Introduction
Nowadays, the advent of the digital era has brought great changes to people’s lives. It enriches people’s behaviours to a great extent in online social interaction. However, the concerns about online privacy are increasingly raising awareness. This blog will illustrate the privacy issue in the common online practices of the public. It will discuss how and why our privacy is accessed by digital platforms and companies. Then it will use website pop-ups as the main case study. I will take online terms of the agreement as well as malicious software as its two different specific amplifications to evaluate how people’s digital rights of privacy have been threatened. It will present some possible solutions for companies and individuals at the end.
Privacy issues we meet online
(NEWS18.COM, 2020)
The loss of personal privacy has become one of the most increasing concerns in the digital era. Privacy itself is an important human right for all races. However, it is not easy for individuals to defend their privacy rights, especially on the internet. Marwick and Boyd (2018) argue that the technology of the network complicates the dynamics of privacy. Since more mature and complex systems of platforms are gathering more users, more online activities can be accomplished. According to Flew (2021), almost the majority of companies with digital platforms have the same privacy issues. In that case, users are losing trust in these companies from protecting their personal information. Rainie (2018) also points out that most adults claim that their private data is not under the protection of these companies, moreover, they are losing control of how these companies collect and use their information. However, Flew (2021) discusses the privacy paradox that people seem to care about their privacy and personal data a lot, but their actions are the opposite. The conflicting phenomenon maybe can be explained by the blurred boundaries between the reasonable collection for providing a better user experience and direct violation. Flew (2021) examines that by mentioning the requirement of personal information to get access to different online products and services, however, these data can be sold to third parties. In that case, the audiences or customers lose much of their private information actively but unintentionally. It is a prominent and common strategy how some commercial interests do to acquire, evaluate and use these data without clear permission from the users. Website pop-ups are one of the common tactics companies would use to access information invisibly.
Why our privacy is valued by digital platforms and companies?
To protect our privacy, we should know why our data seems valuable to digital platform companies. Our data like basic information about gender, age, education level, location and so on can provide basic profiles. The browsing history like what we bought, what we may like and what we may be interested can provide specific profiles for companies to target. And these are the things they are interested in since these profiles under elaborate algorithms can together help them target accurate ads towards us and therefore revenue generated. In that case, personal data is important for them to collect and evaluate. The relationship between data and algorithms is interactive and indivisible. Algorithms can help companies target us more efficiently and accurately. Algorithms can not work separately without the help of data. Or in another word, data as an indispensable component of an algorithm system is like the oil to boost its operation. According to Flew (2021), algorithms can be understood as a machine-driven activity, one of its main processes and rules is data-processing (Flew, 2021). Just and Latzer (2017) argue that algorithmic selection should be contextualised relevant to assess the decentralized data signals automatically and statistically. In that case, algorithms analyse data actively in return, not just wait for data to join the process individually.
(Ward, 2018)
Moreover, the improvement of the algorithmic process connecting with data proliferation, data diversity and the engagement of specific users regularly. For example, our interests are changing over time. Maybe after having a baby, a parent will interest more in baby clothes, food and toys. And with time goes by, the need for the baby will change not only in daily groceries but also in education or others. So keeping up with the audiences’ life changes is profitable for the companies to know what products or services can be targeted to them. In that case, the collection of data regularly is important. Even if the collection and usage can breach people’s privacy, they would do that more invisibly to make a profit.
Website pop-ups
There is a common phenomenon that when browsing web pages, both some expected and unexpected pop-up web pages or ads would appear. There are some different examples of pop-ups and they lead to different extent of loss of privacy.
Online terms of the agreement
Some of the pop-ups require the information details to get access to further services. Terms of the agreement will be the main example to evaluate how users’ private information is stolen invisibly by the platforms and companies. It is a tricky way to get information from users for unexpected usage that this blog mentioned before. And it also indicates the privacy paradox that even though we believe that we care about our privacy, we always choose to relax our vigilance when we face potential privacy threats. It is a common phenomenon, especially when users first access certain websites or use specific functions. It is not like subscribing to the regular updates or agreement of receiving emails these days. Users nowadays can choose not to subscribe or receive emails more easily than before. However, the loss of privacy can be trickier and invisible through the unimpressive terms of agreements. According to Suzor (2019), many of the online terms of agreements are lack accuracy and complete information. And the majority of audiences do not have the patience to read all of the texts carefully. Moreover, users can only choose to accept or not in most of the online terms of agreements. In that case, they can only make an overall decision even if the description is overall vague and complicated. So if the potential customer has the will to use or subscribe to certain products or services, they usually scroll down the pages and choose ‘yes’. The customers have no other options than acceptance when they already have the intention to use certain services. Suzor (2019) also points out that these online documents provide adequate even abundant power to the platforms. For example, the platforms have the discretion to set the rules they consider suitable and legal. Therefore, the consent of the users is mainly without information since these terms are difficult to understand, and the definition can be changed by the platform without the notice of the users (Flew, 2021).
