Introduction
Digital media platforms exert a tremendous influence on people’s lives. People may use social media to have fun and connect with other people.In fact, a few number of Big Tech domain marketplace of digital platform.Many people use Microsoft for working, Google for researching, Facebook for social connections and Amazon for buying. Actually, Big Tech can save people’s time and help them connect with others conveniently. Even Big tech can bring a lot of conveniences to people,risks of digital privacy cannot be ignored.In fact, some giant companies use peoples’ personal data for commercial usage.People’s experience on digital media are likely to be tackled without peoples’ explicit consent. Companies may use people’s data to analyze their buying behaviors and financial situations, which results in targeted advertisements based on their previous online activities. People need to agree with users’ rules when they want to use this service. However, these agreements may lead to personal information leakage. Most of people are not confident about actions that taken by companies towards digital privacy. A survey found that only 9% of people believe that companies’ actions towards protection of digital privacy is enough(Flew,p.72).
Importance of digital privacy
Digital privacy is important to each individual user , and it is legal and basic rights of every person.(Bélanger, F., & Crossler, R. E. ,2011,p.1018).Protection of digital privacy can help people reduce risks ,such as dangers caused by identity theft. When people use digital media, many types of sensitive personal information are stored in digital media platforms.When people use Google, their browsing history, detailed personal information, and even passwords will be stored. Due to the development of digital platforms, even people’s facial characteristics are stored on digital platforms such as Apple pay.During the information age, big data lead to unprecedented amount data being stored .These data may be used for different types of areas and agencies(Flew,2021,p.74).These sensitive data is crucial for each person. Digital privacy is also important for companies’ development.In order to attract customers, building trust is essential for every company especially technology company. Sometimes customers need to upload their personal information to get service. If companies can protect digital privacy effectively, many customers will choose service of these companies(Nissenbaum, H. ,2018,p.836). Protecting digital privacy can also help companies reduce potential risks, such as trade secrets being leaked to rivals.
Facebook -Cambridge Analytic data scandal
Facebook is an influential digital platform for social connections.People can send various types of information conveniently,such as interesting videos , to other people through Facebook. People can also use Facebook to make new friends by sharing their interest. In fact,Facebook has already been used by many organizations such as student society. Sometimes, Facebook is an important platform for conducting political action.Thus, Facebook is influential to people. In 2018, Facebook faced a serious scandal. More than 50 million people’s personal information was delivered to others without informed consent.Some experts argue that these personal information is used for American president voting. Cambridge analytical data scandal exerts a bad effect to Facebook.Many users decided not to use Facebook. They decided to choose other digital platforms, such as Twitter, to replace Facebook. Stock price of Facebook declined nearly 20% due to decline of users( Stewart,2018). After this scandal released, Mark Zuckerberg remained silence for several days. People were angry about his silence and ,some people believe that Zuckerberg’s silence was unforgivable. Then, he apologized for failure of digital privacy protection and discussed about future plans for changing platform of Facebook. He guaranteed that this kind of digital privacy crisis would not happen again(Sam,2018).
Protection of digital privacy is essential to technology companies’ development.Problems in managing users’ digital privacy will affect their evaluation by users.Customers choose to upload their some information ,such as their habits ,to connect with friends on Facebook platform.In order to join in Facebook, users need to upload their real name to this platform. This rule may induce risks to each user in Facebook platform( Suzor, Nicolas P. 2019,p.12). Uploading their real name may make the problem of personal information leakage more serious. After this scandal of Facebook, people are not confident with protection of personal information by Facebook. Millions of people stopped using Facebook because they noticed dangers of personal information leakage by Facebook. Sharing everyday life in Facebook is interesting, but it may induce some dangers after personal information leakage. Many people will view users’ important personal information after leakage of personal information by Facebook. They may obtain people’s real name, living address,birth date, personal photos and more. And they may even use this information for illegal purpose, such as conducting hacking. After getting crucial personal information, Internet scammer can make their lies more convincing than before.
