A few days ago, I decided to go jogging around my neighbourhood here in Mawaleh. I usually have my fitness tracker around my wrist in order to track my distance, my heart rate, and my calories burnt. When I was done, I opened the application associated with the fitness tracker, and I started to wonder: This application has access to my distance, which technically means it knows my location and where exactly I was, and it also has access to my heart rate, and loads of other sensitive information, is my data safe? Can the app developers see the information that their users share with their application? And what about other applications like Google Maps, and social media platforms? Is our data really safe on the Internet? It’s no secret that in our digital age, our devices are one of the most essential things in our lives. We rely on them for communication, entertainment, health-related data, and even to go from place to place. But is our data as safe on the Internet as we think it is?

Let’s start by talking about the advantages of having our data online. Firstly, we have to mention it’s convenience. For example, have you ever noticed that after watching a couple of videos on a specific topic on YouTube, you’d get recommendations on that same topic the next time you open YouTube, and same goes with Netflix and many other streaming services. Or when you’re scrolling through Instagram reels and like a couple of posts that revolve around food and drinks, you’d get advertisements based on food and drinks. By understanding and providing us with new information on our interests, it gives us a more enjoyable and personalised experience using the applications we use. Another advantage is the ease of accessing our information from anywhere around the world since it’s saved on the Internet.

On the other hand, however, what are the risks that come with having your information online? Firstly, let’s talk about social media. I’ve noticed that there a huge amount of people worldwide that share way too much information about themselves. I’ve seen students putting their age, birthday, the school they go to, and some would even put their phone numbers on their Instagram bio. Doing this exposes a lot of teenagers and children to dangers such as privacy invasion, stalking, prank calls, identity theft, and sadly many children have already been victims of online predators.

Another thing people should be aware of is the information they send to their peers on messaging apps. All your messages, even if unsent or deleted, can still be seen by moderators working for the social media platform you message on. And in some cases, social media companies can be compelled by law enforcement agencies to provide information about you, like your messages and your posts if you’re a suspect in a crime that occurred. Which is why most criminals only have discussions in real life.

Did you know that recently, Samsung has introduced a feature to their Galaxy smartphones which allows users to record their conversations with other people while being on a phone call? This news has sparked a lot of controversy. Many people today trust phone calls, and leak a lot of sensitive and personal information about themselves while on a call with someone, and now people can easily take advantage of this new feature and use it against you.

There has also been a lot of controversy regarding Apple collecting data through their voice assistant, Siri, by saving all our voice interactions. Although Apple claims to anonymize this data, they still do have access to it, which means anything we say or do while using our smartphones is in fact tracked, so we should always be cautious in what we do while using our smartphones.

Remember, the Internet never forgets. Whatever you share today, no matter how much time passes, could easily resurface in the future, putting a risk to your personal and professional life after you’ve moved on. Always be cautious on what you share, what you say, and what you do on the internet or while using technology in general. Because while the Internet offers us an amazing way to connect with others, it’s always good to be on the safe side and never leak any personal information that could be against you.

[The writer Hilal Tariq Al Barwani is a young computer enthusiast who enjoys writing and speaking oN computers and technology]