It used to be that social network users did not waste a second when it came to uploading their personal information just to open an account. Then they would tell their friends to do the same so that their circle of friends became bigger. After that, “friends” of their “friends” replicated the process. As soon as they opened an account, they added more personal data to their profiles, and as if that was not enough, they would share all of their photos. This same process is done by millions of other users - with a wide range of ages. Huge amounts of information are uploaded and shared online 24/7.
Then, privacy concerns due to data breaches appeared out of nowhere. At first, this was not a big issue, but as more users’ privacy was violated, privacy advocates did what they deemed right. They tried to ask the help of government to update privacy laws. They also requested that internet companies review and enhance their privacy policies. Debates regarding government control and privacy violations are still going on. There are several privacy laws of which implementation is still pending. Private companies update their privacy policies, but these updates do not keep pace with the nature of privacy problems.
Just recently, users are becoming more concerned about the presence of their data on the internet. As excited as they were to upload their data before, they cannot wait to delete it now. This is because they have learned that the data can be used against them. Users discovered that there is so much information on the internet about them that marketers can use this data for different purposes; some of which users do not even know about.
The problem is that it is not so easy to delete users’ information. Ironically, additional data would be needed in order to delete the information that was previously supplied. This means that a user cannot simply request that his or her records be deleted. Companies that have the technology to do so need to be sure that they are deleting the information about the correct person.
Furthermore, deleting information on some websites does not guarantee that no more data about the person will show up elsewhere. This is because most users upload information to numerous websites. Users could avoid a lot of trouble if they use self-regulation. Whether it is with online shopping, gaming or social networking, users should always be careful when providing personal information to online companies.
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