Dubai: Five hundred likes and 105 comments, your profile picture on Facebook is a crowd puller for sure. But, what happens when the same picture is shared by a media organisation? One word, privacy. That’s what people suddenly start asking for.
Privacy is necessary and every person expects their privacy to be respected. However, the 2.07 billion monthly active users on Facebook are uploading 350 million new photos each day, as stated in a report published by Business Insider, an American business news website. With their life stories available on public platforms, should they be demanding privacy?
Kiran S. Imad, a Belgian national working as a sales director in Dubai, is an avid social media user, be it Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. And in her opinion, when someone is willing to share details about their lives on social media, they shouldn’t be complaining about their right to privacy.
She said: “Once you’re on social media, whether you like it or not, you’re sharing information about your life publically with the platform. It’s a company run by people. Those people are seeing your profile. The information is also publically available.”
As far as celebrities are concerned, in Imad’s opinion, they are aware of the paparazzi and their role. Additionally, being famous means being in the public’s eye, and so she believes that they will be photographed without their consent.
However, to ensure her personal privacy, Imad ensures that she doesn’t share personal information, such as her location, on any platform. Instead, she uses these platforms to read and share news or something informative.
She said: “I also know that when I am sharing something, it is only with my friends. My profile is very limited.”
She believes that there are two aspects of privacy — your social profile and your personal life. You can control what you want to share, hence securing your privacy and your right to it.
She said: “Around 10 years ago, we were still sharing photographs with people we knew, even when we didn’t have social media. But, there are also good things about it. People have become famous, as their videos have gone viral.”
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, stated in one of his live sessions that due to the rise of social networking online, it means that people no longer have an expectation of privacy. But is that really true?
Dhara Bhatia, a Pakistani student based in Dubai, doesn’t seem to think so. She shares a lot of photographs on Instagram and a blog, but she believes that some people, including celebrities, make a big issue out of privacy, to the extent where they refuse to share any pictures with anyone. But, at the same time, they’ll be sharing personal details on social media.
She said: “Some people won’t show you their children’s photographs, but on the other hand post everything else about their lives on social media.”
She herself is not concerned about any privacy issues on social media, but a friend of hers had a bad experience when his Facebook account was hacked, his pictures stolen and used on another account.
Bhatia said: “My friend tried to contact Facebook to report it, but the response he received was that they didn’t see anything wrong, so why take the additional account down. You just have to be careful if you’re posting things online, because once it is there, it is accessible, even on Google.”
In her opinion, many people do not read the terms and conditions, click accept and are not aware of how public their information becomes online. This is probably why they cry about privacy when it comes to other mediums, such as media.
While there are people who believe that signing up to social media means giving up your privacy, there are also those who are of the opinion that sharing something on a social media platform doesn’t necessarily mean they are abandoning their right to privacy.
Carlos Ante, a Filipina purchase officer based in Dubai, is one of them. He believes that whatever people share, is under their control and there are certain aspects of their lives that they want to keep private.
He said: “Even if someone is using social media to show off, they are showing what they want to share. I don’t mind being photographed in public. But, for celebrities, there is a very thin line between publicity and intrusion of privacy.”
As someone who uses Facebook very often, he ensures that he changes the settings to make the information and photographs that he shares more private. One thing he refuses to do is share his location, because in his opinion that is giving away too much.
Kamlesh Vijay, an Indian financial consultant based in Dubai, is another regular social media user, but he is extremely careful with what he shares, for the sake of his privacy.
He said: “We all live in homes that have walls for our privacy. Even in the office, there are cabins and partitions. We have things that we’d like to keep private and being on social media doesn’t mean giving up our right to it.”
He has taken off all his personal details from his Facebook account, including company information. Many people on his friends list don’t know where he is, so he never shares his location. He believes that when a person applies for a new job, the potential employers go through their social media accounts. Thus, he doesn’t want to share anything that he could be judged upon.
He said: “If I want to abandon my field and go for farmnig, I don’t want people to think I’m unable to do it based on my history. They should test me, if I am eligible, then hire me.”
Though our readers have a mixed opinion about this issue, what is your take on privacy? Share your thoughts at readers@gulfnews.com.
