Final Essay Rough Draft

Have you ever felt like you were being watched?

Growing up, one of the most strongly taught lessons was to never put personal information out onto the internet - full names, addresses, and the like - all completely forbidden. This was not only to teach us privacy, but also to keep our identities away from prying eyes and internet predators. In today's time, Social media sites sneak invasive and people are more than eager to now willingly offer their personal information and even display it on their profiles, which likely have their name on it.

Some would argue that trackers are beneficial because they are a more automatic way of interfacing with companies. They inform companies of a customer's interests without them having to do so manually. This provides more feedback and research for marketers and overall information to the Internet in order to supply free content, which has helped tech giants like Google and Microsoft grow larger and become more effecient as they give a more personalized, convenient, and streamlined experience to their customers. This is understandable - companies are always trying to cater to their customers.

On the other hand, big corporations like Facebook, Apple, and Google have been notorious for their invasive practices regarding the collection and processing of user data and information, not to mention the very real danger that it may be sold, or even leaked by malicious hackers and made accessible to anyone with internet access and some free time. This is a legitimate concern for the future of the internet, and while it is a boon to the company, the consumer will suffer.

To corporations, personal information isn't just a product, but also potential political pawns as well; as of recently, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been taken to court over a security breach regarding Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm hired by Trump during his campaign in which personal information from more than 50 million Facebook users, such as details on users’ identities, friend networks and “likes.” (Ny Times). It's downright unsettling to know that social media sites would willingly fork over their users' data to influence elections, much to the detriment of apolitical users.

Google, whose slogan was once "don't be evil", has