It ’s a repeated jocularity : " If I die , delete mybrowser history . " Everyone gets it because no matter how unquestionable your internet activity might be , we all have weird Google hunting citizenry might not understand when require out of context . And we ’ve all visited someone ’s Facebook page one too many prison term . But even though the internet has advanced in bounce and bound , our understanding of our correct toprivacy on the internethas been slower to catch up .
That ’s why the guys at Stuff They Do n’t Want You To Know team up with Will Pearson and Mango Hattikudur atPart - Time Geniusfor a special two - part installment on net privacy . First , Matt Frederick , Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown tackle the tough question : Can you really delete your internet history?The result might storm you .
Since the late nineties , the net has become an inherent part of life all over the world . Almost4 billion peoplehave an internet bearing . That ’s more than 50 percent of the globular population , up from just 7 percent in 2000 . admission to the internet is becoming less of a luxury , and more of a human rightfulness , since so much of sprightliness is centered around being able-bodied to get online .
Because of the amount of internet exercise worldwide , roll up data on users has become a huge business . lookup engine like Google andsocial mediasites like Facebook have an enormous amount of data on their users ' lives and day-by-day routines that is extremely worthful for advertising and marketing . But it ’s also valuable to governments and , of course , hacker . Thanks to targeted merchandising , more people are realizing just how much selective information they ’re allowing onto the cyberspace . But deleting your social media account might not be the fail - safe answer you ’re hoping for .
The trouble with deleting information is that nothing is ever really gone from the internet . Thanks to theterms and servicesthat none of us read — but all of us agree to — it ’s very hard to retract info you ’ve already shared . You , and other user of that site , might not be able-bodied to see the erase information , but it ’s still salt away somewhere . And in some suit , that content does n’t really belong to you anymore .
For example , you have to bespeak Facebook delete your report permanently , and Google can keep your info in perpetuity and use it however the society watch fit . YouTube might take down a video recording , but it still exists on the servers . Android phonescan listen to your conversationsand record sound without asking your permission first . And in the United States , at least , this is sound : In March 2017,Congress voted to allowcompanies to collect and sell their users ' browsing data . ( Not so much in Europe . )
But it ’s not just company that desire to deal you stuff that require this information ; theNational Security Agencyhas also benefitted from this setup . Matt , Ben and Noel covered a lot about the NSA onthis previous podcast , but what matter here is that the government wants info on who is using what websites and for what cause . Under the pretense of " national security , " it ’s tried everything from usingbackdoors to unlock iPhonesto locate suspected terrorists to adjudicate todiscover who used certain websitesthat help those who protest against the Trump inauguration . It ’ll hail down to legal conflict to determine who will prevail : the citizen or Homeland Security .
Beyond never using a computer again , what can you do to protect your information?Listen to the podcast hereand see what Matt , Ben and Noel have to say . And be sure tolisten to the 2nd podcastof this special two - part collaboration between Stuff They Do n’t Want You To Know and Part - Time Genius . Ben , Matt , Will and Mango shoot the breeze about what companies like Facebook , Amazon , Google and Twitter lie with about what you look for , where you dwell and what shows you detest - watch with your friends . Pretty bizarre stuff .
