Digital Age Privacy Ted Talks

Listening to all 5 of these Ted Talks scared me in different ways. Whether it was the wire tapping into direct messaging and phone calls, or the license snapshot log around different towns tracking where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing. All in all, I don’t feel like my life is very private anymore, and that concerns me. I understand the government tracking some of your data in a sense, but I wasn’t aware of the depths they could go. And yes, these issues affect me directly and they affect you too. 

    Not only do I have my license and my own vehicle but am also an avid social media and phone user, as are many of my peers and family- which frankly concerns me for them as well. Our lives should be and feel protected by the government, not invaded and accessible. Not to mention the direction in which technology is heading, the facial recognition software is only going to improve from here with the way AI is completely taking over. Deepfakes, AI content of celebrities on social media, AI made videos, AI remakes- they're affecting everyone around us.  

    This leads me into the next big topic that scared me digital domestic violence. Which happens far more often than you would think, as Darieth Chisolm emphasised that “under 30 1 in 10” women experience it. I had never been able to put an official title or name to those behaviours and situations, but having seen this happen in real life to personal friends of mine, far too often, for far too many years, far too many times- I now can. It’s such an impactful and devastating incident that can ruin lives and careers and, in my opinion, needs to be taking far more seriously with the way things are advancing.

    What the government should truly be monitoring and protecting are its citizens against online trolls as such and truly cracking down on those who are pursuing it. With AI now it’s getting harder to protect yourself from things like screenshots, photoshop and blackmail and that should be something the government stays on top of. Bigger punishments and better monitoring.