# Tiny Bytes: Annoyance with privacy

**Published by:** [ldnovak](https://paragraph.com/@ldnovak/)
**Published on:** 2022-09-19
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@ldnovak/tiny-bytes-annoyance-with-privacy

## Content

Hi there, I get really annoyed with how little I know about how my data is used. The process feels purposely opaque. If I log onto a website and am asked about cookies, I don’t want to give over data mainly because I don’t understand what it’s used for and its associated risks. When I fly through border control and have my face scanned, what is that used for? If traffic cameras are put up, who can see my face? What information is stored? Can I be tracked? Can the system be hacked? Is this going to be used for facial recognition? These are essential questions that I should know. Especially if it’s used by the government (whether directly or sold to). After writing it down, I’m not so sure about this; private companies shouldn’t do it either. I want to think about why I don’t know and what I could do to make it more transparent.Why don’t I know how my data is usedProprietary informationTakes lots of time and resources to know and communicateSomeone can’t fully understandI don’t understandCompany doesn’t understandProprietary InformationOne reason why I don’t know how my data used is that organizations don’t want me to understand. Those algorithms are proprietary. There are practices of data use that would hurt their brand. I understand that I shouldn’t be able to understand everything, but if this was the only reason, it would be very lame. I can still know how a proprietary algorithm works and have preferences without knowing how the algorithm works. YouTube knows I like to watch Super Smash Bros Melee content, I know that it feeds me content based on that, and I don’t know how exactly the algorithm works. I should be able to say I don’t want any Super Smash Bros Brawl content, and the algorithm should respond. Of course, I should be able to further specify preferences, like don’t give me extreme political content either. The brand argument seems especially weak to me. You would be disgusted by our use of data. We know it’s terrible and want to hide it instead of addressing it. Bruh. People are the suppliers of your data. We sell/lease your data to get goods or services. We don’t have to right to know everything, but we do have a right to know about some things. I don’t fully comprehend how my data is used 99% of the time. I’d imagine that more than 1% of organizations are purposefully hiding.Communication IssuesAnother reason why I wouldn’t know how my data is being used is that it’s hard to communicate how data is used. The organization needs to fully understand its current and potential use of data, spend the time and resources to create the communication materials in a way I can understand, and then I need to spend the time and have the background knowledge to understand. What annoys me is that I fall into the category of people with the background knowledge to understand and the energy/patience to try to understand. Yet, despite this, I can’t find it often. I imagine there’s a high resource load on proper communication (actually, from work, I know there is). There should be more incentives to communicate it properly.What Can I doComplainOnlineTo companiesTo governmentMake codeCommunicationSomething that holds back these issues is that it’s hard to properly communicate about them. As humans, we’re creating new problems and new solutions all the time. We’re also figuring out better frameworks to think and talk about them. I can spend time playing with these ideas and frameworks. I can also spend time communicating/complaining with organizations to make it better. I can give suggestions to companies or talk to public officials.CodeI can also contribute to code/companies that are trying to make this better. I’ve wanted to help with these types of problems since college. Right now, I’m working for a company trying something new. I can find open source projects or found a company. We can find better ways to communicate how data is used and protect privacy. “Privacy means people know what they're signing up for, in plain English, and repeatedly.” -Steve Jobs What I like about this definition is that it highlights how privacy is more than just hiding what my information is (which is essential and not conveyed in the quote). Privacy also means knowing/understanding how my data will be used. This definition of privacy really encapsulates the idea that my data will be used, and, in order to consent to revealing my data, I need to understand that use. I hope we can figure out how to make this part of privacy better. Night, Lucas

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