The Illusion of Privacy

What if I told you that you did not have to be a criminal for the government, foreign intelligence agencies or hackers to track, obtain data, stalk and even listen to your phone calls? Well, that is the world we are currently living in. Every time you drive your car, there are hundreds of cameras that you drive by without noticing, taking pictures of your license plate. Every time you take a call someone could be listening, tapped through data centers that are built by these cellular companies. Our data is encrypted strongly by these companies, but that will not stop the government, or anyone who wants your information, and it never has. 

Borris Johnson recently in September 2025, had computers tied to him hacked. These hackers released information about his political views and so much more, such as his stance on COVID-19 regulations. All through emails, phone calls, texts, all things he believed to be protected and secure. These hackers had data from all the way back to his Prime Minister stint, nearly 7 years ago, and a lot more than that, over 2,000 secure files were taken. If the former Prime Minister of The United Kingdom is not safe from hackers, then I doubt anyone is. All these hackers, governments, and foreign intelligence agencies understand one thing, information is power, and they will do anything to obtain it. All this being said, it truly shines a beaming light on the abomination that is the state of cybersecurity in today's world. 

Now what about ordinary people, such as myself, my family and friends who are all constantly watched, and tracked without any knowledge of it? The truth is, our information, such as phone calls, text message and location is collected constantly through these cellular towers, straight to the data center. Just as anyone else with a car is having their license plate taken everywhere they go. What does this mean for us? Well, anyone with the correct skill set can access crucial information about your life. Dangerous people can learn your schedule, when you leave the house, when you return, any information about your family, and especially all of your personal information that needs to be protected, such as SSN, passport number, bank accounts literally ANYTHING.

 It is a horrifying world we live in where we need to constantly protect information that should not even be readily available in the first place. But even if you do protect it, not even Borris Johnson's security team, who work off the clock to protect his information and data, could not stop these hackers from getting the information they sought out. I believe there should be government regulations on what these cellular companies can track and the data they can store. These companies should not be able to store my personal calls and text messages, along with millions of other people, into their massive data centers. Cellular companies and the government should be able to wiretap phone calls, police should be able to track license plates, but only on deserving people, criminals. There is zero reason why a hacker from Russia should be able to obtain my personal information through these data centers, especially data that should not even be stored there in the first place. 

Cybersecurity is one of the biggest issues we see developing in our world currently, it is deteriorating with every passing day, it is an issue that if not checked, can lead to everyone's sacred information being leaked into an extremely dangerous world. Privacy is something every citizen in the world should have the right to, and in today's world, we see our privacy being stripped from us with every technological advancement. It is crucial for people to be aware about everything they put online, use strong passwords, two factor authentication, anything to slim the chances of a cybersecurity attack. There are no words in the English dictionary to explain how poor cybersecurity is in our world today, there is no way to eliminate this problem, but taking steps against it can help you not become the next target. 

Eight Values of Free Expression

Free expression is the root of American culture, it is why our communities are so diverse, people are allowed to express their own culture and ideas without the worry of punishment from the government. People often overlook how essential free expression is and its importance to American life and society. 

There are many countries today where free expression does not exist, such as China and Iran. In these countries, speaking out against government is considered a crime, in America, and per founding father James Madison, criticism of our government should be advocated for, in order   to protect our individual liberties. There are Eight values of free expression, all which deeply tie into the true importance of our First Amendment. These values include Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self- Government, Stable Change, Individual Self-Fulfillment, Check on Governmental Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, Protect Dissent. 

One of the values I found particularly important and resonated with me both positively and negatively, was the value that is marketplace of ideas. Especially in today's world, where we see social media apps like TikTok, X, Instagram become such great places for debate and discussion. This value discusses that when people are allowed to freely debate, the good ideas and the truth will win out over lies and poor ideas. 

This advocates for people to freely debate everything, in return our societies will evolve positively. These social media platforms have become an incredible haven for free expression, and they have especially become a marketplace of ideas. Constantly on these platforms we see debates about politics, sports, finances, business, if you name it, there has probably been an argument on social media about it. This is what marketplace of ideas is about, publicly discussing and actively debating things that affect our lives. However, these social media platforms have algorithms used to push the most relevant information or content to the user in order to keep them interested and on the app. 

