Week 6
For this weeks class we were asked to look at the evident conflict between transparency and opacity, and watch the TED talk by Pernille Tranberg, who is an independent advisor in data ethics for companies, authorities and organisations. She is an internationally acknowledged speaker and speaks in this video about digital self defense.
Among other things she mentions the term radical transparency. Sharing too much information on our social media platforms, like Facebook for example. A lot of people write posts on Facebook without considering the fact that it might be too much information. She states that that's exactly what Mark Zuckerberg wanted, since he calls being completely transparent on the internet 'being authentic'. Unfortunately when it comes to Social Profiling, 'being authentic' might cause us troubles. Every employer nowadays will take a look at our Facebook profile for example, to see if we're suited for our new job. They're looking for inappropriate photos, pictures in which we are sexual or drunk, they're also looking for indicators of racist believes, homophobia, weapons, violence and drug abuse. She mentioned an example of a woman who has been fired because she posted something that was drinking related and contained inappropriate language. Pernille Tranberg continues by saying that employers also look for more tame stuff, like who are your friends, because they might be gang members, and are you posting constantly, are you sharing too much information, because you might not be able to keep secrets, and last but not least they want to know if you complain a lot, because no one wants to work with someone who constantly complains about everything. Furthermore she gives the example of home robbery. By posting on social media that you're going to be on vacation for the next week you're inviting robbers to your house, because you're telling them that no ones home to call the police, and they'll have the run of the house. Another problem addressed is identity theft, if we don't trust a website or a mobile app, we shouldn't use our original identity. Furthermore she talks about tracking and cookies, and how fixed prices are in the past because they will depend on our mood, since we by more when we're depressed. In other words due to data gathering, every link we click on is being recorded, because they want to gather as much information about us as possible, information that's specific to us. By collecting all this information they might want to create a statistic, to see if they notice a pattern in our behavior, but in the end we don't really know what all this information about us is going to be used for. In the end Pernille Tranberg states in a humorous way that everyone should start installing programs that prevent websites from tracking you, and we should do it before we get rich and famous, because they want to know when we get rich and famous. To conclude she draws the attention to Zuckerbergs statement about transparency again, and argues that transparency should be expected not from individuals like us, we have the right to control what people know about us, but from big companies and governments. Because if we get too transparent we'll risk being a target.
Another video we had to watch was 'The Power of Privacy' by Aleks Krotoski.
This video is about the amount of personal information that is collected about all of us each day, whether we do it willingly or not. She mentions how valuable data is now a commodity, and is traded among a handful of companies. She's addressing the same issues than Pernille Tranberg, about data gathering and sharing too much information. But she takes it a step further by talking about the future. Smart home. A home that is supposed to make life easier, especially for older people. It collects data of each individual, to develop the technology for safety and health, so in case of illness and accidents it can research the cause of it for example, and guarantees a safer and more efficient environment for the aging population. Unfortunately there is a downside to this project. Cameras might need to be installed all around the house, which might allow hackers to have a sight into our privacy. Nevertheless developers want to bring the product on the market as fast as possible, and don't really think about the negative effects concerning privacy and security.
To conclude the subject of opacity in the internet and sharing too much personal data, I have to agree that everyone should have the right to stay opaque. I think that everyone's social media is their own business, and if people want to keep it opaque they have the right to do so. Just because someone's not sharing all their personal information on Facebook for example doesn't mean they're not trustworthy, or how Zuckerberg said, not authentic. I agree with Pernille Transberg's statement of sharing personal data is like the problem of pollution. Years ago we were not aware of how much we would damage our environment, we only saw the progress in our technology. The issue with personal data will be the same, now we only see the progress and how much easier it will make our lives, but we don't know to what outcome, we don't know yet what consequences will follow. Therefore we should indulge it with caution, and try not to share too much information about ourselves.
references:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRrgD-4-D8s&feature=youtu.be
http://dataethicsconsulting.com/en/about/pernille-tranberg/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGX-c5BJNFk&feature=youtu.be
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| Pernille Tranberg at TEDxOxford |
Among other things she mentions the term radical transparency. Sharing too much information on our social media platforms, like Facebook for example. A lot of people write posts on Facebook without considering the fact that it might be too much information. She states that that's exactly what Mark Zuckerberg wanted, since he calls being completely transparent on the internet 'being authentic'. Unfortunately when it comes to Social Profiling, 'being authentic' might cause us troubles. Every employer nowadays will take a look at our Facebook profile for example, to see if we're suited for our new job. They're looking for inappropriate photos, pictures in which we are sexual or drunk, they're also looking for indicators of racist believes, homophobia, weapons, violence and drug abuse. She mentioned an example of a woman who has been fired because she posted something that was drinking related and contained inappropriate language. Pernille Tranberg continues by saying that employers also look for more tame stuff, like who are your friends, because they might be gang members, and are you posting constantly, are you sharing too much information, because you might not be able to keep secrets, and last but not least they want to know if you complain a lot, because no one wants to work with someone who constantly complains about everything. Furthermore she gives the example of home robbery. By posting on social media that you're going to be on vacation for the next week you're inviting robbers to your house, because you're telling them that no ones home to call the police, and they'll have the run of the house. Another problem addressed is identity theft, if we don't trust a website or a mobile app, we shouldn't use our original identity. Furthermore she talks about tracking and cookies, and how fixed prices are in the past because they will depend on our mood, since we by more when we're depressed. In other words due to data gathering, every link we click on is being recorded, because they want to gather as much information about us as possible, information that's specific to us. By collecting all this information they might want to create a statistic, to see if they notice a pattern in our behavior, but in the end we don't really know what all this information about us is going to be used for. In the end Pernille Tranberg states in a humorous way that everyone should start installing programs that prevent websites from tracking you, and we should do it before we get rich and famous, because they want to know when we get rich and famous. To conclude she draws the attention to Zuckerbergs statement about transparency again, and argues that transparency should be expected not from individuals like us, we have the right to control what people know about us, but from big companies and governments. Because if we get too transparent we'll risk being a target.
Another video we had to watch was 'The Power of Privacy' by Aleks Krotoski.
 |
| Aleks Krotoski in 'The Power of Privacy' |
To conclude the subject of opacity in the internet and sharing too much personal data, I have to agree that everyone should have the right to stay opaque. I think that everyone's social media is their own business, and if people want to keep it opaque they have the right to do so. Just because someone's not sharing all their personal information on Facebook for example doesn't mean they're not trustworthy, or how Zuckerberg said, not authentic. I agree with Pernille Transberg's statement of sharing personal data is like the problem of pollution. Years ago we were not aware of how much we would damage our environment, we only saw the progress in our technology. The issue with personal data will be the same, now we only see the progress and how much easier it will make our lives, but we don't know to what outcome, we don't know yet what consequences will follow. Therefore we should indulge it with caution, and try not to share too much information about ourselves.
references:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRrgD-4-D8s&feature=youtu.be
http://dataethicsconsulting.com/en/about/pernille-tranberg/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGX-c5BJNFk&feature=youtu.be
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