For me, privacy is hard to maintain when you live in a room with a broken door lock but when it comes to online privacy, it depends on how well you can hide your online presence. When I search for my name online, it shows my details on LinkedIn, Facebook, ResearchGate and for some reason Scribd. I know I previously have created a personal account for Facebook, and accounts for academic purposes in LinkedIn and ResearchGate. But Scribd listed my full name and my former classmates of Year 3 Hijau students from SK St Columba. This really worries me as it means that there are private details being exposed on online platforms without me knowing. On the other hand, the government also collects our personal information for either security or services but it is unnerving how the data are being used for protection, surveillance or control. 

Surveillance, by nature, is neither good or bad as it is simply the action of monitoring the surrounding activities for information gathering. At the same time, it was kinda scary how your actions can be tracked and recorded by people who you don't know. It often reminds me of CCTV surveillance and wandering workers in shopping malls in order to prevent thievery and indecency. It is understandable for that security but it is also uncomfortable being looked at by the frowning worker just because I was thinking for half an hour on which type of snack I want. 

Then again, I remember that I used to watch a playlist of Animal in Crisis by Kritter Club. It is full of videos where animal rescuers used surveillance footage and eyewitnesses in their rescue efforts. These types of videos raised awareness of animal’s life, human’s kindness and cruelty, as well as publicized the threat and issue faced by animals. Instead of misusing information for control, surveillance is used for care and empathy toward the animals. 

A question was asked when I learned this topic; is it freedom or exploitation? 

In terms of usage, the media offer freedom in engaging through platforms where I can connect with fellow fans, find fan contents and just express myself. However, some content that follows an algorithm set by my previous usage can be addictive to watch and make me scroll endlessly so that I lose track of time. That algorithm comes from collective data of my media usage which can contain my private information when logging in. In a way, the media exploit my freedom of using platforms to collect information. It makes me realize that freedom in digital media is about awareness and having choices rather than free access, and thus I should be cautious in sharing details that I want to share. 

Fragments of Fanatic's Library

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