Privacy and Agency on the Internet

Almost everyone on the planet Earth in this day and age is familiar with the internet. As we know, the government for where we live sees almost all our personal information. Especially when we use the internet. So, what can people see when you browse the web?

Lindsey C. Kim wrote a study about Understanding and Maintaining Your Privacy When Writing With Digital Technologies. She discusses how the internet can give someone your ip address, the location of your phone, the apps on your phone, and more based off one search. Some people create things such as ip grabbers, which is usually a blank website. It just shows the person that you clicked on the link, and it gives your ip to the person who made the site, which is scary. I have seen people on social media send me these links, and it taught me the message to never click a link from someone you do not trust.

We know that the internet is used to share anything we want the world to see. Authors use it to share their work, and some prefer to type their work instead of writing with a pen and paper. But how do we know if the work we share is safe and credited as our own?

It’s important that you do not put information on the web that you would not want strangers to know. Do not share things such as your address, your social security number, the amount of money you have, etc.

When it comes to the way people have learned, Martha Fay Burtis wrote about Learning Management Systems (LMS). She discusses this in her post: Messy & Chaotic Learning: A Domains Presentation at Keene State College. My initial thought immediately came to Canvas, the LMS that my university uses.

These systems were great at first glance, but then they came with some negatives. They made students more dependent on instructors updating their class sites with the homework instead of writing it down. The first integration was TildeSpace. This involved students sharing all their information with the LMS, including things you would not share on the internet in modern day time.

All in all, I think it is safe to say we have come a long way with the internet. However, we have so much more to learn about it and how to stay safe while using it. My thought process at the current moment is to not trust anything you hear from anyone you do not know.