The Privacy Series: I’m sick of advertising — especially on the Internet
It’s not a secret that tech giants such as Google or Facebook have got several fines alongside the last few years because they abused collecting and using data from their users.
Millions of devices now provide access to the Internet, also known as “Internet of Things” or “IoT”. It means millions of devices (depending on their programming) are now connected to centralised repositories, acting as drop points for any information, mapping and recording for our daily routines, creating a much more invasive system.
But the “Big Brother” (name it Google, Facebook, or any other company) doesn’t work alone anymore. Millions of little brothers are now watching and recording all the steps anyone does on the Internet by using the Big Brother tracking systems or by misusing unsecured systems to collect their own data, resulting on the creation of personal profiles that can be bought, sold or stolen in just a few seconds.
Imagine if toys were studying your children and sending statistics to the markets. Or if your electrical appliance, consoles or even the security systems installed in your home are open windows to your personal and private life, exposing your preferences and habits. Or how you might be tracked by all the applications installed on your smartphone, you know, the ones that are so cool (and free), but… how are those Apps being funded to keep running and providing the service?
Maybe some of us are thinking we’re immune to the data collection, or maybe some of us don’t understand the risks, but the truth is that our digital profile might be a problem for us in the (near) future.
Health and security insurance platforms can limit or deny the range of available services. Medical services might consider if you are an appropriate patient for getting treatment for long term diseases (like cancer). Search results provided by search engines might be altered, aiming to influent on our mood and clicks. And so on.
The truth is that we, as citizens, worth less than the data we generate.
If you don’t allow a stranger to get into your home through your door, then why do you allow thousands of strangers (working for the same companies) to get into your home through all the devices that you’re buying and setting up?
Privacy online is one of the most important points nowadays, and that’s why we must accept that we all have a set of bad habits that we must change if we are aiming to keep our privacy (me included).
And I’m not a hypocrite, because I accept it. I’m using many devices and services connected to the Internet. And I know that these have collected my data (wrongly) because then I can see an abuse of advertising or also suggestions titled as “recommended for you”.
So, let’s start considering a change in our bad habits, such as use better web browsers that keep much healthier data collection habits, secure our internet connections by using VPN services, destroy the cookies when closing the browser so they can’t be used for tracking purposes, closing the sessions when leaving a website (yes, logging in again every time you visit that page), and much more.
Let’s bring a Series of posts here, aiming to ensure we can improve our privacy and health habits on the Internet.
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