A life-changing story. In the summer of 2018, I had a long commute to my internship. In peak traffic, the trip was about an hour each way. The car I drove has Apple CarPlay, which connects a user’s iPhone with the car’s display screen in the dashboard. It allows me to send and receive messages, make and accept calls, and get directions, all without even touching my phone. I had never used CarPlay before, so I found the system useful, especially when utilizing Maps (Google Maps was not available at this time on it) to see my route for traffic and accidents. Yet, a few days into using it, something strange started happening. Whenever I started CarPlay to go to the office or back home, Maps already had the approximate addresses loaded in, waiting for me to click “Go.” I…did not know what to think. These addresses were not even entered in as “Favorites” or anything. How did CarPlay know what was happening? I had set the Location Access for Maps to “While Using the App”!

     After doing some research, I found out the truth. iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system, has a functionality called “System Services” within “Location Services”, which is inside “Privacy” in the iPhone settings (elusive, I know). Here, under “Significant Locations” in “System Services,” is a full list not just of every location a user has visited, but also the time they have spent at those places. This service also has information on how a person got to that location, such as the driving time. Accessing this information can only be done by Face ID. On the screen, there is a message that the service is “encrypted and cannot be read by Apple.” This information is supposed to help the phone “provide useful location-related information” in related apps. Maybe this is not creepy just yet. But imagine if 880,000 people’s location data was exposed to hackers? Or even 1.1 billion? These numbers are just two figures out of 21 large data breaches in 2018, involving billing information, email addresses, payment card numbers, etc. These issues are not just impacting well-known companies like Google, British Airways, and Saks Fifth Avenue. It is affecting more and more people each day.

     While society downloads the latest version of Google Chrome or gets the latest iPhone, the data breaches and fines for violating privacy laws are mentioned in the news almost on a daily basis. These outbreaks have resulted in my pursuit of this topic. I feel it is now important more than ever for everyone to be informed about online privacy and how several factors are impacting what they can and cannot do. Although many people may not be certain about the issues surrounding privacy, they could also be ignoring them. Some feel that even though privacy is essential, it is not enough to let go of using a social media account or a device. In today’s world, these innovations are just too valuable. People need cell phones and laptops to work efficiently and communicate with others, while a social platform allows others to do a wide variety of activities, from entertainment to networking. Being “plugged in” is simply a necessity now, even if the cost is allowing one’s data to be exploited.

     As a senior studying Information Science and someday handling user data at a tech company, I think it is necessary to provide individuals with the information they need to understand recent online privacy-related news so they can securely protect themselves online. In my project, I hope to explore the laws, various data protection organizations, and key breaches that have occurred and current (as close as possible) events that impact people’s outlook on technology. I have also created a set of “how to” guides that readers can look at to make privacy setting changes on a social media site so deleting the account entirely can be avoided.

     I hope this project will help the reader make informed choices about using technology and learn about the complexity of trying to protect user data in the U.S. and around the world. While technology gets smarter and more entrenched in people’s daily lives, society should make it a point to stay ahead of the game.