Online Assignment 4-5
To start this assignment, I
requested my archive from Facebook, came back a few days later, and noticed
that the file to download was expired since you are only able to open it
shortly after getting it. I just thought
it was extremely strange for Facebook to only give me access to the data they
have on my life for less than 2 days before it becomes closed and I have to
re-request the file again. After I
explored through the numerous files, the most unsettling data that I found was the
facial recognition information they have on me.
That was the last thing I expected to find in the information they store
about me. I always thought it was weird
how Facebook could tag all your friends in pictures for you, but never thought
about the other possibilities this information could be used for until now. Most of the other information, security
settings, friends, pokes, events, messages and pictures don’t really bother me
much. Half of that stuff is accessible
to thousands of people by just scrolling down my page further. The thing I find confusing, is why are there
even security settings, when so much information about you given away without
your knowledge.
After getting my google information,
it was clear that they don’t know much about me. Other than the fact I am a male with an age
between 18 and 24, they don’t have any other information. Under the section humorously titled interests,
they have listed categories from key words I have searched on google in the
past. I guess I never knew my interests
are banking, classical music, East Asian music, visual art and design among
other more accurate topics. They also
have me listed at blocking zero advertising campaigns when in fact I block
every advertisement from appearing on my computer. I would have thought that more information was
collected about me since everything I do goes through google to begin
with.
Overall, this experience wasn’t very
surprising to me. I think the algorithm
designed to direct advertisements is great since there is nothing more useless
than a company paying money to show an ad to people who don’t care. This exercise shows that each time you log
into Facebook or search google, more is happening than what you see which
brings a new perspective into what you do online. Every conversation you have on the internet
is kept somewhere. Today, delete is
thought of a way to make something go away forever. So many movies are based around the sole idea
of finding a way to delete some information, when in reality, there are always
traces. Fields have been found based on
recovering lost data, and companies now check profiles before hiring. Although the delete button is available,
society needs to understand that it’s not there to fix mistakes.
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