Metrics and Analytics: LJ2

We Are Data (Personal Takeaway)

After reading the preface and introduction for We Are Data, I'd say that it opened my eyes to the fact that as much as we rely on technology we must also be aware of how vulnerable/ accessible out personal information is to any and everyone if they try hard enough to receive your information. According to the article, "Today most of what we do in this world has at least the capacity to be observed, recorded, analyzed, and stored in a databank." In addition, the article has opened my eyes to the reality of how accessible our information is about the concept of algorithms. According to the article "We live in what legal scholar Frank Pasquale has termed "black box society," where algorithms determine the contours of our world without us knowing." It was very eye opening to learn a vast amount of  the terms that are used when it comes to Data and information on a personal, professional and federal level. I found it quite interesting that there are people and algorithms that bascially log all of your information for business corporations. From a techical I defintely belive that it is a necessary thing to have in our society since we live in digitally driven society. 

            After reading this article, I personally feel like it won't change my personal use of social media/ internet due to the fact that I was already aware of "cookies" and other things that monitor your online presence. Although I will be more aware of all of the things that an algorithm might incorporate in order for me to stay on a social platform longer and or understand that there are people that either monitor me or create a program that tracks and retains my information. I also don't have an issue with it because I don't really post on social media often unless it's something that i'm personally interested in. However, I think this article did change my perspective on how this can affect me in a professional situation(s). I will defintely make sure to do my due diligence to post positive comments/ things that wouldn't hurt my professional reputation. Lastly like I stated earlier, I think that it is necessary to have algorithms and other things put in place to monitor people's online presence. However I do think it unethical when everything we search, click, watch and etc. is being logged and can be used for future use... My only exception is if the information is being used in a criminal case. 

Citation(s)

John C. Lippold (2017) We Are Data