Beginning with the wise words of Billy Graham, “Once you've lost your privacy, you realize you've lost an extremely valuable thing”. Unfortunately, one of the risks that social media applications do not disclose to users is the high possibility of privacy invasion. Since geotags contain detailed information about users’ location data, having this data extracted by treacherous sources can be harmful for a variety of reasons. The first reason follows the fact that social media applications share user information, including location, with third-party applications that may not be as secure as popular social media platforms. For instance, Twitter until 2014 hosted user images on various domains, one of them being TwitPic. Although Twitter acquired …show more content…
Ultimately, geotags can be thought of as “footprints”. Users who advertise their information to friends, followers, and families also invite hackers to track their footprints and sadly, “blocking” people is not preventive enough. As an illustration, Instagram has recently seen a growing number of users tag their images/posts with locations through geotagging which can now be considered a trend intrinsic to Instagram. This is problematic because perpetrators can analyze location patterns through the footprints of users and steal identities. More commonly referred to as “catfish” by millennials, this term points to individuals who create fake identities, thereby committing identity theft as they gather posted content from users online, mostly unbeknownst to them. In fact, geotags foster a higher risk of identity theft as adding locations to content posted online gives perpetrators a chance to know where on the global map, a user exists rather than solely knowing their appearance or generic information such as hobbies, birthday, etc. As a final point in the topic of privacy invasion, geotags cannot be restricted to certain people; social media platforms do not allow this. Although an account can be “blocked”, location data embedded within an image can still be viewed from an account that is unblocked or from a perpetrator who isn’t logged into an account at all; Twitter allows such privacy invasion. Considering this, geotagging as a feature is detrimental to users as it narrows the gap between individuals and perpetrators through privacy invasion risks. Social media platforms do not educate users on the possible consequences of attaching their location to online content and this negligence of geotagging can be
Personal privacy is a very serious case. Your personal items should stay personal to avoid the risk of someone stealing your information. Three key ideas that can help keep your information safe are less information giving, reading guidelines before agreeing to it, and downloading less risky apps that can potential give out any information.
Security versus privacy is becoming a major issue in today’s society. Recently, the National Security Agency has been the victim of scrutiny due to allegations of espionage. Similar claims not only stem from the authority, but also come from the public as well. For example, one is enjoying a night out in a restaurant when a group of teenagers arrives. Before it is noticed, some of the teenagers take photos with a cell phone. The picture encompasses most of the area occupied; therefore, every person in that general area is included in it. A few moments later, one teen uploads that picture to various social media websites to share along with captions stating the current location. Although not a single person gave consent, pictures are being circulated with thousands of strangers in the innumerable realms of the internet. Not only are these pictures all over the web and an invasion of privacy, but people viewing those pictures are able to discover recent whereabouts with the simple click of a button. Due to technology’s rapid advancements, similar acts such as these are becoming nearly inevitable. But, these are the very same advancements that help us live in a free and open society. In order to avoid intrusions yet maintain safety, restrictions should be put upon consumer devices, capabilities of security devices, and government abilities.
“Human beings are not meant to lose their anonymity and privacy,” Sarah Chalke. When using the web, web users’ information tend to be easily accessible to government officials or hackers. In Nicholas Carr’s “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty,” Jim Harpers’ “Web Users Get As Much As They Give,” and Lori Andrews “Facebook is Using You” the topic of internet tracking stirred up many mixed views; however, some form of compromise can be reached on this issue, laws that enforces companies to inform the public on what personal information is being taken, creating advisements on social media about how web users can be more cautious to what kind of information they give out online, enabling your privacy settings and programs, eliminating weblining,
Social medias have become a big part of our society now, they are being used in all aspects of our life. We are connected twenty-four hours a day, at work, school, home, shopping etc. There is a necessity, a need to be connected to these social media’s, to feel like you are a part of society. With these growing numbers in being connected to social media’s on the web, there comes a growing desire for privacy and safety. In this paper I will discuss and analyze the social media’s themselves, the dangers that arise from them, and how all these correlate to privacy.
Social Networking sites play an essential role in today’s culture as they provide people with the ability to interact, blog, share pictures and videos, flirt, and date without having to move an inch. People pour their minds and hearts into the world of cyber communication; it is an easier way for them to clear their heads without having a face-to-face confrontation. Undoubtedly, this is advantageous to certain people. It helps establish connections with people, friends and family from any corner of the world, but one cannot ignore the extensive privacy breach that occurs in the universe of online social media.
handle? Some say yes, others might disagree. Social networking was created to connect friends and family together. Now, many predators use sites such as Facebook or Myspace to find their prey. This is the source of what parents are stressing about to their children. While many who use social media are enjoying meeting new people, they are also becoming distant from contact with real people and they are involved in a very surprising and dangerous environment.
The first aspect being addressed is the problem with social network sites exposing information. Social networking has created an environment where it is nearly a duty to expose oneself. Profiles on these social websites are updated everyday with personal information such as locations, status, and future plans. Anyone can search another’s name and find information about their history, pictures, and activity. With the help of social networking sites...
