aptain
pplesauce
Too much personal digital information
Hello all
Do you think I am sharing too much information about myself on this site?
I felt inspired in writing about digital information and your privacy. It may seem like I am coming from a place of paranoia, but where I believe I am coming from is a place of a matter of fact. I am sharing with you guys a lot of semi-private things on this blog, kind of like a post-secret journal. In the computer world, my website is known as the “demilitarized zone.” I realize anything I am putting out there should be thoughts I should not be afraid to share publicly on the Internet. However, I believe it does not matter too much because we are sort of owned today by the information we put out there.
Let's expose what is under the peeled apple. Here's some crunchy juicy food for thought:
- We use all these so-called "free" cloud services and email programs, but how are we paying for them?
- Every search you put into a search engine or smart device is recorded/mined… all your strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes, they are recorded somewhere.
- Every picture saved to Facebook, every document and image saved to a cloud service. Even the “secure” ones can probably be hacked. I ask myself these questions:
- Why are these smart devices so cheap?
- Why do we score points for completing surveys or get free online entries to sweepstakes? Data mining people – companies learn more about you and your interests.
By me maintaining a blog and a .com website, web predators think straight away:
- he is trying to make a profit
- he is lonely and needs babes
- he wants health products
Now I know I am 1 of 7 billion plus people on our beautiful planet trying to make the best of our earthly situation. The Billy Joel song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” sometimes is how I feel. Other times, it is Louie Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” As I gotten older the Cranberries song, “Ode to My Family,” and the chorus “does anyone care?” resonates. Honestly, its quite okay with me if you laugh at me, and/or my shared thoughts and move on.
We are all human and we make mistakes and exercise poor judgment sometimes. Gosh, I help so many older people with computers and it is so hard to tell them how insecure their digital lives really are. It is just too tiring and impossible of a thing to fix. It is kind of like bicycling in the city without a helmet. Yes, you probably will be okay, but statistically 818 people were killed riding in the year 2015. That’s more than 2 a day and that’s only actual deaths. You could be one of the hapless victims of information fraud just as I have been multiple times.
Just like people that graffiti on walls, there are people out in cyberspace trying to vandalize you. Do not take it personally because it is not. Luckily, companies are getting smarter and security is improving. Real-time two factor authentication is one of my favorites.
You can think I am sharing too much of myself on this site and you are probably right. But think about these things for a moment:
- All of your credit card companies know what you like to buy and how you spend your money. They know every address and phone number you ever had and how credit worthy you are
- Some of the non-profits you donate to share your information with each similar other non-profits to try to obtain more from you.
- Your Internet searches are mined at some level
- Your smart home searches are mined at some level
- Your smartphone contains tons of personal information about you including where you are presently located
- Heck! I am tracking where you are reportedly from and what web browser you are using visiting my site
That all being said, this is a great time in our world to be alive. There are so many possibilities of things to do, see, and explore in an affordable manner. Just be mindful that your information is freely being given away digitally. Hence, you visited my website. I am sharing my thoughts freely. If it makes you happy, it makes me happy. If they do not, that is okay too – move along. All the best to you, your friends and your families.
Take good care all
Allen
