# Privacy Footprint

"It's wise to be wary" (Kernighan 2017).
This is how Kernighan closes his chapter on online privacy. Throughout the chapter, Kernighan explains how advertisers create a strong detailed picture of each online user in order to cater directly to the consumer. Each individual is tracked on multiple different sources. All of these sources collect general information about each user. This is done when you request the use of the browser. In order to eliminate this you can download NoScript, which I did following this practical assignment in which I realized many sites have more information than I would have liked, however, I did have to turn off my No Script in order to use HackMD, and I am unsure why.
Other sources have a detailed picture of your personal interests, social networks, personal finances, along with many other personal aspects of your life. For example, Google keeps track of what you click on and your location (I personally have disabled my location history).

Google does an impeccable job of keeping track of what has been recently searched and turning that into what ads may be of interest to the user. Google has become such an expert at this because every time an ad is clicked, Google gets compensated. An example of Google's ad personalization can be seen below. For the past week, I have been trying to get tickets to see Taylor Swift, and so now many of my suggested ads include ticket sales. 

The biggest issue with privacy is that many companies are not as up-front with the information needed so many people don't even know what apps have what information. Kernighan brings up the point that a flashlight app does not need your location, contacts, and call log- yet they may have the information (Kernighan 2017). In my Mobile Communication class, we actually went into the settings on our phones and looked through the apps that had our location, and it was revealing. Many apps that I did not know had my information was storing my information. I never would have thought to look at this information until prompted to in class and I think that speaks to the fact that the general public remains unaware of the digital trail they left without knowledge. This can be especially true when cyber-stalking oneself. While I could not find any personal information on myself other than my personal testimonial from a digital marketing internship I did, which seems like rather innocent information for the internet to have.

The video and general search of myself revealed nothing but other Sarah Gordons of the world.


However, while searching for my parents I found a much more revealing digital trail.

I was able to find my Mom's current and past addresses, phone numbers, and so much more. It is important to be aware that this information can be accessed online if sought out. To me, this feels like an invasion of privacy and quite scary and I am glad I am now aware that this type of information can be revealed online.

I have decided to take the personal steps to install NoScript onto my computer so that websites can have less of my information, cleared my information from all of my social media apps, and turned off many apps that have my location and other sensitive personal information. In the future, I would love to see more online information about privacy given to the general public. I think if the public was aware that Facebook does not listen to you, but rather stalks your social network's interests and feeds them back to you, people may become warier of the information they reveal online.

I hope to maintain my rather clean digital trail and hope that others have access to the tools needed to do so as well.