Privacy Issues in Social Media Social Media is a current way in which people are using to interact with one another daily. Since the launch of various Social Networking Sites (SNS) its been a huge attraction in a new way to share information with others and correspond with interests of your choice in many different forms. Although social media sites allow users to share information with friends and other sites on the internet, many people are unaware of how their privacy is being affected. Now that the expansion of global connection through these social media networking sites are so highly present in todays society, giving us easy access to information, the lack of privacy is being diminished. Everyday peoples privacy rights are being taken advantage of and the government should therefore implement more laws to avoid violating users.
The use of social media has risen exponentially in the past decade, and with it the impact of its ubiquity has become evident. Although social media can undoubtedly be a positive vehicle for self expression and social interaction, it is largely restrictive of personal liberty and subsequently does more harm than good. Though this applies primarily to the individual, the negative effects of social media on personal freedom extends to interpersonal relationships and can therefore negatively affect groups as well. The convergence of audiences and associated privacy concerns on social media sites like Facebook can result in self-censorship, while the inbuilt filtering systems create a sense of censorship. Data collection and surveillance make it
There are about one and a half billion users of social media worldwide. It can be used to meet new people, find old friends, chat the day away, join interest groups, or even to share pictures. Social networks were mostly created so people could meet and find new friends. What most users of social media don't know, are the dangers of using social media. One example is when you meet a person online, because they are not always who they say they are. If someone is not who you may think they are, who could they be? They can be a stalker or a person that wants to steal your identity; which could be done easily thanks to new developments of new technology. Also thanks to new technology it is now easier for people using your information to track you. Posting personal information can risk your family and friends lives. Social media can be used as a weapon against you. It can even lead to a kidnapping, or even someone's death. Many people use social media to help to waste time, but could also become an unhealthy addiction. Also social media can damage your future. When you are a teen you tend to post pretty much anything you want. This is dangerous because you can post too much personal information. What most teens don't realize is that what they do on social media now can affect them for the rest of their life. It can even come back to haunt you in the future. Social media is dangerous because it makes it easier to be stalked, identity theft to happen, kidnappings and murders, and also can ruin your future.
Facebook is a very popular social media application used on a smartphone. While watching the news one night, I recall a news story that described how a woman from a very small town in the United States found her true love all the way across the world in India. The way I remember the story is the small town girl installed the social media application on her smartphone and found this beau randomly while surfing her newsfeed. They struck up a conversation and eleven years later are still happily married. For all of that, there is also a dark side to social media. In the very same news report a young woman was tracked through social media and murdered. She had the GPS on her phone turned on though the Facebook messenger application and had just announced she would be walking her dog in a status update. Unbeknownst to her a neighbor had been stalking her through the mobile application and was able to follow her through her cell phone 's location.
Many social networks will tell you that the more you put into them (your information), the more you get out of them (connections, recommendations, etc.). However, despite the aura of privacy they try to engender, one must keep in mind that social network takes place in essentially public space, with only the barest of mechanisms providing any semblance of privacy. Even seemingly innocuous data shared with the world can be dangerous in the wrong hands.
Many people use social networks everyday as a way to share their personal lives with their friends or followers. Many people are culprits of oversharing personal information on social networks. Oversharing is when one reveals an unacceptable amount of information which may or may not be inappropriate. Also what most seem to fail to remember is that whatever is posted online, stays online forever. The main social networks that are victims of oversharing include Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. “Communities are outraged by the personal information posted by young people online and colleges keep track of student activities on and off campus. The posting of personal information by teens and students has consequences” (Barnes 1). While oversharing
When considering geographical data privacy, it is very important to maintain as location tracking capabilities of mobile devices are advancing (location-based services), problems related to user privacy arises. If the privacy of location data is not maintain properly terrorists, thieves can easily access our location.
Technology has advanced tremendously over the past decade, and appears to be advancing at a rapid pace each and every day. The social media is growing just as rapidly. Social media is an interaction between individuals that want to exchange information, photographs, and ideas in different types of networks. Social media users include people of all ages. These people have various experiences, have different cultures, and have various technical skills. (Brandtzaeg 1008) The social media depend on net-based technologies to generate the network for users to share. Social media includes everything that has to do with the Internet. By using the Internet, users can communicate with people locally and worldwide. People are no longer required to travel across the world to experience another culture. This can be done with social networking. The types of social media today come with many different types of communication such as social blogs, wall-postings, songs, photographs, and podcasts. The communication between users is informational, interactive, and also educational. However, unfortunately, most social networking sites keep track of all the interactions that take place, and this is a concern about Internet privacy for Facebook, Twitter, Google, and other social media users. Not only do they keep track of all interactions by the users, they also own all the content, including pictures that the users upload. The social network keeps this information on the user, even if the user deactivates their account with that particular site. Most users do not have any idea that the operator of the networking service keeps this information, and has access to all pictures and tags. By not having adequate security...