Thoughts from Samar's Show and Tell

            I started thinking about Samar’s presentation a lot recently. I remember watching a television show about a week ago where one of the characters, named Charlie, was trying to break into a device that was supposed to be completely encrypted and could not be broken into. After a few days of trying Charlie finally got into the device and made a statement that “nothing is ever really impossible to open if you try long enough”. Samar’s show and tell presentation reminded me of that particular scene in the show because the link she showed us proved that everything we do on technology can be tracked and traced back to us. Even though it was just television show I feel that it is still true. Everyone’s technological devices could be hacked into if need be.

            This made me start thinking about the “private window” options that Apple products have. On their laptops, iPads, and iPhones (I am not sure about the watches because I do not have one) when you are wanting to use the internet there is the option to use a private window which says that it will not save any of your search history. How true is that statement though? If you can find a simple link online that can tell you exactly what kind of computer you have and what sites you have viewed, is the private window truly that private? Is it possible that someone can still track your search history and see what it is that you searched? It is kind of scary to think about just how much our search history and different places we went on line can be tracked and monitored.

            It is the same idea with the cameras on all our cell phones and laptops. If someone was wanting to spy on you for some reason, they could easily hack into any of your cameras and listen and watch without you knowing. Although all these things are illegal and an invasion of privacy, they still can technically be done. Today’s society is becoming increasingly more concerned about our privacy, but also making ourselves more able to be tracked. With how much technology is used and relied upon now a days, it makes it that much easier to know exactly what you have been doing all day. Where you have been based on Wi-Fi, what you have been thinking about based on google searches, and even what your interests are based on things you have liked on websites are all things that can be easily known by someone.

            It is a little scary sometimes to think about just how much we have become monitored as a society. Even using things like private windows and encryptions, do they really make our online history that private? Is anything we do online even that private or do we just have the idea in our heads that they are? Going online has become such a common thing that most people do not even give it a second thought.