It is no doubt that we live in a media-centric world today. Most people I know carry around smart phones which makes them connected to all sorts of media outlets all of the time. As media develops though, it seems as if personal privacy is being eliminated.
Our media technology allows us to find basically anything we are looking for and now our information is something that people can find. These may be people that we really don’t want knowing our phone number, address, what schools we have attended, and other information like that. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other outlets like this are very personal yet people love to share them with everyone. Doesn’t that seem a little unsafe? If I check myself in at the Florida Keys I’m letting the world know my apartment has no one in it. I’m basically saying come break in and steal my stuff. Hopefully your friends on Facebook like you and have no plans to use your posts and tags against you. Most of those outlets do have some privacy settings you can control which can help this privacy issue a little bit.
One thing I noticed recently though has started to scare me. I have an iphone and I recently updated it. When I did I noticed some changes with my apps. Facebook wanted to sink itself with my phone. It wanted to have access to my photos, my contacts, and my schedule. What is Facebook going to do with my personal photos, contacts, and schedule that I’m not trying to publicize on Facebook? I don’t want Facebook or Pic Stitch to have access to all my photos, just the ones I want to use for those apps, but my phone makes me agree to general access of my photos.
Most people don’t even think twice about the invasion of privacy media outlets provide. Maybe it was the way I was raised, but I don’t think I will ever stop being concerned about my private information being shared with the world.