Fortunately , Facebook users’ digital privacy can be protected by laws. European union’s GDPR( general data protection regulation) regulated companies’ actions related to digital privacy effectively by imposing punishment to giant companies including Facebook(Das Chaudhury, R., & Choe, C. ,2023,p.208). Some people believe that this kind of punishment can reduce possibility of users’ digital privacy being affected effectively. But some workers in data processing center argue that the fine posed on meta(parent company of Facebook) related to digital privacy is not enough. The penalty is less than 4% of annual income of Meta( Lomas,2022).On the other hand, public opinion criticized Facebook’s behaviors. Millions of people stop using Facebook after they viewed reporting related to Facebook -Cambridge Analytic data scandal.
Amazon digital assistant:Alexa may invade digital privacy
Like Facebook, Amazon is also a giant technology company.But Amazon is not a platform for social interactions. Amazon is an e-commerce platform and an intermediary between sellers and buyers. Amazon also provides services and brings convenience to each user.In fact, some users cancel their Amazon Prime membership because they feel the membership is not valuable compared to its price. Developing Alexa increases value of Amazon prime membership. In order to use service by Alexa, people need to become Amazon prime member or pay $19.99 fees in one month.People are more likely to subscribe Amazon membership due to the service provided by Alexa .Alexa increases revenue of Amazon. More than $500 million worth of Alexa devices have been sold to customers. Some companies, including restaurants, will also pay for Alexa in order to attract new customers (Reid,2025). Alexa brings a lot of convenience to people. As a digital assistant, Alexa can make your life easier than before by helping you deal with various tasks. Alexa can assist people in booking restaurant reservations, buying tickets, and providing travel suggestions. During your free time, Alexa is a good choice for playing music. Alexa can even make complex tasks. For instance, Alexa can be used to host guests ,and it can select favorite songs for your guests. Alexa can also help people remember details of meeting with guest ( Dara,2019). In summary, Alexa helped users save time on chores.
Even Alexa has a lot of benefits, risks associated with Alexa cannot be ignored.People’s sensitive information will be collected in Alexa’s digital cloud. Some people use Alexa to record details in each meeting. Alexa can record your voices, image and other sensitive personal information during conversion. But Alexa may face technical problems and leak peoples’ personal information to others. Alexa may invade privacy of guest and hosts. For example, recording of each conversion could be accidentally sending to strangers. A man received 1700 files of strangers.This man can get detailed information from this files. He can know preferences, names, financial situation and social relationship of these strangers( Dara,2019)Actually, it is really dangerous for Alexa users. After personal data is leaked, Alexa users are more likely to suffer from identity theft. Identity theft can affect people’s reputation and lead to financial loss.
Many people worry that Alexa may not protect their digital privacy effectively . Some users even believe that Alexa may listen to people’s conversions and send personalized information to third parties.After paying a fine of more than $20 million, Amazon decided to make some changes on Alexa setting that are beneficial to users’ digital privacy.People can manage their personal data more effectively than before. Amazon changed methods for protecting digital privacy. Before changes by Amazon, less than 1% of users adjusted setting to stop recording their own voices. Amazon decided to discard this setting and advise people to use cloud for managing their personal data. Amazon companies already conducted some security practices. People can know transmission of their personal data clearly. They can know the time that their voices is transferred into cloud of Alexa. If people still worry about their digital privacy, they can delete recording of their voices that is collected by Alexa at anytime, if they want.They can delete part of recording conveniently(Reid,2025). Amazon have already informed people their actions for protecting digital privacy. When people talk to Alexa, Alexa does not detect every words that you say at your home. Alexa will only detect your words when you call Alexa.Alexa users can also search the Amazon website to get detailed suggestions on protecting their personal information. For instance, they can learn how to delete their recording from step-to-step from Amazon website.
