Good old days.
Privacy has become a somewhat blurry concept in recent years. Some of us may have forgotten it or may not have experienced it at all. But there was a time when one had to ask someone about their preferences, the various activities they enjoyed, or even be present with them to experience them. With the availability of cameras in smartphones and platforms to post photos and videos, everyone shares their lives on social networks, and the boundary between private and public life is becoming increasingly thin.
Thin wall
Nowadays, it’s possible to know a lot about the life of someone completely unfamiliar to us with just a visit to their profiles on social networks. Some may argue that everyone has been given a choice to do as they please with their privacy. It’s possible to argue against this by mentioning peer pressure, the possibility of others in our circle posting content about us. But confining it to these arguments alone would be to underestimate the extent of the issue. The breaches in the wall between private and public life go beyond these.
Data leak
The information available about each internet user extends far beyond what we post or what others post about us, with or without our consent. We often imagine that our digital privacy could be physically delimited by the absence of others in the room when we browse the web. But the truth is different.
All searches and any use we make of the internet are recorded in our browser and can be accessed by anyone who has access to our computer. There is a trace, a history of everything we do on our browser. Nevertheless, it’s possible to avoid this by using the private mode available on every browser. Some are already aware of the existence of private mode in browsers; it’s a mode that allows browsing the web without recording visited pages in the history that we use, but this does not prevent our internet service provider from collecting information about us.
The internet service provider being a gateway between us and the page we want to visit, it can, if it wishes, compile an exhaustive list of all the pages we have visited over a period of time. Our internet service provider is not the only one always in the room when we use the internet “alone”. The internet is a vast library with infinite shelves, filled with books and multimedia content that we would like to access if only we could find them.
Search Engine
A well-known solution presents itself, a solution so well-known that we might even be unable to imagine the internet without it. The search engine, a site where everyone passes in search of one aisle or another in the great library of the internet. A registry that provides us with possible destinations where we could find answers to the questions we have.
The omnipresence of search engines, particularly Google, makes it possible to create a fairly complete and somewhat disturbing history of the various aspects of our online browsing, the questions we ask, the needs we have. A technician could thus create a fairly complete image, an identity for each of the users of these search engines. Our privacy is then threatened. It might be more accurate to say that our privacy is virtually non-existent on the web.
All Hope is not lost
Yet there are methods and habits that we could use to protect ourselves from snoopers who, like the statues fixed at the top of Caraba’s house, never take their eyes off us. VPNs, search engines with a firmer stance on data management, non-use of cookies, or strict use of only necessary cookies to ensure a better experience.
You are not alone in the room; exercise caution and good hygiene to protect your privacy.
