Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
clear sky
weather
OMAN
25°C / 25°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

The term privacy needs a new definition in cyberspace

lakshmi
lakshmi
minus
plus

We are in the digital world and that means your identity in this arena is as important as your real self.


We give so much importance to our appearance and yet take it to another level on social media. What we post, comment and reflect are all part


of our persona, which can be used against or for us.


So for a few days had the experience of disappearing from one of the social media platforms before being brought back after being refreshed I presume. It was a shock at first and adding to the injury was what was left of the account.


Just googling the name brought in the social media as well, but some of the pages had different people’s images and that is when it was a relief to know the account was disabled. A safety measure I suppose. The reality is I still don’t know what exactly happened.


Another day the map on the phone asked if the owner would like to review a place they had recently visited. The map app also said the reviewer would be doing a service of a guide for potential visitors to the country. Began to provide the review thinking it would be fun. And then pop came the next location and the app was quick to point out I was at the location two days ago and soon it was two years.


For sure the phone was not connected through data or Wi-Fi in at least in certain locations, but here was this app telling me exactly where I was and when. It forced me to wonder who else gets this information. What was the network all about? We are in the fourth industrial revolution. Whether we like it or not we are all connected and borders between countries and personal space really do not exist. The word privacy needs a new definition.


For that matter the term could soon be nullified because we are part of Internet of Things. It is time we redefined our entity and identity.


There is a wise saying, “Show me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.” In this era this statement is a bit complicated. Social media provides you with thousands of friends and followers. Who they are — even you are not able to define. Now there are others for whom you are part of the big data. With the latest developments the line could soon be, “Show me the places where you have been and I will tell you who you are.”


I am sure there are techniques that keep you off from identifying your locations. I did too, but still I had a whole list of locations I could write a review, funnily enough of the places I have been to. But there were also places I had not been to. So was it the proximity that got these locations to my list of visited places? Luckily I could delete the places I have not been to.


It might be a good idea to go through the latest developments in the social media and the app world, in addition to googling your name once in a while to find out what you have been up to.


While there is one profile you fill out defining you - there is so much more of you on the cyber space. But whether we like it or not there is no looking back. This is not the time for being narrow minded. Instead it is time to understand the cyberspace and learn more about security especially on whom one accepts as friends and most importantly define one’s objective.


So while you enjoy surfing take time to know oneself better on line as well as offline.


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon