Somebody's watching you: social media and surveillance

The article discusses online surveillance and how to some extent our social lives are under surveillance by companies. Several examples are shown in the article to represent the dangers of online surveillance such as the Philadelphia school which issued laptops that were used to monitor the behavior of students. The article continues by stating that 'data mining' however is actually legal and also vital as it contributes to business on the internet, as adverts will be specifically targeted towards their audience. If social media websites did not sell the data of users they would virtually not exist as no one would pay for social media websites such as Facebook, therefore selling data is the better alternative to bringing in revenue. On the other hand, the issue of government surveillance is represented through the infamous case of Edward Snowdon, who leaked information on the British and American governments activity on spying users online. The article suggests that this takes away the freedom of privacy which we are all entitled to, and this is counter argued with the idea of government surveillance protecting us from illegal activities such as terrorism. The article concludes on the fact that advancements in technology will carry a greater risk of personal information being observed and used by strangers. 

Personally, I have always been aware of social media network sites and websites using the data created by my online activities and have never been too bothered about it as I know it is legal, and that nothing can be done about it. I believe this form of online surveillance is acceptable as it is a form of creating revenue for companies and also making their services more personalized and easier to use. However, I do slightly feel more uncomfortable with the idea of the government monitoring my activities as it does breach my privacy to a large extent, but this could be counter argued with the fact that it is vital for the government to monitor activities as the data found could be used to protect society from criminal activities, and I do believe safety is a priority.  Overall, I am not too bothered by people tracking my activities online and I am not surprised that it takes place, however I do believe that it is important to have some privacy aswell as I do not want to virtually be stalked online by the government and unknown people either.