In this article from Martha Fay Burtis, she discusses the importance of privacy and agency in the online “world”. When I first read the text, I was unsure of what to expect as this isn’t my “area of expertise”. However, I found the article very interesting. I also listened to the audio version to get a better understanding and hear the ideas again. The spoken format helped me process the concepts much better than just reading them off the screen. (In this case particularly because I didn’t have a “background” here.) Burtis mentions how the internet is complex and shaped by the users. She also says that the internet is constantly gathering information to create an algorithm designed by the user’s personal digital interactions. It takes all of our clicks, searches, and digital interactions to build a highly specific algorithm tailored just for us.
This got me thinking about how much control we actually possess online. It feels like a paradox. We think we’re shaping the internet, but the algorithms are shaping us by deciding what we see next. When a computer program decides your feed, it may leave you wondering if your choices are truly yours. On the other hand, it may leave you wondering if it’s the algorithm predicted what you would watch. Realizing this made me see that privacy isn’t just about keeping secrets. It changed my entire perspective on modern data security. Privacy is about protecting our independence from the quiet digital forces that influence us every single day.
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