In “Facebook is using you” Lori Andrews, a law professor, explores how whether you can get a job, credit or insurance can be based on your online profile. Government agents get information about what people do on social networking sites by a product called Accurint for Law Enforcement. This product helps them to connect with each other, share experiences and gain insights to help them work more effectively. Companies’ stereotypy you by the things that you post online, send in an email, or even research on. One thing that stood out to me was that “The term Weblining describes the practice of denying people opportunities based on their digital selves…You might be shown a credit card with a lower credit limit not because of you credit history, but because of your race, sex, or zip code or the types of Web sites you visit.” The article includes a poll taken of 2,000 people and 93% thought Internet companies should always ask for permission before using personal information. This shows that we need a do-not-track law that will keep companies from using our personal information to discriminate us from getting declined for something.
The main point of this article is that what you post online and what you research determines what companies think of you. Companies look at online data to find out things about you that lets them know if you can or cannot be approved for something. After reading this article, I have become more concerned about what I put online because I didn’t know that companies look at your personal online information to approve of deny you. Now I will watch what I research and post online in the future because I don’t want to be penalized for carless actions.
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