The internet is a mysterious place and with most of this, have things people wish to keep hidden. Lindsey C. Kim brings awareness to maintaining and understanding this privacy with digital technologies. Privacy can shape our writing and in addition, our writing processes. Information privacy is specifically related to the collection and sharing of data. Essentially it involves: What is shown, the context and issues surrounding it all. Even the smallest thing, such as searching for something, creates data and most people aren’t even aware. For digital writing, our work and how we can present it involves information privacy. As such, it’s important to maintain privacy online, lest our own information privacy be affected.
Martha Fay Burtis is well accustomed to the chaos of the internet. As she discussed in her speech, she had been well aware of the internet’s power. She often brought this up to her superiors yet nothing was done. What could be done? They didn’t understand it’s worth. Back then, during the LMS days, they were faculty-focused and thus controlled the information. However, this changed when bigger companies changed it to be more community-oriented. As a result, new procedures and rules were made. They set the boundaries and are still used. She says that we need this kind of knowledge and order to better use this tool.
MY own Thoughts:
Both of these articles imminently brought me back to the concept of a digital footprint. As described in this article by Tech Target, a digital footprint is a body of data left behind from someone’s online actions. It can be anything from a tweet or a social media post to saved passwords and what sites are browsed. It’s almost like a shadow left behind by someone’s actions. It’s semi-permanent and the owner has little control over how it’s used by others.
Many people aren’t aware that their actions are being recorded, stuck in time, and thus don’t realize the true long-term consequences. This footprint can cause issues. For one, it’s how targeted advertising can get its data and, more commonly seen, others reacting poorly to things one has posted and can cause real-world issues. There can even be issues if someone were to hack to gain access to more private info via the digital footprint. While the internet is a powerful tool, it’s important to quell its chaos and prevent it from doing more harm than good.
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