![]() Contributed by Lindsey Vagnini It’s happened to most Facebook page owners: we leave our account logged in and, when we come back, we notice a post in our news feed with our name attached without any memory of posting it. Uncertain over who is accessing our private digital spaces is concerning on many levels. When I experienced this uncertainty, luckily, my “hacker” was my sister. It was a fall afternoon and I had just returned from a volleyball game. I plopped onto my bed, quickly propped my laptop on top of the pillow next to me, and started scanning my recent Facebook posts. Suddenly, I noticed that my message inbox had no new messages. This confused me. Before I had left for my volleyball games, my Facebook page projected the little red number at the top showing three new private message notifications. Clicking on the messages, I noticed each had a tiny grey check mark underneath, implying that someone other than me had seen them. Who read them? I tried to figure out how someone could hack into my laptop without knowing the password. Of course, at the time, I thought the password was genius. I think it resembled something like, “BarbieLovesFrenchFries101.” I don’t have that password anymore, needless to say. ![]() My next thought was that a hacker virtually accessed my account through a cyber-virus infecting my computer. This thought was more terrifying than assuming one of my friends solved my french-fry eating Barbie passcode. Later that day, my sister eventually confessed to reading my messages on Facebook. To my relief, this was a settling discovery. Still, this event proved just how easy it is to lose privacy in new media platforms. In my case, it was through Facebook. In other stories, though, this lost privacy involves national politics and Apple iPhones. The incident reminded me of a New York Times article briefing the master key the FBI found as way to hack the iPhone of Syed Farook, the gunman in the 2015 San Bernardino shooting, without Apple's approval. Refusing to give the FBI this key was Apple’s way of protecting the privacy of iPhone owners nationally. Apple was attempting to respect the national digital privacy of individuals. Unlocking these phones was a political concern that is arguable in discussions of privacy. Would people rather be safer with less digital privacy or at risk with the dignity of their private digital activity? This question lies at the center of the FBI’s new Apple-hacking ability. Now that the FBI has unlocked the iPhone, it is questionable that this unlocking will lead to social progress. Daniel Little describes “social progress” as improving freedom and self-determination, reforming the way people think in a society to a place in which all embrace the same new moral and digital communication patterns. In addition, he discusses the use of utilitarianism influencing social progression. Nationally, the FBI unlocking Farook’s iPhone 5C leads some to believe in social progress while convincing others to reject it. For instance, as the FBI can now potentially hack into anyone’s iPhone in the U.S., individuals might see that as a good surveillance tool leading to a safer America. In opposition to this idea, others who distrust the FBI’s ability to access information on any iPhone in the U.S. might start a campaign against their unlocking secret. If this would happen, people might use hashtag activism that purposely requires them to use their iPhones to protest the FBI’s actions and attempt to weaken their digital power. Does this master key for iPhones mean other digital media companies will pay to get one too? This question was the first that came to my mind once I read the New York Times article. For me, just knowing my sister read my Facebook messages was concerning at first. Now we are talking about a national audience compiled of strangers who have access to our contact lists, what we are saying in our text messages, and our personal, savable photos. For some people, the word “technology” is thought of as security, but what the FBI has done seems to promote the opposite. For example, if something is secure, that means the device is inaccessible. Clearly, the FBI accessing the Apple iPhone 5C proves that this digital device has no real secure feature.
0 Comments
|
New and Social MediaOn this page, students provide reports and opinions on various developments and social concerns in new media communication. Categories
All
Archives
April 2019
|