I am in my early twenties, graduated recently and I am looking to further studies in the United States. My days go by surfing the internet about the MBA requirements and opportunities. Just a few weeks back I was talking to a friend of mine over a cup of coffee about the universities in Tampa, the conversation was very short, but that very day I received advertisements related to universities in Tampa. I felt it was a coincidence or maybe due to my search history on the universities in the U.S. That was the first time I ever experienced anything like that.
Again, a week or so later, I was with friends and we were talking about a weekend getaway to a resort (we were not even searching anything on the internet nor were we using our phones). That very day I got an advertisement of that same resort and the discount offers they are providing.
I didn’t realize it until the third time a similar incident happened. Now this time it was a conversation with my brother-in-law, where we were having a random conversation about a particular model of laptop and I said that I would buy it if my current laptop runs out, and just a few hours after that conversation I started receiving advertisements of the same laptop that we were talking about. Then it struck me!
The other day I went to work and talked to my friends in regards to the things I was experiencing and I got to know that I was not only the one that was experiencing this problem but they too were having the same occurrences. For a few days I started thinking before I spoke my mind because I felt like I was being tracked.
Who is tracking us? Why are they tracking us? What benefit would they have through this? Is it even ethical for organizations to invade our privacy for their personal benefit? These questions crossed my mind so many times.
Around the world there are so many people facing the same feeling but what right does anyone have to invade our privacy and track us. There are so many speculations regarding who is doing this but the culprit has not been properly identified.
What is the solution to this? Should we stop using our gadgets? Should we lock our phones in another room while we have a conversation or when we sleep? Should we cover our cameras and microphone while we are speaking? Should we think twice before we speak our mind? Should we speak in fear?
Aren’t we humans who have right to privacy?
Photo Source: https://independentlivingnews.com/2013/11/12/20227-sneaky-internet-surveillance-and-legal-methods-to-evade-it/