Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.
How much digital privacy the common person lacks is almost remarkable, but maybe even more remarkable is how well it’s been enshrouded with deliberate obscurity. This wasn’t an accident — after all, 24% of people still blindly accept all cookies, and 67% of the American public know very little about what companies do with their data. We blaze through terms and agreements and privacy policies without a second thought, all because we assume our privacy is of utmost importance to Big Tech conglomerates.
We aren’t informed that Life360 sells our information or that Google gave out gift cards to homeless people in exchange for a scan of their faces. No one talks about the numerous leaked documents and whistleblowers who revealed how Facebook harvested data points to profile users and engage personalized targeting.
Let me pose you with a question: Do you know what you’re doing when you hit “accept all” to a website’s cookies? If you answered no, it’s alright; less than 40% of internet users know what they are. Principally, cookies are small text files put into your computer by the server of a website you visit. It sounds harmless enough, especially since they’re presented in a manner that feigns warm innocence. Who would say no to a plate of cookies?
“Remember that your right to digital privacy was never meant to be mutually exclusive from your internet usage.”
Websites aren’t asking for your consent to accept necessary cookies — as some will spell out in insanely tiny font — because they are required for the website to function. They’re asking for you to accept third-party cookies from advertising services and data brokers, such as tracking cookies. These kinds track user behavior across sites and sell the data to data brokers.
Do you feel violated yet? What about the prevalence of targeted ads, or when it feels like your devices listen to every conversation? Did you think it was actually just a coincidence?
The critical point is that most people are unaware of what the consent is even for. The prevalence and existence of data brokers has seemingly slipped past the public eye. No one knows that you can opt-out of data brokers’ systems by submitting a manual request, but it’s not your fault. No one knows the sheer number of data brokers that proliferate the web, let alone how many of them already have your personal information; they make it impossibly hard to even know the process exists.
Your personal information is idly waiting to be extrapolated to uncover your credit card and social security numbers. Take it from me: I didn’t know they were even relevant until my brother added me to his Incogni plan. The total number of data brokers Incogni removed my information from reached over 600.
Big Tech — the most dominant technology companies — and privacy media conglomerates are burning all bridges to privacy knowledge. Our forced ignorance allows them to treat your data, from everyday web surfing to your family’s street addresses, as a commodity. The more they upset the scale of knowledge, the more the power shifts to them; you forget you even had the right to privacy.
But by continuing to read about the issue, you are reconstructing that bridge across our ever-expanding digital realm. The obscurity by Big Tech to blind you begins to slowly crumble. If enough of us emerge from this ignorance, perhaps public policy for heavier digital privacy regulation can also emerge.
Remember that your right to digital privacy was never meant to be mutually exclusive from your internet usage. Don’t let Big Tech take more from you than they already have.
Reach Carmel Pan at letters@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
