The Erosion of Online Privacy: Tracking, Surveillance, and Data Collection

The Unseen Eyes Watching You

The Internet has, by all means, woven itself seamlessly into the very fabric of our current existence. We log in to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues, to look for information, and to shop. But all the while, as we trample through the cyber world, we’re shadowed, followed, and kept under surveillance by interests exploiting our data for their ends. The destruction of online privacy is a serious issue with enormous implications for all of us, and the first thing to grasp is its size.

The online tracking business is a multibillion-dollar industry with several components, including personal data collection from websites, applications, and devices. This means detailed individual profiles are drawn out and sold to interested parties, many advertising companies, and data brokers. This tracking is accomplished through cookies and small text files stored on the user’s device from the visited websites. These cookies track the user’s browsing, searching, and general behavior on the web to help companies compile an aggregate picture of the user’s activities online.

Moreover, many websites and apps include:

• Third-party trackers that are advanced enough to trace your location.
• The type of device you are using.
• The type of operating system you have installed.

The trackers will then use other methods, such as device fingerprinting, to collect device configuration details to identify your device uniquely. These details are used in ad लकetrization specifically for you. Well, this might sound so cool, but it is problematic on the basis of both privacy and security.

Surveillance State

The surveillance state is now a widespread collaboration between various government agencies, corporations, and data brokers to engage in the widespread abuse of personal data. For instance, the US NSA has been blamed for collecting data about millions of Americans who aren’t even aware of or haven’t agreed to the practice of collecting data on them. Edward Snowden blew the cover on the NSA’s PRISM in 2013, which empowered the agency, in legal parlance, to draw sustenance from some of the Internet’s most prominent destinations, including Google, Facebook, and Apple.

Similarly, corporations like Facebook and Google have been accused of amassing and misusing personal data. The case of data collection without permission from millions of users by Cambridge Analytica, connected to Facebook, is a perfect example of the perils regarding data collection if it is unconstrained. On the other hand, accusations against Google are aimed at its practice of collecting data from Android devices, such as location information, even when users have opted BlockShopper Opt Out of location sharing.

It is not only the United States that has fallen upon this bandwagon of the surveillance state. All governments are now, more than ever, using online surveillance to monitor their subjects. Good old China is using data collected by online activities to check and manage the behavior of its citizens. A score is used to judge every Chinese citizen’s activities online. This will influence that citizen’s credit flows, travel, and other rights.

Industry of Data Collection

This has thrust the data harvesting industry into a roaring market for gathering, analyzing, and selling personal data. Data brokers, often called Acxiom, Experian, Equifax, and many more, collect this information through online tracking, public records, and social networking. After the collection, the data are sold to other companies to target these customers with specific ads and special offers.

The data collection industry is rampant, and companies collect and sell data without acquiring user consent. This leads to a situation whereby companies can, in many circumstances, use personal information in whatever manner they want for their benefit. The industry is not transparent and not held accountable; it has led to various cases of data misuse, such as the notorious Cambridge Analytica case.

Furthermore, the scope of the data-gathering business continues beyond beta-testing online data. Off-line sources such as public records, credit reports, and loyalty cards are also being used by Acxiom and similar corporations to gather information, which is then cross-referenced with online information to create profiles that are so detailed about each individual that targeted and highly specific, ads and offers can be developed.

The Implications of Eroding Online Privacy

The erosion of online privacy has severe implications for all of us and in the future for society at large. Identity theft, financial fraud, or cybercrime may occur as personal data glimpses into one’s life. This can also have adverse effects in that it allows immense discrimination by companies targeting some groups of people using big data through targeted ads and personalized offers.

Moreover, such erosion of online privacy may impact trust in the digital economy. Once customers realize the possible threats regarding online tracking and surveillance, they refrain from sharing personal data over the web. In this way, the speed of online transactions slows down, and people start finding ways to maintain privacy.

Finally, online privacy erosion can endanger democracy and human rights. A surveillance state can monitor and control citizens, meaning the curbing of free speech and dissent. Collecting and analyzing personal data may also influence opinions and manipulations.