This lecture by graphic novels tutor Dan Berry focused on the innovation of smart phones and Ipads but also the amount of personal information they obtain from us without our knowledge. The things we use almost everyday of our lives - Facebook, Amazon, Kindle and smart phones - take huge amounts of our personal information and keep the data indefinitely. This information varies from our location to our spending habits and if written out would fill over eight-hundred pages. These products and sites and undeniably life changing but are they too intrusive?
The answer is also undeniable - yes. Internet pages and technological devices take far too much personal information and we seem to hand it over without batting an eyelid, but in today's world you need to give this information away to have any sort of presence on the Internet - for example setting up a Facebook or twitter account to advertise your company, get the latest news or even just catch up with friends asks for several personal questions varying from age to your telephone number. Although these sites state in their terms and conditions that they will never sell your information or, nor will they ever use it without your permission, Internet hacker groups, such as Anonymous, who are infamous for hacking the PlayStation Network, celebrity twitter pages and other large sites have proven that this information is easy to access and can be stolen very easily.
Although this lecture was not particularly useful to my subject and had no real purpose other than to scare us about the amount of information we give away willing and offered no solution to this problem, it was a very interesting lecture. Very few people stop and read terms and conditions when applying for online sites such as Facebook and Tumblr because we assume our personal information is safe. It's a good job these terms and conditions don't state they can own your soul or take all your possessions because thousands of people - including myself - would probably not notice and click accept!
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