Are Our Lives ACTUALLY Private?

Wow, just wow! I have often thought about what I publish as public information and what I keep private, but I never thought that people would have access to what I am doing behind closed doors. After listening to multiple Ted Talks about privacy on and offline, I have started to feel a little less safe in my own skin and quite concerned about where my information is being stored and for what REAL purpose?

What concerned me the most is how people could potentially be listening in on my phone conversations with friends, family, etc. What a concerning thought, to think that my personal phone calls are being violated by an outsider. An outsider who now probably knows my habits, catches glimpses of my relationships and hears about my day to day routine.

These Ted Talks reminded me of a privacy concern that I often think about when I am online, whether it be on my laptop, phone, or other devices. Why do I find that after talking aloud about a certain subject, it then appears on my internet or social media feeds as an ad? For example, my mom and I were conversing about a candle sale at Bath and Body Works that we were interested in going to. During our conversation I opened Instagram and was scrolling through my feed. After scrolling for less than 30 seconds, there was an Ad for the SAME Bath and Body candle sale that we were talking about! How can this be!? Am I being listened to? Technically...no.
What I have learned is that websites like Facebook gather so much information on you that they are able to compile your likes, dislikes, and interests. Every single little piece of information that they have about you is used to target you and show you potential ads that you will most likely be interested in. As creepy and uncomfortable as it sounds, we are the ones putting our information out there for the world and websites like Facebook to have access to.

https://phys.org/news/2019-06-facebook-ads.html

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