You’ll Never Walk Alone… Thanks to Pervasive Digital Surveillance

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In recent years, a wide range of companies, advertisers, and third-party trackers came to dominate our everyday virtual lives. They monitor, analyze, and influence every movement of millions of users across various online platforms and gadgets. This online business of spying and surveillance gains steam. Today, nearly all of the visited websites collect a great deal of data about your behavior and personal characteristics in real time. It became possible thanks to the shortfall of our knowledge. Yet, the worst thing here is that we may notice only a small part of the extensive digital surveillance; much of it remains behind the scenes. More likely, you wonder what it is all about and how does this relate to you. Take the time to read this article and you will resolve these questions.

Years of development in the sphere of personal data

Despite of the fact that the privacy issue began to disturb online audience only in recent years, the process of consumer surveillance has started in the 1990s. Fair enough, at the very beginning the possibilities of gadgets and the level of technology didn’t allow hackers to spy on you as nowadays. However, time was passing and in 2007 Facebook announced about the fact that the number of its users reached 30 million, Apple presented iPhone, and targeted ads became a widely known marketing tool based on data about users’ tastes, habits, and preferences.

A decade later, a wide range of new data companies in different industries was created. These corporations merged and exchanged users’ data from their browsers and smartphones, which was stored over the last 10 years. As a result, the pervasive real-time surveillance spread far beyond online advertising. Now many online platforms or, for instance, data brokers may appraise, classify, and identify you and your gadget across these platforms. Let’s probe deeper to see how it works in practice and clear up the possible consequences of leaving your personal data on the open web.

IT giant with a huge collection of your data

A real threat is that a lot of popular companies which we trust have joined the data business. As an example, Oracle Corporation. It is a multinational computer technology corporation that is well-known worldwide for its builder tools for database development. Over the last years, it has become the owner of such companies:

• BlueKai – a data management platform
• AddThis – a technology company used by 15 million web publishers
• Crosswise – a company focusing on cross-device advertising, personalization, and analytics
• Datalogix – a consumer data collection company

Thanks to these sources, Oracle gathers 3 billion profiles from 15 million sites and 700 million social messages every single day. Check the following infographic of the huge consumer data broker, where the figures and facts speak for themselves.

Networks of digital surveillance and tracking

The rapid development and widespread usage of social networks, smartphones, and online ads has led us to a new era, where the collection of our data has become ubiquitous. The worst thing here is that this process is happening invisibly inside devices by means of various network connections and sensor technologies. Received information, which was gathered from different websites, apps, and other online platforms, allows concerned companies to recognize and profile you.

Furthermore, the internet penetration into numerous areas of our lives was a result of creating a network of pervasive surveillance. It means that the players in today’s personal data business follow every move you make while you are surfing the web. With this data, they may learn your wants and tastes to sell this information to advertisers in order to make money. But that’s small beer compared to the fact that such analysis of your characteristics is used to manipulate your behavior and influence your actions.

How can you find a way out?

Probably, no one will argue with the fact that we add fuel to the fire with the negligence to our private data. In proof of this statement, Mark Zuckerberg, a co-founder of Facebook, said, “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people.” Of course, you may give up and go along with a fact that privacy is no longer a “social norm”. But wait, we have a better idea. Surely you’ve heard about a VPN service. Well, we offer you a really well-trusted solution, VPN Unlimited. It will provide you with a high-grade protection to privatize your data across the web with a strong encryption. Our app will give you an opportunity to enjoy a safe online environment and avoid being a victim of pervasive digital surveillance.

All your personal information floating in the cyberspace will be safe because VPN Unlimited will take good care of it. Download the app right away.