Privacy in the Digital Age

https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/18287/revisiting-the-patriot-act-and-americas-ongoing-tug-of-war-between-privacy-and-security

This week, we discussed privacy (or the lack thereof) in the digital age. After watching the TED Talk videos, I found Christopher Soghoian’s talk on phone surveillance to be the most interesting and impactful. Firstly, I was surprised at how easy it is for a government, hacker, or other entity to wiretap our phone calls. I assumed that it would have been fairly simple to surveil landline/switchboard phone calls, since they used a physical connection, but I did not expect it to be just as easy to listen in on cell phone calls. I was even more surprised to learn that digital communications through iMessage and WhatsApp are significantly more secure than traditional phone calls. Without any in-depth prior study of digital privacy, I had always assumed that vocal communication like phone calls were secure, since they were not written and recorded like text messages. It was encouraging to hear that companies like Apple are making an effort, in at least some areas, to preserve the privacy of consumers. I can recall, in recent memory, that Apple refused to unlock their devices for law enforcement investigations, even when pressured by some of the highest authorities in the government.

The issue of digital privacy affects just about everyone in the US today, including me. As someone who grew up with the internet and personal electronics, I realize that much of my life has been chronicled online through social media posts by my relatives, and I can never remove those posts from the internet. If the government were truly committed to protecting our privacy, they would repeal invasive acts such as the 2001 Patriot Act, but I believe that governmental surveillance will only get worse over time. With little support from our own government, citizens should do what they can to protect their own privacy, like limiting their social media use and using more secure communication platforms, like iMessage or Whatsapp.

 

https://time.com/5765771/apple-fbi-pensacola/

https://www.aclu.org/documents/surveillance-under-usapatriot-act#:~:text=Under%20the%20Patriot%20Act%2C%20the,the%20Fourth%20Amendment%20explicitly%20requires.