Why so much personal data is no longer private
The amount of our personal information available online “calls into question” some of the core assumptions that America was founded on, ProPublica’s Byron Tau says.
Whether it’s your emails, your private search history or your interactions with chatbots, “all that information is in someone’s hands, and it’s available,” he told Horizons host William Brangham. “It’s available to public safety entities. It’s available to government agencies. It’s available to the military. It’s available to the intelligence community.”
While America has historically limited access to information to protect individual liberties, Tau said the amount of data now readily available challenges “some of the basic assumptions that have gone into building this country’s political system.”
Horizons from PBS News, dives into the science, health, technology and environmental issues making headlines each week. Visit the PBS News website to watch this week’s episode.
