In 1945, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC) was developed. It weighed nearly 30 tons and could perform 5,000 additions per second. With the development of the ENIAC, the first general-purpose computer, mankind’s affair with computers began. Today, nearly 70 years later, computer-related technologies dominate the world, bringing an unlimited database of information into our lives. According to Statistic Brain, 58% of people around the world (that’s 3,945,760,000 people) use social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter to stay connected with their friends and family.

What many of these people don’t know, however, is that every piece of information they enter onto the Internet becomes public knowledge. With a quick Google search, you can find almost anything about anyone including their friend list, their likes, their dislikes and where they live. Stores and companies use this information to send specially targeted advertisements to Internet users. As Forbes reported, just last year a Target® store used an algorithm which tracked past purchases of customers to send specially targeted coupons for baby clothes to the teenage daughter of a man living in Minneapolis. Angry, the man confronted Target about the coupons, demanding to know the reason behind their decision to send baby clothes coupons to his daughter. Only later, after questioning his daughter, did he discover she was pregnant. The unsettling fact to take out of the whole fiasco is that Target knew his daughter was pregnant before he knew. Utilizing the Internet, Target was able to send specific advertisements to his daughter simply based on her web and purchase history.

The Internet and social media have successfully linked people together from around the globe; but in doing so, they have taken private information from users and made it public. The real question now is, is social media and the use of the Internet really worth the cost of privacy and anonymity?

For some, like Annie Allred ’15, privacy is just a price to pay that comes with the use of the Internet. Allred uses social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr and noted that “having social media and these Internet outlets connects the world in a way that we’ve never been able to anticipate before.” And that’s exactly why these types of websites were designed—to connect the world. Many people, including Allred, have no problem with companies and websites using the information that you put on the Internet to send you personalized advertisements. As Allred put it, “[Privacy] is just something you sacrifice from being on the Internet.”

Though giving up your privacy and anonymity when you’re on the Internet seems inevitable, there are ways to prevent it. According to Michael Speer, UD Technology Director, “Keeping personal information safe online is a serious and important issue.” The Federal Trade Commission gives five tips to keep your personal information safe when you’re on the web: 1) be alert to impersonators, 2) safely dispose of personal information, 3) encrypt your data, 4) keep passwords private, and the most important step of all, 5) don’t overshare on social networking sites. As long as you keep your private information to yourself and follow these five steps, privacy when using the Internet is possible—at least to an extent.