Privacy Problems

     For my entire life, I've been extremely weary of what I do online, because it feels like everyone has access to everything you put out there. But as more schools and businesses require online communication, submissions, and applications, it feels impossible to entirely avoid putting some of your information out there.

    In a personal sense, this can greatly hurt communication, as staying connected with high school friends and my family must be online. If we want to, say, play a game together online, we have to accept that these websites may have access to our information. Even outside of fun and games, it also affects our schoolwork. Gathering information from journal and news articles puts us at risk as well. Considering how hard it can be to find multiple reliable and relevant sources, it's incredibly likely you'll run into cites demanding your data. This data allows individuals to scam you, companies to more easily manipulate you with targeted advertising, and can put you in physical danger if they find your location. This is especially concerning considering the recent ICE controversies. This and future administrations could feasibly round up swaths of people based on race, religion, political views, and more. Scary stuff.

    The most efficient solution would be for the government to step in and create new laws to limit the gathering and storage of personal information. This would be precedented, as previous Supreme Court decisions establish privacy as a right established in the Constitution. A law forcing websites to discard your data after a month, for example, would greatly limit how much of a person's information is widely available. Other laws to prevent the selling of your personal information would also be welcome. Lastly, forcing transparency from companies would be excellent. Terms and Conditions are often absurdly long and full of legal jargon, meaning it is inevitable that some customers will not fully read and understand it.

    As for what we can do, the most important thing is to vote. It is not in the government's interest to stop collecting our information, nor to stop the companies that fund politicians' campaigns. Pressuring politicians using the power of our votes is the best way to ensure they're working four our best interests, not theirs. Additionally, and much harder, we can try to be more conscious of where and what information we put out there. Yes, reading terms and conditions and conditions or pausing before accepting cookies is annoying, but when faced with the alternative, I'll take it.