Privacy concerns have been a huge issue for most people. A poll from Pew Research showed that around 81% of Americans felt that the risks of companies collecting data on them outweigh the benefits and 66% said the same about the government.
There is no getting around the growing concerns of data privacy. People deal with several problems in the current age of technology, some of which are complex by nature. But artificial intelligence (AI) has helped solve them. Apart from maximizing productivity, it increased the precision of performing tasks.
While AI makes it possible to conclude several tasks quickly, it is not above challenges. Two common challenges that it poses are security and privacy of data. To ensure the security of confidential details or information these days, some people use either a premium or free VPN browser.
But the deeper penetration of AI, coupled with its dominance, puts even the role of VPN in the shade. Most people, including experts, wonder where VPN would stand against AI in the future. So, here we’ve got the answer for you!
How AI Makes It Challenging to Protect Online Privacy?
Undoubtedly, people have data at their fingertips. Regardless of their location, they can access the data they want from anywhere. Thanks to cloud technology and high-speed Internet!
While accessing data online is simple and easy in almost all locations these days, it doesn’t mean people can access all data. Some companies and even government agencies censor certain websites or ban them in selected areas. In terms of usage, users from those locations cannot access the restricted websites. Such sites may range from social media websites to those that offer to stream content.
Governments and companies usually use AI to censor content they do not want the local population to access. However, in doing so, they also put the privacy and confidentiality of user’s data at the risk of unauthorized access. How? The answer is simple: through access to the personal data of users on their devices.
An application based on artificial intelligence relies on machine learning to learn the user behavior of customers. To get an insight into it, AI apps need access to the personal details of users. As a result, both companies and cybercriminals can access information that users would not want them to access.
Sometimes, as a net surfer, you might want to access content or websites that are banned in your location without compromising the privacy of your data. Is there a way to do so? The answer is “yes.” You can access such websites through virtual private networks (VPNs).
VPNs As A Refuge
At present, social media websites and other websites on the Internet are heavily censored. Speaking of social media websites, Facebook and YouTube are cases in point.
YouTube uses artificial intelligence and bots to flag videos with content related to terrorism in some way or the other. The AI algorithm, featuring bots, is smart enough to detect such videos on the platform and send them to the team of moderators.
On the other hand, Facebook also has a similar arrangement for suicide-related videos. Its algorithm uses pattern recognition to detect such videos. Once detected, it prevents the sharing of such videos with different user accounts on the platform. Also, Facebook moderators take prompt action in removing such video posts shortly after detection.
Whether it is an uploaded video or live video, the AI tool used by Facebook is smart enough to detect a user’s intention. Users who upload such videos get a notification with the reason for the removal of their video content.
Any sane user would advocate the use of AI for restricting content for these purposes. In fact, many people in the business world believe that AI is transforming the social visibility of people by fusing with social media websites and platforms. While there are positives of the censorship of posts and data, it can also go the other way around. It allows social media to access users’ sensitive information, compromising their security and privacy.
Given the control of social media websites in internet users’ personal life and business activities, some wonder if social media sites should adopt censorship or free speech as their policy while dealing with controversial subjects.
When it comes to heavy censorship of content by governments, the Government of China is a case in point. Due to the heavy censoring of data on social media websites and other sites, internet users only see or view those pieces of information that their government wants them to see or view.
Due to the lack of privacy and heavy censorship, more and more people are turning toward browser VPNs these days. While some users look for free VPN browsers, others do not even hesitate to spend money on getting such browsers with premium features. This way, one can enjoy one’s favorite TV series or movies, which may be restricted in their location. Likewise, VPNs can also help access content on websites that may not be available in a specific place due to geo-restrictions or limitations.
AI & VPN – The Conclusion
Given the extreme censoring of websites by social media platforms and governments through AI, VPN is the only way to bypass such censoring. That said, both companies and governments are using powerful anti-VPN tools these days to combat VPNs. Therefore, the need of the hour for users is to use powerful VPN tools that are superior to the anti-VPN tools used by governments and social media websites.