Moreover, the algorithms these companies used to evaluate these personal data are not transparent as well. Since firstly the data collection is not under consent. Secondly, transparency of these algorithms can not be delivered to the public easily due to the intentional companies. According to Andrejevic (2019), the technology companies who control the algorithms take secrecy extremely important. They use legal prohibitions and interlocking technology to prevent outside people from understanding. Even the government has stepped into the process and asked them for disclosure to the consumers, financiers would choose more complex transactions to parry the transparency (Andrejevic, 2019). In that case, the information between service providers and consumers is asymmetrical. And the tilted even unfair relationship between them boosts the process for platforms and companies to access and utilise user information without their permission.
Malicious Software
In addition, some website pop-ups do not conform closely or are related to the content of the original web page. Because it is often not generated from the same legal platform or company. The illegal organisation or groups do not choose to do it sugar-coated and under the table like the big social platforms or famous technology companies do. But they rather choose a more harmful way to launch malicious software to steal personal data. And the process of breaching privacy always combing with destruction. So it seems more visible and less tolerable by the users. Malicious software is not legal, but as sneaky as the online terms of agreements for sure. The way they sneak into our devices always relates to cheating. It will attract the audiences by combing with misleading or ambiguous design. For example, when the users try to close an unexpected window by clicking it, there is the risk of entering another unknown web page accidentally. Which malicious software is often hidden. Aside from these pop-ups can reduce the user experience of internet activities, the origin and attributes of the pop-ups are unknown to the users. Moreover, they can further directly access the deeper information on the user’s computer after the user clicks the window. Personal information including gender, age, location, and purchase history even more specific and accurate information can be accessed by them. The worst scenario is that the computer or mobile virus through the malicious software is highly likely to be accompanied by devices that never compromise the user’s device’s security or lifetime. In that case, people cannot get rid of this type of virus easily, and further information can be lost and stolen in the future.
Malware can target individuals’ electronic devices in numerous ways and website pop-ups are one of the most efficient ways to target users.
In the digital era, the technology industry is facing challenges from the privacy issue since it has drastic effects on the end-users. The threats are mainly influenced by data loss that can create a long-term impact on big organisations. Individuals can also be affected not only at work, but also in their daily life. Especially in the pandemic era, privacy concern is raising more awareness among people (Flew, 2021). McAphee (2021) also points out that the privacy issue may be exacerbated in the Covid-19 pandemic due to more remote working. Since they are handling more office work online, there are more opportunities they are exposed to potential uncontrolled websites with malware.
Malware threatens organisations and individuals by accessing and even destructing their private data in that case. McAphee (2021) argues that malware is the ultimate invasion of privacy. Malware can be embedded into systems through ads and files on website pop-ups. It can crack weak passwords and therefore can get deep into the computer systems. In addition, malware can cause sudden performance drops since they occupy much of a device’s processing power. Frequent crashing and freezing and deleted or corrupted files are also common signs of the existence of malware. These various types of destruction are the most blatant expression of the invasion of users’ privacy since the unwitting users at the expense (McAphee, 2021).
Conclusion
In the face of this social phenomenon that is difficult to restrain, as a business, the first option is corporate self-regulation. This is essentially the status quo for the last decade, where digital platform companies respond to periodic “public shocks”, with profuse apologies, promises to do better, and minor changes to the user experience of their platforms. (Flew, 2021). As individuals, using the Internet more cautiously and requesting legal assistance for infringements promptly may be the best and only way for now to safeguard our privacy rights.
Since privacy concerns indeed take more awareness among us. But just like the privacy paradox, we are not doing the same thing as we say. The Malicious Software will get us more anxious, alarming and direct actions would be taken while we often ignore the privacy concern underneath actions look legitimate like the online terms of the agreement. So be more cautious during our internet use. You can start that by watching out for all the pop-ups, no matter whether it looks harmful or sanctimonious!
Reference list
Andrejevic, M (2019). Automated Culture. In Automated Media. (pp. 44-72). London: Routledge.
Flew, Terry. (2021). Regulating Platforms. (pp. 72-86). Cambridge: Polity
Press
Just, N., and Latzer, M. (2017). Governance by algorithms: Reality construction by algorithmic selection on the internet. (pp. 238–258). Media, Culture & Society, 39(2).
Marwick, A. & Boyd, D. (2019). Understanding Privacy at the Margins: Introduction. (pp. 1157-1165). International Journal of Communication.
McAphee, S. (2021). The Ultimate Invasion of Privacy: Malware and Its Impact on Safely Using Today’s Computer. (pp. 108-111). The Serials Librarian, 81(1). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2021.2021697
Rainie, L. (2018). Americans’ complicated feelings about social media in an era of privacy concerns. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/27/americans-complicatedfeelings- about-social-media-in-an-era-of-privacy-concerns
Suzor, N. (2019). Lawless: The Secret Rules that Govern our Lives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
