Privacy, Online and Off

    The issue of government surveillance is such a large issue for every single person on the planet. Juan Enriquez's TedTalk showed how there are 18 billion faces online on websites such as face.com. This means that there are multiple pictures of every person that can be used to not only access your name but your social media pages, your address, criminal records, credit cards, etc. A complete stranger can find out so much about you, without ever meeting you in person or having a conversation with you. Along with this, Catherine Crump in her TedTalk gave the audience a reminder that the government knows more than we think and that they are always tracking us. The government will take pictures of your license plate to find out where you are going and who you are with. While this can be used in order to track any charges someone may have when driving, the government likes to keep this private information just in case you may commit a crime in the future. These invasions of privacy not only impact me but my friends, family, and everyone else in the world because it is truly a reminder that nothing that you do in your life is private, even if you think it is. It shows that we need to be careful with what we post online and do in public because it can all have consequences without us even knowing it. 

    The government should be putting an end to websites such as face.com and shut down websites that display an individual's private information for anyone to see. However, since the government does keep tabs on every single person living in the United States, this unfortunately does not seem like a realistic answer. While there are changes that should be made to make our privacy more secure, I do not feel like we will be seeing any changes because the government wants to ensure that they have access to information on anyone they want at any given moment. 

    According to the TedTalk by Christopher Soghoian, he mentions how encryption on cell phones makes it harder for the government or any other intelligence service to listen to your phone conversations or track what you are doing on your cell phone. Apple iPhones have encryption services on their messaging app, as well as for FaceTime calls. WhatsApp is also very secure and can be beneficial to use when you are communicating with someone who is located in a different country. Sticking to these apps as your main form of communication is the best option because other communication platforms or social media apps may have wiretapping and the government listening into your conversations, as encryption makes the government's job 10 times harder when trying to get access to your phone calls and text messages.