# Privacy Footprint

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How concerned should we be about our privacy online? Is there anything we can do to protect it?

How much is one willing to give up for the sake of convenience? In our modern society, we are readily able to access any information on the web through a simple Google search. The tradeoff is that the modern person has chosen to give up their privacy and information, as the web is an information network that collects information about people as well. In Ryan Haridy's article, the author states that "Out of over 17,000 Android apps examined, more than 9,000 had potential permissions to take screenshots. And a number of apps were found to actively be doing so, taking screenshots and sending them to third party sources." This indicates that people are unknowingly engaging in apps that are essentially stealing information about them. These findings make it more important for people to be sensitive about apps and websites that they are using because they are *adopting* this into their life. Because a person's phone has a large amount of sensitive information, such as one's banking information and location, the audience must be more protective of their information by anticipating that some of their data may be shared.

And from this information influx, the internet has gotten better at predicting our next move. In Kernighan's "Data and Information," the author discusses how companies use the data collected. He implies that companies can assume your relationship with others through your phone interaction as "someone you speak to once a year is less likely to be a close friend than someone you talk to once a week." This is a significant finding because the internet's ability to predict relationships with people means that it can read social contexts. People have always assumed that technology will not be able to replace human ability because people have complex social interactions. However, in modern technology, these informal contexts are treated as any other data, which is used to make assumptions about a person's relationships.

Unfortunately, society has become increasingly reliant on technology that it is impossible for one to completely detach from it. Humans are becoming more and more specialized, rather than well-rounded in terms of skill and survival. This increased specialization limits people from learning skills valuable for society, rather than for their daily living. Consequently, these individuals become increasingly reliant on technology for daily tasks. Additionally, it may be considered *unnecessary* to develop skills that can be done more accurately through technology. In fact, this rising generation has been predicted to have never used a map, because of the convenience and accuracy of GPS technology, such as Google maps.

More importantly, while we are quick to adjust to *easier ways of doing things*, we find out about its tradeoff months or even years after using that technology. At that point, people are adjusted to life with technology that it is easier to accept privacy violations than to live without the convenience that the technology offers. The compromise between privacy and convenience will still exist, but both sides will become increasingly invasive. New technologies may allow increased convenience and use, but at the same time require more and more information from the person.