We think nowadays that using the internet, searching and connecting with people via the web is cost free. The BBC documentary ‘The Virtual Revolution’ shows that sharing private information online is very valuable. The programme demonstrates that by using even basic search engines like Google, we create a huge database about ourselves every day. The web stores an enormous amount of information about our private lives such as where we live, what we like, where we go to school and do our shopping. We give out this kind of information routinely, every single day for free and it is happening on a enormous scale across the world. As a result we are changing into an online product that is traced and targeted by the advertisement, which is created and tailored to fit our preferences. We are judged and scanned while surfing on the internet. ‘Cookies’ are now a reflection of who we are and what we are portraying about ourselves via our facebook profiles.
The truth is that we are using the web for free, but the information about us is highly priced. We are exchanging our life for the convenience of using web. We exist on the web as a number that can be matched to our computer. We can be traced and indentified by this number using the information that we place online.
This great documentary programme did not stop me for using internet, but it will make me think twice before I put any private information into the Google search box.
‘The Virtual Revolution’ BBC, Episode 3 Part 1 (see more on YouTube).
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