In this age of technology, we have made remarkable developments. With one touch of our hand, we have access to unlimited information, and all of it is helping our day-to-day life become easy. However, along with its advantages, technology has many disadvantages too – and one of the evils is the question mark on our privacy. With the development of internet services and social networking, the risk of our daily activities being monitored is increasing.
Every picture, every message leaves an indelible mark in the vast cyberspace. Our regular activities online – from purchases to the websites we visit – all are stored in servers thousands of kilometres away, and that information is used by some tech giants to make money.
Governments sometimes use technology to keep an eye on their citizens. Phone calls are tapped, and our emails are intercepted. Many small and big tech firms hire data analysts to predict our next purchase or our next trip, and on the basis of our regular activities, they then sell their products to us. The Indian government issues Aadhaar cards to us as a means of identification and the parent organisation behind the issuing of the 12-digit Aadhaar makes many claims regarding the safety of individual identity. These claims have been proven false many times, but the opposition goes unanswered.
According to a recent report in the Tribune, it was found that a duplicate Aadhaar was issued only with ₹500. This saddening event puts a blot on the government and the others concerned. Recently, even tech giant Facebook came to the forefront after reports of data leak came into the public sphere, and it spread like fire amongst millions.
One of the co-founders of WhatsApp started #deletefacebook, and as a result, many individuals deleted their accounts. Meanwhile, CEO and founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, apologised, but his replies were not very comforting.
Our privacy is in our hands in this era of technology where everything is somehow linked to the internet. We have to acknowledge this and try to be safe from our side. It is also the responsibility of those tech giants to stop wrongful practices like trading data with money. Everyone has their privacy and people should learn to respect that. Everyone’s individuality is what separates us from others and gives us an identity.