The Internet is Forever

There is an activity that has been circulating among parents of tweens and teens to demonstrate the effects of bullying.  The parent takes a tube of toothpaste and squeezes all the toothpaste out on a paper plate, then tells the child to put it all back in.  Of course, the kid says it isn’t possible.  The adult proceeds with a discussion about how you can’t unsay things particularly on social media platforms.

Your online presence is fairly similar.  Cleaning up your accounts is like closing the barn door after the horse is gone.  The information is already out there.  Even if you delete information from your account, Facebook still keeps it stored somewhere and all the third parties still have access to it, because they have downloaded it.

Once it is on the internet, it is there forever. With that said I highly encourage people to go through their Facebook settings and edit their About page, which we go over extensively in the Facebook class.  Doing these things will clean up some of what others can see and offer prevention of some information being stored and sold.  But remember this needs to be done on every account you have: Gmail/Google account, Netflix, Pandora, games, etc.  Just because we had bad habits in the past doesn’t mean we have to keep those bad habits in the future.

Privacy and the ownership of data are huge, revolutionary and still in the wild west stages.  I agree that it is terrifying the amount of information they have about any individual.  But we have to also step away from our emotions and think logically about how this is harming or even helping us.  If they know I click on an article about artichokes, they are going to assume I have an interest in artichokes and show me more.  This is beneficial if I have a strong interest in it, but annoying when it was a one-off encounter.  And do I really care that they know I am interested in artichokes?

But when you combine the 1000s factors that make an individual an individual, how can they manipulate us?  What services and technology can they build to assist us in the future (for a fee of course)?

The rewards cards at every chain store are all recording what you purchase, so they can analyze people’s shopping patterns.  In exchange for this amazing data that helps them make millions, you get a 50 cent coupon off of toilet paper, probably not even the brand you buy.  But what if using my shopping history they create a program to do all my shopping for me without my input and deliver it on my doorstep once a week?  Would that be helpful?  Yes, it would save me at least 3 hours every week.

Personally, I try to be as unhelpful as possible. But they are going to know a whole lot of information about me because I have to use the internet to function as an adult and a member of our society, but I don’t have to make it easy for them.

Tips for Protecting Your Information

1. Update/delete information from your social media profiles.
2. Only create necessary accounts and don’t link accounts.  (Meaning when a new account gives you the option to sign in with an account you already have, don’t.  Create a new account for that company.) Also, do your due diligence on these companies.  Is it a reputable company? Are they aware of and are protecting your information?
3. Don’t click on ads or sponsored posts.
4. Decline and skip unless you can’t accomplish your task. For example, you can skip connecting your Facebook to your contacts list on your phone, but you can’t skip agreeing to the Terms of Service.
5. Make sure your friends are real people.   If fake people have access to your profile, then that information is collected and sold.
6. Make sure you aren’t logged in to other accounts when you are searching the internet. Or use private or incognito browsing.
7. Be wary of third-party integrations like games.  Once again, they collect your information and may sell it.
8. Don’t sign up for drawings and prizes both paper and online. Many times the contact information (phone numbers and email addresses) are sold.
9. Don’t get arrested.  A lot of information about you is posted on government websites when you are arrested.  This information is gathered, used and sold.