app. 11 Sept. 2019.)

               For instance, if we think about the way students walk around on campus, it becomes apparent that rarely anyone is seen without a smartphone in their hands. One simple purchase has led each student to freely giveaway their whereabouts at any given time. In their hands is their own personal tracking device. Yet, most students on campus have iPhones, which is a good thing in this case. In fact, Christopher Soghoian presented the fact in “How to Avoid Surveillance… With Your Phone,” that “If you use an iPhone to send a text message to other people who have an iPhone, those text messages can not easily be wire tapped, and in fact, according to Apple, ‘They’re not able to even see the text messages themselves.’” Since a student’s life can seem fast-paced, most text messages and calls happen just as quickly, but with the privacy Apple allows, a student does not have to over think each word that is spoken or typed. In a world where students are being forced to share more about themselves online than ever, it is important to have an app that is solely for themselves and those they wish to communicate with on it.

                                    (Krales, Amelia Holowaty. Location iPhone. 2 Aug. 2018.)

               Privacy, while important for conversation, is vital for safety. As a woman, walking anywhere is not just “walking;” It is being aware of my surroundings at all times. Yet, how am I supposed to know about a potential threat, if it is due to the lack of privacy on my own phone. I understand that the idea of tapping into smartphones can protect the community at times, but this could harm the community as well, if the wrong people have the ability to tap into another individual’s phone. Soghoian argues that, “the alternative would mean to live in a world where anyone’s calls or anyone’s text messages could be surveilled by criminals [and] by stalkers” ("How to Avoid Surveillance... With Your Phone| Christopher Soghoian | TED Talks"). The world is already a scary place, and the privacy of society is already becoming nonexistent. In order to slow the loss of privacy down, individuals must take into account what they sign up for. Tap in to what is important of yours now, because others might be doing it at this very moment.

Works Cited

"How to Avoid Surveillance... With Your Phone| Christopher Soghoian | TED Talks." YouTube, uploaded by TED, 14 Sept. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni4FV5zL6lM. Accessed 29 Oct. 2020.

Khilko, Aleksey. You can schedule a text message on your iPhone with a third-party app. 11 Sept. 2019.

Krales, Amelia Holowaty. Location iPhone. 2 Aug. 2018.