Reducing digital privacy risks brought by giant technology companies
Apart from two examples that I have mentioned above, other companies especially giant technology companies may violate people’s digital privacy. A reports reveal that more than half of Australian believe that their digital privacy is invaded by private companies(Goggin, G.etc,2017,p.16).
- Governmental actions
Government enacted laws to protect digital privacy of each individual. In 1988, the Privacy Act limited collection, usage, storage of users’ data(Goggin, G.etc,2017,p.17).In fact, laws for privacy protection should be updated to keep pace with technological development. Digital platforms are more influential than before.European union’s GDPR( general data protection regulation) regulated companies’ actions related to digital data strictly. GDPR was adopted in 2014 and enforced in 2018. GDPR is stricter than other laws concerning digital privacy protection. GDPR law is influential. Some countries’ privacy regulation is influenced by GDPR(Das Chaudhury, R., & Choe, C. ,2023,p.208). GDPR is effective for improving transpency of digital data and protecting digital right of citizens(Das Chaudhury, R., & Choe, C. ,2023,p.209). By requirements of GDPR, Amazon and Facebook are more likely to protect digital privacy in order to avoid punishment.
- Increasing awareness of digital privacy
Some people may underestimate the importance of digital privacy. These people may not care about digital privacy when using digital platforms. They do not know how to protect their personal information. They may share some sensitive information on digital media platform including Facebook.Sharing some types of information is risky. People are expected to know what types of information should be shared in digital platform. Increasing awareness of digital privacy will encourage people to research how to protect their privacy online. They may visit Amazon’s website to learn how to protect their digital privacy when using Alexa.
In order to increase individual’s knowledge of digital privacy, government use different approaches. Government will post advice on protecting digital privacy in official website. On the other hand, government agencies collaborate with organizations such as university, branch of bank. For instance, bank of china provide information in small booklet to tell people what kind of information should not be shared. Clients in bank of china highly recommend people to read this booklet carefully. People are not suggested to share their personal address, financial situation, picture of key or other sensitive information on social media including Facebook.
Conclusion
Technology is a doube-edged sword. Development of Big tech benefited form the rapid development of technology. Big tech are influential to people’s daily lives in different areas including their work,social relationship and entertainment . Big tech provide convenience to ours. People can share their life ,connect with relatives and make new friends easily through Facebook.Facebook is also a good platform to conduct some collective actions. Some groups Alexa can also be used in social relationship because Alexa will remember people’s preference. Customers can use Alexa to do other things to save their own time. However, giant technology companies may violate users’ personal information. Facebook leaked personal data to support political activities. Some people already put sensitive information such as their home address on Facebook. Leaking personal information is really dangerous to people. Alexa leaked personal information because of mistake on data sharing. In fact, several actions can be effective for reducing negative effects of technology giants. Government enacted and revised law to regulate companies’ behaviors and protect users’ digital privacy. Companies will get punishment such as paying fines. Individuals’ awareness of digital privacy is also important. People’s knowledge can reduce risks of personal information leakage.
References
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Dara,R. (2019,December 16) The dark side of Alexa, Siri and other personal digital assistants The conversion https://theconversation.com/the-dark-side-of-alexa-siri-and-other-personal-digital-assistants-126277
Das Chaudhury, R., & Choe, C. (2023). Digital Privacy: GDPR and Its Lessons for Australia. Australian Economic Review, 56(2), 204–220. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.12506
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Nissenbaum, H. (2018). Respecting context to protect privacy: Why meaning matters. Science and Engineering Ethics, 24(3), 831-852
Reid.K.(2025,March 28). Everything you say to an Alexa speaker will be sent to Amazon – starting today the conversion https://theconversation.com/everything-you-say-to-an-alexa-speaker-will-be-sent-to-amazon-starting-today-252923
Stewart.M.(2018,December 22)Facebook’s very bad year ,explained VOXhttps://www.vox.com/technology/2018/12/21/18149099/delete-facebook-scandals-2018-cambridge-analytica
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