Growing up in the age of social media, our generation has been no stranger to the warning "Be careful what you post." From our parents to professors, it has been drilled into our heads for years that the comments, videos, and pictures we upload, no matter the platform, are in existence for forever as soon as we press a button. While this is entirely true, social media is not the only technological component that leaves behind a trail of who we are. In a Ted Talk given by Juan Enriquez in February of 2013, he uses a term known as "Electronic Tattoos" to describe the trace that we leave on the internet and how it in turn can affect us. Just like a tattoo, what we do online, from searching the web to shopping, creates an immortal trace that links itself right to us. It never goes away.
In his speech, Enriquez used two examples of ways that we are being traced online and are often oblivious to it. First, facial recognition. His example uses photo technology. By taking a photo now with a standard iPhone, or by uploading it on Facebook, software with either platform can recognize the faces in the photo and group them individually or link the photo to their account. Since 2013, iPhones have only increased this tracking, but in a manner that most people involve themselves in voluntarily. With newer models of the phone, a concept called "Face ID" was introduced. Portrayed in a positive light, the revolutionary advancement was added in order to better protect an individual's iPhone and help in instances of forgotten passwords. While this may be the case, there are also overlooked aspects that many never consider when setting up their brand new phone. Once your face is put into the software, it is linked to your Apple ID account. That account then connects all of your passwords, your credit cards, your social media accounts, your contacts, your photos, your purchases to your face. That simple overlooked action can result in a mine of data that larger companies are dying to infiltrate, buy, and use. The second example used involved shopping. Enriquez alluded to the idea that when we shop or search for goods, there is tracking that others can use in order to better advertise their products to our needs in the future. The mainstream name for this technology is "cookies." As we visit websites, these cookies look at the items that we click on, add to our carts, and buy and then create advertisements that are often shown on the screen even when we leave the website. The idea is to monopolize as much as possible on our information in order to make the most profit.
It is terrifying to think that so much of our lives are being recorded and used at this very moment because of daily actions that we think nothing about. There is a fine line between persuasion and invasion and right now, our privacy is anything but safe. It is becoming more and more difficult to live a life in hiding. Enriquez called it eight years ago. He was right then, he is right now, and he will be right a hundred years in the future.
References:
https://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_your_online_life_permanent_as_a_tattoo
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