In the news we are constantly hearing about security breaches, invasion of personal privacy, and the increasing prevalence of our digital footprint. The increased availability of digital information presents concerns and challenges of privacy, accuracy, intellectual property rights, security, and censorship. As a global citizen, you need to be aware of these issues and how they impact your life (CO6).
Your instructor will set-up two (2) conversation groups this week in which you will select one topic to discuss which interests you.
• Conversation Group: Privacy
o Privacy, as it relates to social media, video surveillance, drones, digital footprint or other topics as they relate to digital privacy.
o How does the electronic environment impact one’s right to privacy?
Sample Answer
My Contribution to the "Privacy" Conversation Group
As a global citizen residing in Kisumu, Kenya, I am acutely aware of how the increasing availability of digital information, facilitated by technologies like social media, video surveillance, and drones, profoundly impacts our right to privacy. The growth of our digital footprint, often imperceptibly, creates both conveniences and significant vulnerabilities.
My contribution to the conversation group would center on the following points:
The Expanding Digital Footprint and its Implications for Privacy
Our digital footprint is the trail of data we leave behind when using the internet or digital devices. It's not just the explicit content we post on social media, but also passive data like location information, Browse history, online purchases, search queries, and even metadata from our communications.
Social Media: Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) are massive data harvesting machines. Every like, share, comment, photo, and even the time spent on a post contributes to a detailed profile of our interests, habits, relationships, and even political leanings. While we "consent" to terms and conditions, many users aren't fully aware of the extent of data collection or its potential uses (e.g., targeted advertising, political micro-targeting, or even background checks by employers). The challenge here is the blurring of public and private, and the permanence of shared information.
Video Surveillance: The proliferation of CCTV cameras in public and private spaces (shops, streets, residential areas), increasingly integrated with facial recognition technology, creates a continuous record of our movements. While justified for security, the potential for abuse (e.g., tracking dissidents, monitoring without cause, selling data to third parties) is immense. In Kisumu, while not as ubiquitous as in some global cities, there's a growing presence of surveillance cameras in commercial areas and along main roads.
Drones: While not yet a widespread personal privacy threat in daily life for most citizens, the increasing availability and sophistication of drones equipped with high-resolution cameras pose a potential future risk. They can capture images and video of private property or individuals without their knowledge or consent, moving beyond the traditional limitations of fixed surveillance cameras. Their use by law enforcement or private entities raises questions about the boundaries of public space and individual expectation of privacy.