The question I struggled with and probably the reason I shrugged security off in the past is because, who cares about me? What is someone going to want with my data and how could it affect me? After considering the course content, these are the changes I will be making and why.
Continue using Ghostery tracking.
There seems to be a common theme about three privacy encounters online: tracking, surveillance and theft. I aspire to go into digital marketing, and have been fascinated with tracking capabilities. At first I was a little spooked by target marketing, but now I like it. I enjoy seeing ads that are relevant to my needs and interests. That said, I know that not everyone acts ethically and sometimes companies may push for data that they don’t need. In this area I fully believe that brands need to check in with their marketers’ ethics regularly. To monitor tracking on my computer, I use Ghostery. Ghostery is a Google plugin that keeps me aware of people monitoring my internet use.
Incorporate security to my content curations.
I don’t think that I have taken enough time educating myself on surveillance and theft as I have with my interest in digital marketing. I was very upset after watching the Snowden movie, but like some of the readings mention, I ended up forgetting about it. It is important not to forget about it and to continuously ask myself, am I comfortable with the government eavesdropping? I have a goal for myself, that I have come up with from this course, to complete a content curation each week covering various topics for digital media. I will be adding tracking, surveillance and theft as a group topic to my calendar.
Thoroughly read terms and conditions.
When I think of identity theft online, I think of my credit card and social security number. I never allow my computer to save my card information and I don’t use apple pay. There are some apps that remember the information, but I try to opt out as often as I can. Someone once took a photo of my bank card, and while not stolen from the internet, it really impacted my trust for others with that information. A change that I will be making in response to theft, is thoroughly reading terms and conditions because I don’t ever really know what I am agreeing to and those agreements as we’ve learned, mean a great deal when trying to protect myself.
Updating my computer and apps regularly.
Having worked at a tech center I was familiar with the vulnerabilities and patching dialogue, but I never really thought I would need it for my personal data. I thought that updates and worrying about security would be more important for a global brand.
