You and your data

You and your data

On Safer Internet Day let's take a closer look at who uses our online data, what it's used for and what we can do to protect it.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises.

Preparation

As the internet and digital technology become a bigger part of our lives, more of our data becomes publicly accessible, leading to questions about privacy. So, how do we interact with the growing digital world without compromising the security of our information and our right to privacy?

Imagine that you want to learn a new language. You search 'Is German a difficult language?' on your phone. You click on a link and read an article with advice for learning German. There's a search function to find German courses, so you enter your city name. It asks you to activate location services to find courses near you. You click 'accept'. You then message a German friend to ask for her advice. When you look her up on social media, an advertisement for a book and an app called German for Beginners instantly pops up. Later the same day, while you're sending an email, you see an advert offering you a discount at a local language school. How did they know? The simple answer is online data. At all stages of your search, your devices, websites and applications were collecting data on your preferences and tracking your behaviour online. 'They' have been following you.

Who uses our data and why?

In the past, it was easy for people to keep track of their personal information. Like their possessions, people's information existed mostly in physical form: on paper, kept in a folder, locked in a cupboard or an office. Today, our personal information can be collected and stored online, and it's accessible to more people than ever before. Many of us share our physical location, our travel plans, our political opinions, our shopping interests and our family photos online – as key services like ordering a takeaway meal, booking a plane, taking part in a poll or buying new clothes now take place online and require us to give out our data. 

Every search you make, service you use, message you send and item you buy is part of your 'digital footprint'. Companies and online platforms use this 'footprint' to track exactly what we are doing, from what links we click on to how much time we spend on a website. Based on your online activity, they can guess what you are interested in and what things you might want to buy. Knowing so much about you gives online platforms and companies a lot of power and a lot of money. By selling your data or providing targeted content, companies can turn your online activity into profit. This is the foundation of the growing industry of digital marketing.

Can you protect your data?                     

Yes … and no!

Some of the time our personal data is shared online with our consent. We post our birthday, our photographs and even our opinions online on social media. We know that this information is publicly accessible. However, our data often travels further than we realise, and can be used in ways that we did not intend. Certain news scandals about data breaches, where personal data has been lost, leaked or shared without consent, have recently made people much more aware of the potential dangers of sharing information online.

So, can we do anything to protect our data? Or should we just accept that in fact nothing is 'free' and sharing our data is the price we have to pay for using many online services? As people are increasingly aware of and worried about data protection, governments and organisations are taking a more active role in protecting privacy. For example, the European Union passed the General Data Protection Law, which regulates how personal information is collected online. However, there is still much work to be done.

As internet users, we should all have a say in how our data is used. It is important that we pay more attention to how data is acquired, where it is stored and how it is used. As the ways in which we use the internet continue to grow and change, we will need to stay informed and keep demanding new laws and regulations, and better information about how to protect ourselves. Safer Internet Day is an ideal time to find out more about this topic. 

https://www.saferinternetday.org/

Discussion

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Profile picture for user montaser

Submitted by montaser on Mon, 22/03/2021 - 08:28

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to be honest the data tracking from the people is a bad thing but all social media apps do it specially face book

Submitted by PARIMALA MADIAZHAKAN on Tue, 16/02/2021 - 04:22

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In my opinion , the way to protect our data is keep our personal information secure offline. Lock your financial statements to keep our data track by a stranger. As a person we need to know what we post in Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and more social apps to protect our data from scam. We need to put our profiles of social media in private settings and it will be the easiest way to protect our data. Further more, as a educated people we must be aware about the scams or some websites that can be danger for our personal data steal from the scammers. After that, we want know about the purpose of some websites that we search and analysis the cons and pros from the website. This will help us to keep save our data and keep us secure in era of digital.
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Submitted by danisep on Sat, 23/01/2021 - 22:13

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The data is not recompiled by people, different algorithms take certain information and build a profile with each person and later are sort into groups. I don't care much about my personal data on internet, If google wants to show me some adverts relates to my search I don't have any problem with that, but I don't use Facebook and I don't share personal photos or specific information on internet. I think in some years are gonna be more laws to protect information or payments plans to keep the internet free from adds and If I would like to change my currently footprint on internet I must change all my accounts.

Submitted by Zolymar Oliveras on Mon, 31/08/2020 - 03:44

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I try to submit the minimum information so that it is not compromised.Verify the regulations.Verify the store information. Verify everything before making a purchase.
Profile picture for user OlaIELTS

Submitted by OlaIELTS on Sat, 30/05/2020 - 23:35

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By staying informed and keeping demanding for better laws and regulations as well as better information on how to get protected.

Submitted by Tajbibi Shamim on Sat, 14/12/2019 - 17:02

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Use secure websites Try to use your cards with curiously. Do not put personal security informations online e.g. In emails Check before opening an email. Do not give out your email address lavishly.
Profile picture for user iso

Submitted by iso on Thu, 07/03/2019 - 07:20

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I do some of an act for protecting my data on the internet.first don't use basic web browser.I use unrecognizable browser when I search something on the internet.whenever I use smartphone. Result of using unrecognizable web browser don't remain footprint when you visit any web site.It avoid advertising for our preferential behavior .Second don't accept any activate location.Google collect users position when we use google map.finally don't share any personal data such as photo,profile and name. I think security on the internet in not perfect.Google said we effort to protect user's information but safety zoom is not exists on the internet.Protect information perfectly is impossible.

Submitted by Caio on Sun, 03/02/2019 - 23:01

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They know a lot even when they don't know us...

Submitted by Jumi on Sat, 02/02/2019 - 17:49

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I sometimes share photografies of my family on social media and I try no complete my information in the websites.

Submitted by Nanci Nunes on Fri, 01/02/2019 - 17:07

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It´s inevitable to have technology being part of our lives from now on. Besides, it´s not the first time in history that certain groups use others' information for their own benefits. We should demand our country authorities appropriate laws to protect us from misuse of our digital data.