Who can be trusted with our personal data?

Author: Kate Baucherel

Date: November 19, 2018

Link: https://www.digitalethics.org/essays/who-can-be-trusted-our-personal-data

First Impressions: By looking at the title, What I expect the essay to be is about how we handle our data online, and what or who are the companies that we may trust when it comes to handling our personal data.

Quote: “To whom does Facebook owe responsibility? On the face of it, he seems to refer to a responsibility to the users, to the people whose data has been collected, collated and sold on an industrial scale.”

Reflection: 

There are many documentaries and articles online telling us that we should not trust companies when handling our data, since it is technically their data because it is their platform we are using and they can do anything with our data anytime, even without us knowing where our data is being used. Posting personal data online is dangerous, especially if it is social media, since people are able to browse your account, gather information about you and could even impersonate you once all the information has been acquired, basically identity theft. I do not think that we should trust anyone when it comes to our personal data, because our data could go in the wrong hands then there is a possibility where in our data could be used against us and people who are unaware of these threats should be lectured about the possible consequences of the information they post online. An example of data being used against users is The Cambridge Analytica scandal with Facebook, where in they influenced users on social media through different ways, such as data gathering through answering a survey about what kind of animal do you like, during the Presidential Elections all without users being aware of what Facebook is doing with their data behind the scenes. Incidents like these really prove that we should not trust anyone with our data. 

5 Things I Learned:

1. If we do not want strangers to have access to our data, we should not put it online.

2. There is a chance where the people who overuse or overshare online in a wider community will be more protected.

3. People who can not manage their lives could mean that they also do not know how to manage their data properly.

4. People should know the consequences of their actions when uploading their personal data online.

5. Data is the new Oil, meaning data nowadays is more valuable than anything on earth.

5 Integrative Questions:

1. How should a user who is not really familiar with how the security of his information works manage his/her data?

2. What are the best practices when it comes to managing your data?

3. Is it right to stop using Facebook’s services so that we can avoid our data from being used against us?

4. To whom does Facebook owe responsibility?

5. What benefits do companies such as Facebook receive for selling people’s information?