Unbetitelt

[1nga7-blog]

THE PARADOX OF HANDLING THE OWN PRIVATE MATTERS

When it comes to privacy in the digital age, there are two things which are bothering me. First, that there is no transparency whatsoever about what happens with the data that we are feeding the Internet with every single day. Just today, I wrote my phone number via Facebook message, bought concert tickets by putting in my bank details on a website, talked about my personal life in every detail to a close friend via WhatsApp and sent weird looking selfies to my family. Where is all this data going? Who is reading our messages, looking at our pictures? What is their intention? And, most importantly: do they even care about it? Why should my personal life be interesting to them? Since the average Internet user does not have an answer for these questions, I think it is safe to conclude that there is no consciousness for how we are handling our data, and this is the second aspect which I am concerned about. This is also the point where the paradox inherent to my keyword comes into play.

As I already mentioned in my previous post, we do not see the risks that could be connected with how openly we spread our personal information on the Internet. We see the advantages now and do not think about the possible risks it could hold for us in the near future. What we are dealing with here is an abstract problem. Also becoming clear is that we lost our concept of privacy. We are acting in an inconsistent way. Many people would post their mobile phone number publicly on their Facebook wall. How many of them would just write it on the blackboard in the lecture hall?

With the keyword Privacy Paradox I would like to demonstrate that these are issues concerning the 21st century which should not be underestimated. Many relations can be drawn between the Privacy Paradox and other current phenomena which are significant for our time. Taking for example the keyword foodporn, which also has been mentioned on this blog, the problem of the Privacy Paradox can be illustrated perfectly. Even though at first sight both of the keywords do not seem to be related, there is a clear link between them.

Foodporn describes the act of posting a picture of your food on a social network, sharing it with the Internet and allowing everybody to see and to comment on what you have been eating. Posting your food can be seen as an instrument to socialise in the Internet, generating followers and likes. For me, foodporn is one of many signs showing that our concept of privacy has changed. On the Internet, somehow it seems to be perfectly normal getting approval for your meal. Apart from the Internet however, it would be seen as weird if not even disturbing if somebody would come over to you in the cafeteria, saying “Hey you, I really like what you are eating there! Hashtag Foodporn!”

With this example, it might become obvious that the concepts of privacy in the real and in the virtual world differ. However, it does not seem that there are any risks included. When it comes to other topics though, giving away your data can be affecting you in a serious way, especially regarding the development of technologies in the near future. To explain what I mean by this, I want to give another example. Let’s say you like to do extreme sports, climbing the highest mountains or jumping off cliffs all over the world. Since nothing is really lived unless it is posted on Facebook, you are sharing publicly a dozen of pictures about these activities every now and then. One day, you get mail from your insurance company, telling you that in the future you will have to pay more money for you insurance. The reason? You can figure it out yourself.

Of course, this does not seem like something, which could happen to us. Anyhow, it is a realistic example of what we might have to expect in the coming years, if we do not fight for more data security and for more transparency about what is happening to our information. It is important that there is awareness in the society about these issues and with the Privacy Paradox I would like to generate it.

Inga Luchs

[1nga7-blog]

THE PARADOX OF HANDLING THE OWN PRIVATE MATTERS

When it comes to privacy in the digital age, there are two things which are bothering me. First, that there is no transparency whatsoever about what happens with the data that we are feeding the Internet with every single day. Just today, I wrote my phone number via Facebook message, bought concert tickets by putting in my bank details on a website, talked about my personal life in every detail to a close friend via WhatsApp and sent weird looking selfies to my family. Where is all this data going? Who is reading our messages, looking at our pictures? What is their intention? And, most importantly: do they even care about it? Why should my personal life be interesting to them? Since the average Internet user does not have an answer for these questions, I think it is safe to conclude that there is no consciousness for how we are handling our data, and this is the second aspect which I am concerned about. This is also the point where the paradox inherent to my keyword comes into play.

As I already mentioned in my previous post, we do not see the risks that could be connected with how openly we spread our personal information on the Internet. We see the advantages now and do not think about the possible risks it could hold for us in the near future. What we are dealing with here is an abstract problem. Also becoming clear is that we lost our concept of privacy. We are acting in an inconsistent way. Many people would post their mobile phone number publicly on their Facebook wall. How many of them would just write it on the blackboard in the lecture hall?

With the keyword Privacy Paradox I would like to demonstrate that these are issues concerning the 21st century which should not be underestimated. Many relations can be drawn between the Privacy Paradox and other current phenomena which are significant for our time. Taking for example the keyword foodporn, which also has been mentioned on this blog, the problem of the Privacy Paradox can be illustrated perfectly. Even though at first sight both of the keywords do not seem to be related, there is a clear link between them.

Foodporn describes the act of posting a picture of your food on a social network, sharing it with the Internet and allowing everybody to see and to comment on what you have been eating. Posting your food can be seen as an instrument to socialise in the Internet, generating followers and likes. For me, foodporn is one of many signs showing that our concept of privacy has changed. On the Internet, somehow it seems to be perfectly normal getting approval for your meal. Apart from the Internet however, it would be seen as weird if not even disturbing if somebody would come over to you in the cafeteria, saying “Hey you, I really like what you are eating there! Hashtag Foodporn!”

With this example, it might become obvious that the concepts of privacy in the real and in the virtual world differ. However, it does not seem that there are any risks included. When it comes to other topics though, giving away your data can be affecting you in a serious way, especially regarding the development of technologies in the near future. To explain what I mean by this, I want to give another example. Let’s say you like to do extreme sports, climbing the highest mountains or jumping off cliffs all over the world. Since nothing is really lived unless it is posted on Facebook, you are sharing publicly a dozen of pictures about these activities every now and then. One day, you get mail from your insurance company, telling you that in the future you will have to pay more money for you insurance. The reason? You can figure it out yourself.

Of course, this does not seem like something, which could happen to us. Anyhow, it is a realistic example of what we might have to expect in the coming years, if we do not fight for more data security and for more transparency about what is happening to our information. It is important that there is awareness in the society about these issues and with the Privacy Paradox I would like to generate it. Inga Luchs

[1nga7-blog]

RESCUING THE 21st CENTURY THROUGH PINTEREST

Our group “rescue” chose Pinterest to present our work. Pinterest is a platform where you can create a page on your own or share a page with other people. Pinterest makes it possible to simply pin content to a wall which you can create yourself. On this wall you can pin whatever content you like, no matter what digital media it is presented in. Therefore it is possible to pin not only written media like documents or newspaper articles, but also videos, audio material and pictures.

The advantages of Pinterest for us seem to be evident: there are no restrictions in terms of media, the collection of different content is made very easy and, most important, it is possible to generate several walls which can be sorted by each specific keyword. The idea behind our choice is, that each member will create its own wall where he or she can pin any content concerning her/his own keyword. Additionally, there will be a wall which will be shared by all members so that it is made possible to generate a platform where the connection between each keyword will become evident. We will also have the opportunity to pin content which could be interesting for the other keywords on the common wall. This comes in handy at the point when I want to perform my role as connector. It will be easy for me to propose content which could be helpful for other keywords by just pinning the relating content to the common wall. Also, it is possible to comment other content on the wall, so that we can create an discourse while working on the project. All in all, I think that we will not regret using Pinterest as platform, since it allows us to perform everything we think is important.

Inga Luchs