A Reflection Paper about a Video Documentary of I-Witness by Sandra Aguinaldo

GMA Public Affairs. (2021, April 19). I-Witness: “Hacker”, dokumentaryo ni Sandra Aguinaldo | Full episode [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXYFoBGWoO8

Hackers are geniuses, not because they are smart, but because they can control the whole world with
a button.
-Michael L. Ceogoveanu

We live in a technologically driven world. In this era, technology has proved to us that they
can have the same capabilities as human beings. It’s observable how people are highly dependent on
technology whenever they have something to do or even when they’re bored doing nothing.
According to the Digital 2019 Report, Filipinos spend an average of 10 hours online every day. The
social media platform Hootsuite and digital marketing agency We Are Social created the said study
(Dixon, 2019). As stated in a survey conducted, the Philippines have the most internet users
worldwide, with people spending an average of 10 hours and two minutes per day online in 2018
(Dixon, 2019). This is also related to the documentary video by Sandra Aguinaldo entitled “Hacker”
through GMA Public Affairs. It is manifested in the documentary video that the more people spend
and share their information online, the more they can be victimized with hacking and other
cybercrime issues (GMA Public Affairs, 2021).
 After watching the documentary video, I have learned how important it is to always keep
myself protected in the digital world. Truthfully, I'm also guilty of using social media platforms too
much. I mostly spend my time in the digital world whenever I'm bored. Frankly, after watching the
documentary film “The Great Hack” and this recent documentary video "Hacker" I'm now cautious
with my movements in the digital world. I'm more careful with everything that I share on social
media. In the documentary video, I have learned from Rodel Plasabas, a security researcher, that to
minimize the risk of being compromised in using the social media applications I have to limit
everything that I share (GMA Public Affairs, 2021). Through this, I have understood that everything
that I share in social media can be accessed by everyone and worse, can be used against me. In
addition, I have also learned from Alexis Lingad, an ethical hacker that is necessary to use a mixture
of capital letters, special characters, and numbers in constructing passwords. He also added that
people should not use similar passwords for all their social media accounts so that hackers may not be
able to hack it all at the same time (GMA Public Affairs, 2021). I’m guilty of using similar passwords
back then because I always have trouble remembering passwords. However, after watching a part of
the video wherein Rodel Plasabas was able to hack the account made my Sandra Aguilnaldo’s team, I
have comprehended how important it really is to have different and complicated passwords. Lastly, it
also made me learn not to trust everything and everyone on social media. Everyone is wearing a mask
and everything is not as real as it seems. One way people can gain control of their online personas is
by learning and understanding data privacy (Higgins, 2021).

To conclude, the possible harms caused by the digital world made me think that I should
reflect on the sole purpose of social media platforms and to always try my best not too depend too
much to it. I have realized that the digital world is not my physical world. I have a life to live and |I
must not let myself be consumed too much of the digital world. Another thing that I also keep in mind
is the wisdom quote written anonymously that says, “Privacy is power, what they don’t know, they
can’t ruin” (Y., 2020). Whatever people don’t know, they can’t use against me. In this time of
pandemic, where most are stuck at home and getting too attached with the digital world, it is
necessary to know one’s limit not just in using the social media platforms but also in sharing highly
significant information about one’s self.
 REFERENCES

Dixon, E. C. (2019, February 2). People in the Philippines spend the most time online, global report

finds. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/01/health/philippines-highest-internet-use-scli-

intl/index.html

GMA Public Affairs. (2021, April 19). I-Witness: “Hacker”, dokumentaryo ni Sandra Aguinaldo |

Full episode [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXYFoBGWoO8

Higgins, M. (2021, April 8). Why data privacy is important. NordVPN.

https://nordvpn.com/blog/why-is-data-privacy-important/

Y., L. (2020, September 29). Privacy is power. What people don’t know, they can’t ruin. I Heart

Intelligence.Com. https://iheartintelligence.com/privacy-is-power-what-people-dont-know-

they-cant-ruin/