Data Search

Checking out the links and seeing the information that these websites had collected on and about me, I was a little surprised to see that they didn't have as much as I thought they did. I use social media quite often, particularly Twitter and Instagram, but even these didn't seem to have super in depth information on me or about my life. They generally knew where I was, which is unsurprising since I have my location on for both Google maps and Apple maps. They had a good sense of my political leanings due to my tweets and who I follow, but other than this information and basic demographic knowledge, there wasn't much else.
I am personally on the fence about companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple collecting and storing data on everyone. On the one hand, it can be useful information that needed to be stored somewhere, but on the other hand it can be considered to some an invasion of privacy, and they're doing it for a somewhat greedy capitalistic gain, being able to monetize information on people. At the same time, their collection of data about myself has not really affected me greatly. Sure, I'll see ads for online stores that I was just recently looking at pop up on Facebook or Instagram, but I feel like that's not exactly detrimental information. I do not have cookies disabled on my laptop or phone so companies using this information about me is to be expected.
I'm more concerned when companies store information on things of importance or of worth--for example, I personally don't save my debit card information on any website, even if it's one that I trust like Amazon, because if that company were to be hacked in any way my information and my money would be at risk.
I know some people have intense fears or are extremely paranoid about the government being able to access your personal information through these websites' databases, and those fears could very well be valid. However, not using the internet and social media outlets in this era in the United States is nearly impossible unless you're living off the grid or in the middle of nowhere. Nearly everyone owns a smart phone these days, and the majority of people own personal computers as well. These devices help people do jobs, be successful in their careers, are useful tools in education, and even just generally provide an outlet for people in their lives. It would be nearly impossible to try and take these devices away from people now that they are so heavily integrated into our daily lives.