Technology has always been designed to help make your life easier in one way or another. With all of the different capabilities that you have at your fingertips today you can have access to much more information and make contact with people faster than ever before. While there have been great strides in breakthroughs that have occurred with technology, there is also been a downside to all that gets used today. Many people of started to wonder whether all of this technology makes it that much easier for you to become a victim in the world today.
Technology and Identity Theft
Because people use technology so much today for nearly every type of transaction that occurs, it seems only natural that the problem of identity theft has grown to epic proportions over the last few years. Every day when you turn on the news or pick up the newspaper you read about another company that has been hacked and personal information that has been stolen for millions of people. As the world becomes more and more reliant on computers, smart phones, tablets and other devices as the primary methods of making payments and storing information, it will become more and more frequent that people have their credit card information stolen or their complete identities taken over by someone halfway around the world without them even being aware of it.
Technology and Stalking
While the issue of identity theft has continued to be a big problem, there is also the issue of people becoming victims to stalking or “cyber-stalking.” Stalking it always seemed like it was an issue that was more for those who are in the public eye, but as the use of social media and technology is continued to grow in society the likelihood of the everyday person being stalked by a complete stranger continues to grow and grow. It is very easy today for someone to gather information about you and follow your every move just using the technology that is available. This is the cause of great uneasiness among many people, particularly those that have been victims of domestic violence and are seeking to get away from an abusive partner. Technology does very little to provide any type of safety net of protection in issues like this and if anything it may aggravate the situation more by giving the stalker easier access.
It does seem like there has been a trade-off with all of the advances that have taken place in technology when it comes to personal safety and guarding personal information. Until the security of devices is improved and the systems are changed and laws catch up with the ever advancing changes taking place in technology there are going to be loopholes where devices can be used to make people into more of a victim. What you need to do to protect yourself most is to take practical measures to guard your information, secure your data and be careful with your social media accounts so you can avoid becoming an easy target for someone.