It All Comes Down to Advocating…

The readings this week underscores the critical issue of privacy in digital spaces, challenging the prevailing notion that individuals bear the sole responsibility for safeguarding their data. It highlights the inherent challenges posed by the massive collection of personal data online, an integral aspect of surveillance capitalism, making self-management of privacy nearly impossible. It’s suggested that our current conceptualizations of privacy and individual responsibility in the digital sphere may inadvertently disempower users, hindering the recognition of privacy as a fundamental human right.

The readings also emphasizes the limitations of individually initiated protective measures, asserting the necessity of significant legal reforms for comprehensive privacy protection and harm reduction on a broader scale. This insight prompts a critical reflection on the systemic issues ingrained in the current digital landscape, urging a collective call for legal and regulatory changes to address the root causes of privacy breaches. The author’s proposition that writing teachers can play a role in cultivating advocacy skills among students through assignments, such as tracking reports, is particularly compelling. Such initiatives provide students with tangible experiences that enable them to better comprehend the risks associated with compromised privacy, fostering a generation more attuned to the importance of advocating for legal reforms in the realm of digital privacy.

All in all, these readings were another reinforcement of a call to action for us consumers of technology. As this class comes to a close soon, I remember my feelings from the first day of class too now, and how much that has changed, and how much more conscious I have came since then. It’s really an issue that needs advocating for and being more self aware with our data, because it’s not just data, it’s also us. And once we are more aware of that, I think the bigger tech companies at large will have a harder time controlling and being sneaky in the efforts that they create.