Everything that you do online is tracked by someone, somewhere. It is one of the largest security concerns of our time. Private companies know who you follow, what you shop for, what you read, and so much more. While some of this information is purely sourced for strategic marketing placement, other parts of it are for private companies to collect your data, sometimes with malicious intent.
The government can sometimes play a part behind the scenes in this operation. They parter with private companies to extract information about you. This makes it difficult to ask the government to hold companies accountable in these actions when they themselves are involved. I think that the government and legislators should work to implement legislation that can help protect unknowing, innocent consumers from having their data and information taken from them. The problem with that is, it can be difficult to draw the line on what the government should be permitted to do and what they should not be. Part of the pros associated with these operations is that this technology can help detect and track down potentially dangerous individuals that could pose a threat to society. This includes terrorists, spies, and other infringements on national security.
These practices effect everyone at some extent. For the everyday consumer, they know your online patterns and information about you that you might rather wish was kept private. Although this can not be completely avoided, there are ways to help protect yourself and your loved ones from these invasive protocols. Some of these include, clearing your cookies and search history regularly, installing a VPN on your devices, and consciously choosing which applications you want to interact with. Different applications and online platforms over varying levels of security, and it is important to protect yourself in every way possible to help keep your online identity as private as you can.
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