(Terms and Services by Paul Waite. Shared Under CC BY-SA 2.0. Web Link: Flickr)
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This week's reading and films brings about my watching of the film, Terms and Conditions May Apply, as well as a reading on the terms of use for the educational company, Instructure. After completing the assigned reading and film, my view point on the Internet, society's privacy, and websites terms of conditions has changed to limit the amount of information I post online.
To begin, the Internet is a scary place that not only provides freedom for people to publish information, but a place that tracks everyone's searches and interactions online. One example the film used that stood out to me the most was a father and his disapproval with the company Target. The encounter was about Target sending the father's daughter a coupon for birth control. The issue here was that the father thought Target was targeting his daughter and pushing for the daughter to engage in sexual activity. Instead, the coupons were sent out to the daughter because she had recently purchased these products before without telling her father. This was crazy to find out that companies have the resources to track previous purchases and send out coupons to influence ones decision to purchase that product again.
On the basis of our society's privacy, we have to be careful with what we post. To do so we should limit the amount of information we post publicly to avoid false accusations of wrong-doing. To exemplify this, I will discuss it through a post a 7th grade boy posted on social media. In this case, the boy tried to warn the president of potential conflicts arising in the area, but instead his tweet was flagged for harm and the FBI came to interrogate him. Because of situations like, I believe we should have more privacy and be able to express our mind without contradictions arising, however that is not how our society works. Instead our privacy online is very scarce as our information is tracked and provided to the government for use on their discretion. This is scary!
Next, term and conditions are long and time-consuming to read. However, they may be of benefit to read so information that you do not want released is not released because you were able to catch the policies related to distribution of information on the site.
In closing, I will provide definitions for some of the words I was unsure of while listening to the Terms and Conditions May Apply film:
- Digital footprint – it is a trail of data you create while using the Internet and scrolling through different areas on a web page. Source: Link
- Cookies – they are small file that are stored on a user’s computer to help websites keep track of your visits and activity. Source: Link
- Patriot Act – it is a congressional bill that was passed that allowed the government to use tools on web pages to detect and deter terrorism. Source: Link
- Third party doctrine and the Fourth Amendment – if you voluntarily provide information to a third party, the fourth amendment does not preclude the government from accessing it without a warrant. Source: Link
Terms and Conditions May Apply. Link: Terms and Conditions May Apply
Canvas by Instructure. Link: terms of use
Hello! I thought this documentary was very alarming too! The scenario that you mentioned about Target sending the daughter coupons for birth control is especially shocking because it goes to show that major companies are collecting and storing data about us in order to make millions of dollars. In that scenario the outcome was not a pleasant one (with the dad finding out about the pregnancy before the daughter announced it). I can not imagine what other ethical dilemmas this could cause for other people as these sort of things continue to happen!
ReplyDeleteHi Ryan, I would agree terms and conditions are a hassle to read, but they can provide good information on what a company has access to regarding your data. I don't think a lot of people realize just how much data is collected and stored on individuals, and it can be scary to think about. It makes you think twice about your activity on social media or the internet when you realize how many people/companies are seeing it.
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