Internet Privacy Essay

The concern about privacy on the Internet is increasingly becoming an issue of international dispute. ?Citizens are becoming concerned that the most intimate details of their daily lives are being monitored, searched and recorded.? (www.britannica.com) 81% of Net users are concerned about threats to their privacy while online. The greatest threat to privacy comes from the construction of e-commerce alone, and not from state agents. E-commerce is structured on the copy and trade of intimate personal information and therefore, a threat to privacy on the Internet.

In today’s world, Privacy and Security comes hand in hand with internet. Technology allows us free speech and freedom of information over the internet, by imposing strict laws and policies regulating the privacy and security of our information. According to Richard Clarke, free expression over the internet and its privacy are two sides of the same coin (Privacy and security(n.d.)). Writing blogs, uploading posts, comments or pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, networking or sharing links on Linkedin are all considered as our free expression and its security is our right. Individual right to

However, for some teenagers, even adults users, identity management poses a threat for their privacy. In a series of case study by Mary and Aaron (2010) reveals that the majority of SNS users(77%) have altered their privacy setting. At the mean time, it is also the case that only 6% users have bad experiences owing to their privacy exposure, which causes them feel embarrassed. Moreover, there are 12% social networking users feeling regret the content that they have posted and shared. As a result of analyzing case study, there are increasing number of people realized the significance of identity management on social networking sites. In the view of the

How would you feel if I told you that I know almost everything there is to know about you – from your occupation to the brand of toothpaste you use, from your IQ to your culinary tastes, and so on – even though you have never met me, and possibly were not even aware of my existence? Most people would immediately state that they would feel violated, stripped of their individuality. Yet millions of people browse the Net day after day, blissfully ignorant of the fact that that they are always being monitored by someone to some degree. By selling you items and/or services, Amazon.com knows your reading preferences; your favorite online grocery store knows what kind of toothpaste you prefer; your university knows

As technology changes the way we live, especially by making communication and transactions easier, the security of our personal information becomes an important issue if people are expected to trust the government, companies, and each other. Although scholars have provided several accounts of the importance of privacy, it still remains unclear how individuals view and value it. For the purposes of this essay, privacy is broadly defined as the controlled access to personal information or ideas. In this paper, I will examine Richard Posner’s article “Privacy, Surveillance, and Law” and Neil Richards’s paper “The Dangers of Surveillance.” Although both Posner and Richards begin with the same assumption that people fear public scrutiny, their different interpretations of this human nature lead to different conclusions. While Richards relates privacy to our fundamental rights so that he considers any surveillance dangerous, Posner’s belief that we value privacy as a possession that promotes other ends is more justified because it allows individuals to weigh the costs and benefits of surveillance.

Furthermore, the tendency that it will be fine even if you do not keep privacy is getting stronger year by year. One of the reasons is because technology is developing rapidly in the world. This evidence is that a lot of people bring with them their smart phones and computers to the evidence of this. Stefano Taddei said, “The results suggest practical implications for online social network providers, most of all with regard to privacy policies in online environments” (2013). In the future, the providers will develop and affect us positive and negative through using technology.

Elizabeth Victor reveals the fact that when we upload any type of content to social media platforms it isn’t always secure. So it is crucial for users to understand how to use the privacy features that the many social media sites have to offer and each one of these sites has its own settings, some more complicated than others (Isentia, 2014). Elizabeth Victor takes the time to explore the privacy settings of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google Plus, and LinkedIn. The research conducted and given is strictly fact, no bias involved, Isentia and Elizabeth Victor go step by step on where to change your privacy settings on these specific social media sites. Elizabeth Victor (2014) notes that, “There are three places to set privacy on Facebook, the privacy tab, your profile, and your photo settings. You have to go to your privacy settings in the tools tab by clicking on the lock icon” (p. 1). Elizabeth Victor (2014) concludes

This company’s business model is about collecting personal information. The personal information should be kept in secret and not given or sold to a third party. Facebook is one of the company that gather detailed personal data about its users giving them up on a platter to advertisers (Farrell 2015). Moreover, not only the advertisers want the data, but the NSA and other U.S. security agencies as well. They use the information for surveillance and other purposes which it is a violation of the right for privacy.

Facebook is a well know social networking site that has taken all over the world with over 500 million people using the site. Social networking sites such as Facebook share information about the user over the Internet, where it can be freely accessed by anyone. This is where issues of privacy to the individual arise. As of July 2010 Facebook has more than 500 million active users, Users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. As of December last year, Facebook called its 500 million users to review their privacy settings at the launch of its new user control tools which allow the user to control their information easily depending on

In relation to privacy, social networking and many other genres of the internet are one of the main and easiest places to track down people, many naïve victims, posts up their details on their profile, making it easy to enable stalkers or strangers to have advantage of virtually meeting you. This problem has caused many families to live in fear, not knowing how vulnerable they are to the outside world, where

Privacy is not described in law, and providing a definite definition is difficult. Privacy relates to the principles of human self-esteem, human uniqueness, the importance of aloneness, and can be described as ‘the right to be left alone '.

To treat a person as a mere means is to use a person to advance one’s own interest. But to treat a person as an end is to respect that person’s dignity by allowing each the freedom to choose for himself. A loss of privacy occurs when the degree of our secrecy, anonymity, or solitude decreases. However, there is an important distinction between the loss of privacy and the violation of privacy. That is, losses of privacy are not necessarily undesirable. Each situation must be assessed to determine whether the loss of privacy limits the functions of privacy.7 As long as the principle of respect for people is maintained, the collection of personal information can indeed be ethical. One way to collect personal information while still treating the person with proper respect is to obtain his informed consent, that is, detailing how the information will be used, who will have access to the information, and how long the information will be kept. Only with this information can a truly informed choice be made. When he does give his informed consent, it means that he has weighed all the costs and benefits and has concluded that the desirable functions of privacy (environment for maintaining relationships, freedom from physical access, and liberty of actions) are still preserved.8 The rights standard supporter would enunciate respecting and developing users’ capacity to choose freely for themselves. Therefore, obtaining informed consent respects the

Social media applications have skyrocketed in the past couple of years. With the increase of technology, millions of people are able to communicate and share information with family, friends and people all around the world. Although there are many positive features when using social media applications, there are major consequences as well. My research questions states: Is social media applications affecting our privacy and if so in what ways? The use of social media applications affect our privacy in many ways including the collection of personal information such as messages, photos, videos, location, credit card information, phone information, device settings and monitor habits. They also affect our privacy by distributing a huge portion of personal information with third parties and allowing hackers to hack the application due to low security measures. In addition, problems such as identity theft, and effects on early teenagers relate to the problem of privacy. The use of social media applications have changed the way we communicate with people, but it is important to understand the problems that rise from downloading these applications.

It is the free to use social mediums such as Facebook that pose the greatest risk of tracking and obtaining identity information. Social networking platforms such as these obtain information from the activities of users on the site. With a deeper look into networking sites that offer free signup such as Facebook, the definition of

In today’s day and age where lines between the public life and private life have become increasingly blurred, right to privacy has gained importance and new dimensions.