How safe do you feel your personal information is online? Andre Oboler, author of the article “Social Media Data Collection Can Lead to Violations of Privacy” feels just that. In the article, Oboler starts by highlighting how the government removes anything/anyone that they find threatening to their agenda from elections, to subversive activities online. Oboler then exposes how Google uses your personal information, and carelessly auctions it off to the highest bidder. Finally, Oboler shows us how computational social science can make an online life have real life consequences. Computational social science defined by Oboler is “The triangulation of compiled personal information, which makes it very easy to find anyone online.” I knew that some of my personal information was in the corporate hands of Google before …show more content…
Oboler conveys his message loud and clear in the article. Privacy can be leaked online and leaked online easily. Oboler does a good job in showing the scope of the problem. However, he could improve in offering the reader solutions to protect their personal internet privacy. Oboler, for the most part, appeared to provide reasonable and sound warrants for his main points citing verifiable evidence. Oboler claims that the US government mentles social medias of foreign countries and he provides sound evidence that backs up his claims. Furthermore, Oboler backs up his claims that Google sells your information by explaining, in detail, how Google’s algorithm works with everyday internet users. Oboler lacks however, contextual evidence when he asserts his claim that computational social science impacts society negatively. Oboler lists a series of “what if”