Guest Column
An opinion
Partha Pratim Mukherjee
Digital Forensic & Financial Crime
Investigator
Created by Partha Pratim Mukherjee
There was
a time when privacy was simple.
You
closed your front door, drew the curtains, and your personal life remained
exactly that personal. Conversations
faded into memory, photographs stayed inside family albums, and the places you
visited were known only to the people who saw you there.
Today,
privacy has quietly changed its meaning.
As a digital forensic
investigator, I have spent more than two decades examining computers, mobile
phones and digital devices. People often ask me if technology has made
investigations easier. My answer surprises them. Technology does not
create evidence, it preserves it. Every search, every message, every
photograph, every payment and every location leaves behind a silent record. People
forget. Devices remember. Digital forensics simply helps us read the memories
left behind.
Have you ever noticed?
You casually talk about buying a new phone, planning a vacation, or ordering a
pair of shoes. A few hours later, advertisements for those very things begin
appearing on your social media feeds, search results, and shopping apps.
Coincidence? Perhaps
not.
The irony is that we rarely think about privacy
when we trade it for convenience.
We grant permissions to applications without
reading them. We connect to public Wi-Fi without a second thought. We use the
same password for everything because it’s convenient. We click “Accept” far
more often than we stop to ask, “What exactly am I agreeing to?”
Every permission we
grant is a small act of trust. Access to our location, contacts, photographs,
camera or microphone may enable useful features, but it also expands the amount
of personal information our devices and applications can access.
Have you ever wondered how free apps make money?
Data is the new currency. Many digital services are
free because we pay not with money, but with our data. As the saying goes, “If
you’re not paying for the product, you’re the product.”
What makes your data so valuable?
Because data tells a story about us. It reveals our
interests, habits, preferences and behaviour. The more companies understand us,
the better they can personalise services, recommend products and deliver
advertisements tailored specifically to us.
Technology has transformed the way we communicate,
learn, work and live. The challenge is not to reject it, but to understand the
price of convenience. Before installing an app, granting a permission or
sharing personal information, pause for a moment and ask yourself a simple
question: Do I really need to share this?
Perhaps privacy is not a myth. We just keep trading
it for convenience.
(Author's opinion)
