The other day, a colleague showed me how to find out who Google thought I am, and it was spot on when it came to gender and age group. Interestingly, I had just used that computer for job-related work for about three months. Does this mean that privacy is dead? Is it that easy to find out who you are based on your internet behaviour? By signing in to Facebook, you are indeed, selling if not a little piece of yourself, but a piece of your core.
My social group is divided, some live on social media, addicted to likes and hearts, while others are not on Facebook, rarely use their smartphone other than send the occasional text. In my part of the world, the only things censored is nudity (and the occasional racists and fundamentalists), but what if I lived in a different part of the world? A world dominated by bullets and propaganda? What if everything you say is being read through? Are all your online searches being snapped up by a filter? It is scary to think that your freedom of speech might be threatened, if our personal information is sold, is our freedom of thought threatened?
If I lived in a different part of the world, would a soldier show up at my doorstep if I Googled “safe travel route” or “USA”? Would my vote automatically be deleted if someone knew I was volunteering for the underdog political party?
If the wrong people are getting the power to survive, people with other opinions as you and I, would be in big trouble. Human beings live in groups, and just up to a few decades ago, we lived in separate parts of the world, thus evolving in different paces. Today, refugees are using Google maps to find a safe place. WhatsApp is used to communicate with loved ones at home, and Facebook is used as cultural guidebook.
Maybe we need a stronger filter, but to be honest, we need a safer internet connection. The sad truth is that all things connected to the internet are not secure, not even your private baby monitor.
— The reader is a Norweigan interaction designer based in Alesund, Norway
