Online Presence

Look up your name and what do you find?

Today in class we learned about different privacy laws and how most social media platforms and websites are able to watch you while you are active on their platform while also not active. Many people today are starting realize this information and they are not so thrilled about it. What most of them don't know is that when they first began to use the application, they agreed to let the apps use their information in the "Terms and Agreements." Who actually reads that long contract though? Exactly, no one, because everyone is so focused on setting up their new social media platform or if it is a website and they agree to use cookies; they are wanting to move forward on the website.

Facebook has been the most concerning social media platform that has been invading everyone's privacy and they dominate all platforms in general because they also own Instagram now. Nowadays to make consumers lives easy, they have started linking the login to Facebook to other accounts. An example would be if you don't have an account for Pinterest, you are able to login through your Facebook account and all of a sudden you now have a Pinterest account without having a new login. What people don't realize is that if you login through your Facebook account on any platform, they are allowed to store the data that you have created on different applications. The main question is why are they able to do this? They are able to do this because they are classified under a Private Activator and since they are private, people are not able to fight against them because only the government can not violate your rights.

The most popular social media sites that I use is Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook in that order. My Instagram account is not private so anyone is able to find me and I don't have the secured privacy settings that Facebook has to offer. Since I use my Instagram and I am aware that it is open to the public, I make sure I don't post anything inappropriate. Most of my photos consist of my friends at family-friendly places. I make sure what I post is age appropriate because I have extended family members on there as well as potential people who are interested in hiring me are able to see what I do. 

I believe that in today's world, many people in my generation are giving away their information without realizing the repercussions for it. We live in a world today where everyone is living in fast pace and they don't have time to truly look at what they are agreeing for the websites and platforms to do. This can seriously be damaging if someone wants their privacy to stay completely private. It is hard for one to stay completely off the web, but there are different ways to stay and keep private by using precautions.