Type 1 Surveillance

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In our largely digital and technology-driven world, surveillance reaches us at almost every (street) corner of our lives. In this paper, I will analyze the two most problematic types of surveillance that I encounter. As well as discuss the transparency and control of surveillance as the first step to solve the potential privacy harms that result from the existence of surveillance data. Nissenbaum puts privacy rather fluently: “protecting privacy is a matter of assuring appropriate flows of personal information, whether online or offline, and disruptions in information flow, enabled by information technologies and digital media” (Nissenbaum 2011). There is a cycle in which privacy, security, and surveillance are interconnected with one another. …show more content…

Type 1 surveillance is experienced through personal devices like one’s computer, phone, tablet and are strictly non-financial activities. Type 1 includes surveillance encountered on devices that the user uses but are not owned or controlled by the user. Types 2 surveillance is experienced in public or through encounters with other people and institutions. This encompasses any and all transactions using credit, debit, and/or loyalty cards. It was especially easy to pinpoint type 1 surveillance because it is literally at our fingertips. Almost all mobile applications and international platforms like Google and Facebook utilize our data. Contrastingly, type 2 surveillance was a bit more difficult to identify. I found type 2 surveillance to be prevalent but less diversified than type 1 surveillance. As well, actively seeking out the different surveillance types that I encountered in any regular day was eye-opening. Most times, it is assumed that interacting with a website or walking down a public street creates a tradeoff of data collection, but surveillance is not an area that I have given much thought to in terms of everyday. In Kesan’s (2013) Information Privacy and Data Control in Cloud Computing: Consumers, Privacy Preferences, and Market Efficiency, he touches upon the tradeoff that occurs in advancing technology and the increase mobility. In short, one exchanges …show more content…

Almost everyone in my social sphere use the platform. Everyone uses it involuntarily at this point, it is an incredibly accessible and successful payment service. But that does not mean that Venmo is invulnerable. I think the popularity and growth of Venmo creates a perception that Venmo operates securely. But after research, I found that the perception I held of Venmo was not entirely true. Perez (2018) wrote an article earlier this year that explained the privacy and security concerns of Venmo and the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into the platform’s basic security holes. To delineate the severity and importance of the topic: “Venmo was found to have violate[d] the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act’s Safeguards Rule, which requires financial institutions to have safeguards that protect the “security, confidentiality, and integrity of customer information,” and Privacy Rule, which requires the delivery of privacy notices to customers” (Perez 2018). The Federal Trade Commission proposed a settlement that addresses the negligences found. The solution requires that Venmo disclose security and privacy issues and options to their users. Following the settlement, Venmo released a very well-written statement that included responsibility, truth, and a

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