Technology is one of the greatest inventions to ever exist, but with it come some major downsides. These consequences range from environmental concerns to social networking and privacy issues and devils backbone mt bachelor. Recently, technology has reached a critical point: Silicon Valley companies that control our personal data are now looking for ways to collect more data on us than what we’re willing and able to provide. Technology is likely here to stay, with or without us — but at least there’s still time for some intelligent resistance!
The following blog post explores 8 reasons technology is the end of the world distilled down into simple points.
1. People are victims of advertisers
The Internet is slowly becoming one big ad-filled maze. Every time you log into Facebook, every time you Tweet, every time you check your newsfeed or join a new website, you’re giving away your personal information for free. Many people don’t even know about the way companies can use their data to target ads in their own or other people’s feeds. Google’s Gmail is great at making it easy to stay organized, but not so great at keeping track of your emails and using them to send targeted advertisements … It also harvests data on everything from your interests and preferences to what job you might be applying for.
2. The government can build a dossier on you
Google isn’t the only one with your information … Pretty much every site you visit, from Facebook to Pinterest, knows your home address and name, what you ate for breakfast, and how many cats you own. If that’s not creepy enough for you, companies can legally sell users’ personal data without their consent … But the FBI and even the IRS are building profiles on citizens as well.
3. Your friends and family are being targeted in the ads you’re seeing
The Internet is also great at personalizing ads, showing you what your friends have bought in the past. The social network Facebook even has algorithms that can infer your relationship status based on your time spent on the site — a discovery that has led to a class action lawsuit. Of course, people are not just being targeted by ads: they’re being manipulated into buying everything from pharmaceuticals to cars, and children are often the victims of cookie-selling scams. What’s more, many online advertising companies use techniques such as behavioral targeting to tailor their marketing efforts according to people’s race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
4. Your privacy is being invaded by your ISP
If you’re connected to the Internet, chances are your home or office ISP is recording every website you visit, including Google searches and social networking sites. This allows them to sell their personal information to advertisers. But what’s worse is that they can legally sell this data without the user’s consent.
5. Your life can be ruined by a single click of the “OK” button
Online stores such as Ebay have become increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to tempt users into buying from them by using psychological tricks on them — but these practices have also been employed by many other sites such as Amazon and Netflix. For example, the website OKCupid shows much more positive results for those who were rated as more attractive by other users, without disclosing that this is how the site works.
6. Our online conversations are being tracked
Email is one of the most popular ways to communicate, yet few people know that services such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail scan emails to keep track of interests and consumer behaviors — a way of gathering data in order to sell it to advertisers. This also means that you may run into problems if you put something in an email that contains sensitive information like an invalid phone number or your real street address.
7. We’re losing our rights to free speech
Because public figures and celebrities often have fewer privacy rights than ordinary people, private citizens are starting to get more scrutiny than ever before. In the past few years, more than a few Twitter users have had their accounts suspended after posting death threats or offensive statements — and even those who aren’t famous or influential can be guilty of expressing unpopular opinions in their own personal blogs.
8. The media is controlled by branches of the government
Our news is reported by the mainstream media which has become a mouthpiece for the government and military officials, who now have access to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The government can literally shut down these sites like Facebook and Twitter (both of which are owned by the same company), and through the use of “blacklists” it can block certain websites from being accessible to users in specific regions.
Summary:
As you can see, there are many reasons why technology is a problem for the world. Hopefully, this list will help you understand some of the issues that technology can create or is currently creating. Don’t worry: the world has already started making some changes, like the European Union’s Cyber Security Strategy. It looks as if it’s up to us to solve these problems on our own!
