The meaning of privacy has changed over the last few years. As the internet spreads like wildfire, and the usage of mobiles for watching videos, shopping and bank transactions multiplies, privacy concerns will only rise with each passing day. Here, we’re not talking of privacy related to what an individual does in his private life, rather we are referring to information related to his personal choices of economic activity being monitored and exploited for commercial benefits.
As we know data from your mobile and internet use is gathered by Google and other platforms and exploited commercially. Your searches and visits are recorded and your trends monitored by these platforms and you receive and see only those ads and notifications that are relevant to you. But do these infringements come with the package? Can we stop or restrain these organizations from gathering information related to you? It doesn’t seem likely as governments are reluctant to pass legislation against this trend.
Another matter of concern in recent times is the illegal gathering of data by social media giants which is prohibited by law. Although nothing has been proved, the hearsay has been that private data like credit card numbers, etc. were stolen and sold to commercial establishments by them.
Governments need to keep an eye out for any illegal gathering of private data and stem down hard on any misuse by anyone no matter how big they might be. The common man has become vulnerable to exploitation due to the rising use of mobile phones and the internet and needs to safeguard his right to privacy with much more resilience than ever before.