Dr. Henry Gates Lecture On Privacy

Today, Dr. Henry Gates came to speak about what constitutes privacy in todays society. About 20 years ago there was some sense of privacy for American citizens. Before the masses adopted technology, most people were able to live private lives. Once the internet became widespread and smart phones became prevalent all throughout the United States, any sense of privacy was diminished. Dr. Gates talked about how you don't even have to go out and find information on people anymore because they post it online themselves to their social media sites.

In todays day and age there is no such thing as privacy. When you swipe your card at an ATM or purchase an online product, you are leaving a digital trail that in some cases is handed over to Big Data companies. These Big Data companies track your online purchases, cookies, and then formulate advertisements to put on the websites you visit.

Is this legal? Is it ethical? These are all questions that people ask themselves everyday when they are being tracked online. In reality there is no regulation of the internet or the service providers that Americans use.

Another aspect that Dr. Gates covered was how Americans are bringing products into their homes that can be easily hacked. The Amazon echo is an example of AI (Artificial Intelligence) that can track your sleep patterns, suggest music you might like, and serves as a great outlet for hackers to come into your home. Anything that you purchase that has a constant WIFI connection is fair game for hackers across the world wide web. Someone in Asia could be listening in to a conversation you are having in your kitchen in Boone by hacking the microphone to your amazon echo.

You can never be to careful these days, but the chances of you getting hacked are slim. All you can do is be informed and understand what hackers are capable of. And to always remember that someone could be watching, so don't do anything sketchy.