Online Disclosure and Access to Personal Information Increases Vulnerability

Online Disclosure and Access to Personal Information increases Vulnerability
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Online Disclosure and Access to Personal Information increases Vulnerability
The digital era has brought its share of benefits and concerns over the last few decades. One of the concerns arising from this era is the privacy concern where personal and private information is now easily accessible. Individuals and companies only require doing online research by visiting social networking sites and a flood of personal information on their subject greets them. A recent article published by Tufekci (2019) in The New York Times reveals that currently, discretion while using online platforms does not necessarily guarantee the privacy and/or limit access to personal information. This revelation presents an even deeper concern on whether privacy is an individual responsibility anymore. The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of personal information in regard to how vulnerable people have become, either to organizations that stand to benefit from personal information or to individuals with personal agendas.
Protecting personal data is no longer an individual responsibility. We are all vulnerable, regardless of what we post online and the measures we take to protect ourselves from privacy invasion. Even when people believe that their information is discreet, there is always a possibility that someone will somehow access and use personal information in whichever way they see fit. Most people understand the risks involved when personal information is disclosed online, whether by them or by someone else, yet they feel that there is nothing they can really do to protect their online data from illegal access (Hargittai & Marwet, people are still not taking the necessary measures to counteract the risks involved. This has been referred to as the privacy paradox, which in short, is the difference between users’ online behavior and their implied privacy concerns (Barth & de Jong 2017, p.3; Hargittai & Marwick 2016, p.3738). It is possible that people actually intend to keep their information private but their intentions are overtaken by the demands presented by the digital era. In fact, some people believe that ensuring personal information is protected is actually a personal responsibility in the sense that if one does not want their information to be out there, they should not post it online in the first place (Hargittai & Marwick 2016, p.3748). However, they seem to forget one thing; that in this digital era, almost everything, from ordering food to meeting new people, is happening through online platforms. Thus, personal information will get into an online database one way or another. And once that happens, the responsibility shifts from the individual. For instance, Tufekci (2019) posits that a mere magazine subscription contains enough personal information that can be used by politicians and other groups of people without an individual having to disclose their personal beliefs or preferences. As such, personal information is no longer as personal as we would like to think, specifically after it enters the online space.
Organizations are using personal i...