The disadvantage with this is that we constantly see a spread of misinformation on social media today. One source argues that many of the public health concerns which aggravated the stigma around COVID-19, were from misinformation spread on social media. However, there really is no fix to this that does not overlap the First Amendment. These companies rely on their algorithms to get their users to come back, the only solution would be restrictions and or controlling on what we are being shown. 

This would be controlled by the government, we see this in countries like North Korea, who very strictly monitor what their citizens are being shown, and only show them what they want them to see. This would be a major concern of the American people and violation of the First Amendment for our government to monitor what we see on social media, whether or not they are controlling the spread of misinformation, we will never know if what they are preventing us from seeing is the truth or not. 

Protect Dissent is the most important value, it advocates for criticism of our government and was heavily preached by the founding fathers. This is very important, especially in today's world where we see our First Amendment being infringed upon every day. Without dissent of our government, marketplace of ideas collapses, the collective mind and word of the people of America gets dissembled, the government runs free without worry of criticism of its citizens. 

Every day we see protests on our government, and our government acts upon the voice of the people, without that voice, the American people get neglected and the government does what it sees fit, which directly parallels with a monopoly. Dissent of our government is what drives every single major social movement we have seen in the past, such as the Civil Rights Movement, Women's Suffrage, US war involvements, all products of dissent. 

Without dissent there would be no prevention of government abuse, we see many countries who fight activists who speak against the government, detaining and even arresting these activists. Our country would crumble without the ability to dissent our government, our ability to restrict the government prevents government abuse, and keeps democracy running. A democracy without dissent of government, is no democracy at all. 

 My Top 5 News Sources

The Associated Press

The Associated Press (AP) is one of my top news sources due to its independence and reliability. When I am looking for a trustworthy, or otherwise undiluted from any one political party news source, The AP is where I go. The AP has been around for nearly 2 centuries and has even reported on the American Civil War, helping prove both credibility and longevity. I believe being able to watch a news source that delivers raw, unbiased information, is something rare and important, especially today where we see major news presses delivering biased and selective information they provide to millions on a daily basis. 

Social Media 

Social media is a great place for people to connect, discuss, debate or just post about anything from political, to sports, or information about the world, the possibilities are endless. Allowing people to comment on posts gives them the ability to discuss many different topics with people from around the entire world, with a multitude of different backgrounds and point of views. The ample amount of point of views is something I will always treasure about social media,
being able to hear and understand every one's side is a very valuable aspect of social media.

Fox News

Fox News was always on when I was a child, and still today when I come home from HPU. I have learnt to grow fond of the people I constantly saw on the television and have found some sort of comfort in them delivering news to me. I often find myself scrolling through Fox articles and have learned to trust what they have to say. Fox News reports on everything from America, world news, sports, health, business and so much more. Their wide variety of options is a great way to easily access information. 

The New York Times

This is another news source that I have come to love because of my family. My parents would constantly send me and my brother articles from The NYT and as time went on, I began to enjoy how well-researched and thought their reporting is. The NYT covers everything from national breaking news to in depth around the world stories. One aspect I love about them is the prior context they give to their journalism, it helps me get a quick basis of what I am going to read, hence giving me the deeper understanding that the author intends without second guessing my prior knowledge. The NYT has a long history of trust and credibility, with extensive and rigorous fact-checking. I know that when I am reading the NYT I can trust the information I am retaining which is something I will always cherish in this day and age. 

BBC News

BBC News is my personal favorite international news source. I believe having and understanding of the world, and the state of the countries not only around us, but everywhere, is extremely important, and that is why I often find myself on it. BBC News is a mostly factual news source in regard to the United States, its unbiased articles give me great insight as to the state of our country not having to worry about political party influence. BBC is also great for international news, as it is a British news source, helping me learn and understand the rest of the world. Without BBC News, I probably would not have heard of half of what I have around the world, and that is why it will always be a credible and reliable news source to me.