The nightmare regarding privacy on the internet still bothers me. A post on the value of our digital data has already been released and I recommend you check it out. Mostly you hear that your personal data is being targeted by hackers and the so-called dark web. Investigation has revealed that website passwords, dates of birth and addresses are available on the everyday web. At least every person in this world has interacted with the internet one way or the other. Either creating a G-mail, Facebook, Instagram or a Twitter account. The personal data we give for free is transformed into a precious commodity.
Data in this era is often compared to oil that runs all of the tech giants out there just like how fossil fueled energized those of the past. Every day, hundreds of these companies are gathering facts about us but we the consumers know little about how much of our data is being extracted. In a recent post by KickassFacts, they released a list of people who downloaded their Google data and went through it. Here is a list of responses from some of the 30 people who shared their experience. This was copied and was not edited.
1. Their profile claims I like Chinese rap. I have no idea why other than one video I came across in the Youtube rabbit hole.
– EnaiSiaion
2. There’s an audio recording of me saying “check the Jewish boy’s penis” I don’t remember ever saying that but ok.
– MrPingeee
3. Recordings of conversations with my boss for over two years. I don’t know why it only had recordings of us talking and no one else.
– FiveOhFive91
4. If you use Google Photos and allow Maps to track your location:
I took photos that I didn’t like, deleted them. Weeks later I am just browsing my timeline in Google Maps and those deleted photos are there, tagged to the location. Nothing incriminating, just thought you should know that a delete isn’t deleted.
– kinobe
5. Definitely the voice recordings. That should be turned off by default instead of needing to be changed by the user.
– mahoujosei100
6. I got drunk once and proceeded to get lost on the way home, ending upcycling on some highway. For two years I wondered where the hell I had been until I saw Google’s location history for that night.
– onnoquist
7. Mine is 10GB, holy sh*t it’s gonna take a while to download. It is an old account but I have all activity paused except youtube watch history, so I’m really interested to see why it’s so large. Hmmmmm
– ridethewild
You can view everything from KickassFacts here.
All this information was accumulated on a wide spectrum of consent as some of the data is forked in a hard-to-parse terms of service agreements. It is easy for these tech giants to create a profile of you, discover passwords and password hints and other intimate information. There is an enormous wealth of information out there that reveals people's interest, religion and this is even used against them to change their political preference. Just like the issue with Cambridge Analytica. The dangers were seen, concerns were raised and consumers even requested to see the data they had on them.
What the internet reveals about us appears to be a disturbing issue. For Google you can download what they have on you from their servers. Remember downloading it doesn't delete , just think of it as a backup. Download your Google data from here. Your privacy and data should be controlled by you and anytime you are interacting with the internet, take time to consider the information you are letting out.