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The Right to Privacy in a Digital World

As our lives become more digital, the importance of online privacy becomes greater. Our personal information and communications are often stored in our apps, which harbor and exchange vast amounts of information, leaving our data exposed and accessible to others.

This invasion of privacy has led to the rise end-to-end encrypted communications platforms. These solutions give control back to people by securing digital conversations and protecting online data.

Tailored advertisements prove that our online communications are not always private. What we do online and on our mobile devices is subject to behavioral targeting. Everything we click on, search for and browse on social media is collected and analyzed, resulting in personalized content that is identified by an algorithm and sold to the highest bidder.

As the level of detail advertisers can access from our mobile devices increases, many people have resorted to protective tools like ad blockers. Noticed worryingly accurate advertisements on your Facebook news feed? Facebook ads track which stores you visit online and how long you stay on the site. Facebook recently admitted that it is now using your location data to recommend new friends. By simply scanning social media, we are sharing our personal information.

As a consumer who values privacy, I believe that personal communications should never be fodder for advertising or at risk from hackers. Every individual should have the right to secure communications—whether that entails sharing videos, pinpointing a contact's location, or joining a video chat.

Many messenger apps claim they provide secure communication but require users to enable a special 'secure' mode before the message is protected, offering a false sense of security.

By opening up our communications to data mining and unsecure messaging platforms, we put our personal data at risk. Soon we expect to see all consumers embracing privacy in the form of end-to-end encryption and demanding it as a default for online communications platforms. Everyone has a right to control their personal privacy in our increasingly digital world.