How to protect your privacy

The Privacy Paradox podcast taught me a lot that many don’t know about privacy. What caught my attention immediately was the statement about how every click we make on the internet is being tracked and every piece of information we enter into our devices is recorded. Also, every time we accept a terms and policies document, we are giving information to that company. And we accept those documents because it is convenient. That’s why the advertisements we see on our social media feed are more and more on the know. Google discovered that they can take the traces of our behavior and analyze it to predict our behavior. We are sources of surplus.

Understanding the paradox is key. Data is stored all over the internet, but metadata is more telling than any other data and it is tracked through our cell phones. It is surveillance data. It is incredibly personal.

What I found in my privacy settings

I was shocked. I found that almost all my apps had the location services on. This means that my phone was literally a tracking device. I turned all of my location services off and I left a few on ‘while using app’ for maps and weather, etc. I also looked at the microphone to see why apps are listening to me and that was also shocking. I wasn’t as many apps as the location services, but there was still more than I wanted. I feel more comfortable with the changes I’ve made, but I know there are still ways to get my information because I still click on things.