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"Is Technology a Serious Threat to Our Privacy?" 

A summary of Paragraph 6 of Shelley Fralic’s essay, “Don’t Fall for the Myths about Online Privacy,” Fralic tries to figure out how it is possible  for people not to understand that by downloading Apps to their smartphones, they are losing their Privacy Rights to these Applications. Thus, there is no privacy when certain Apps are installed on one’s phone. She mentions this by saying, “We, all of us, are digital captives. But do we have to be stupid about it?” (Fralic 337)

A Paraphrase of  Paragraph 15 of Shelly Fralic’s essay, “Don’t Fall for the Myths about Online Privacy,” she narrates that, for the people who decided to read the fine print, they have come to the conclusion that even when turning on privacy settings, you are still giving permission to the police, the NSA, the FBI and CIA and more to see all the things you have decided to upload on Facebook. Finally, the user who read the fine print ends by stating that by making a Facebook account one “ends” his or her privacy. (Fralic). She states, “I’m aware that my privacy ended the very day that I created a profile on Facebook.” (Fralic 338). Meaning if one has an account on Facebook, the person got no privacy.

Some Quotes used in the article can be seen below.

As Shelley Fralic  explains in her article, “Don’t Fall for the Myths about Online Privacy,” she states,  “How can there still be people out there who still don't get that Netflix and Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, Google and Tinder and pretty much every keystroke or communication we register on a smartphone or laptop, not to mention a loyalty card and the GPS in your car, are constantly tracking and sifting and collating everything we do?” (337).

            “We, all of us, are digital captives. But do we have to be so stupid about it?” Fralic questions her audience (337). Fralic continues, “And the bigger question is this: If we, the adults who should know better, don't get it, what are we teaching our kids about the impact and repercussions of their online lives?” (337).

As Fralic warns, “If you are a Facebooker—and there are 1.5 billion of us on the planet, so chances are about one in five that you are—you will have noticed yet another round of posts that suggest in quasi-legalese that you can somehow block the social network's invasion of your privacy. This latest hoax cautions that Facebook will now charge $5.99 to keep privacy settings private” (336).

Work Cited

Fralic, Shelley. “Don’t Fall for the Myths About Online Privacy” Practical Argument, edited by Laurie G Kirszner, Stephen R. Mandell, Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2017, 2014, 2011, pp.  336-338.