Discussion privacy part II PDF

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Weekly discussion assignment...

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Whenever users download any social media or tech-based app, they are asked to read the terms and conditions. There is usually a small box at the end of terms for you to click to ensure that you read the information. Often times we just scroll to the bottom and check the box because no one wants to read pages and pages of terms and conditions. However, if there is something in that agreement which states that the company can share your data with a third party and you agreed to it, you are held responsible for that. Many times even if users are careful about their data, it still ends up being leaked because of detailed the world wide web is. This is where it is hard to justify who is responsible. For example, online shopping is becoming a huge trend and the only way this is possible is if we provide our personal credit card information, but do we know where this information goes. There is a level of trust that we have and we tend to shop at online stores that are more popular because we know other people have gone through the same process. However, we still do not know where our information goes or is stored. Often times if we enter our credit card number on a daily basis we see that google saves this and automatically asks you if this is the credit card number you want to use. Although this saves us time, it is quite creepy if you think about it. Then the question of these agreement contracts comes up. If we are agreeing to whatever is said in the terms and conditions then shouldn’t we be held responsible for that? Often times company can put something that we may not like in small or fine print so we skip over it. I agree that this deceiving because as humans we naturally tend to skip that, but at the end of the day, it is still there. Should companies separate their terms onto different pages so it is easier to read? Then again, would we still bother reading this? It is a hard issue to find a solution to especially in today’s world where e-commerce is so dominant. In terms of children using social media, it depends on their age. Both platforms have age restrictions and often parents are involved in the monitoring of their posts. However, at that age,

a child most likely does not have any valuable information that would harm his/her reputation. Education could definitely help but I do not think it will be a game-changer in the grand scheme of things. As we download more apps our user apathy will increase and we ultimately will just end up scrolling down and checking the box.

I agree with your claims and I think it is a very difficult situation to assess. If we are signing the documents then by law we are to be held responsible. However, it is just unpractical to read all the terms and conditions for every app we download because of the time it would take it out of our lives. As humans, we have very little patience and just want the app to be downloaded instantly so we can start using it. I liked how you brought up the solution of possibly changing the terms and conditions to a format that is more readable or less overwhelming. I particularly liked how u addressed the issue of tech companies taking advantage of children because that is an increasing issue in our country. Do you believe that education will really help solve these problems because even with educated people like ourselves, we are guilty of user apathy. We still skip over the long terms and conditions and just trust companies with our information....