Generation X, Popularly Known As “Millennials” By Americans

In his paper, Fried writes that trust is bought through “moral capital” (Fried 484). This moral capital is bought by revealing information that might otherwise be kept private to a friend, loved one, or individual whose trust the informer would like to gain. Moral capital is the trust that an individual will treat another with morality meaning, according to Fried, that they will“[respect] the basic rights of the other” (Fried 479). Fried also states that, “There can be no trust where there is no possibility of error,” suggesting that without privacy there can be no trust as privacy creates the risk of confidential information being disclosed by the receiver of said information (Fried 486). The idea that privacy creates trust has only become more evident with the rise of the internet. In their paper, “Young people online and the social value of privacy,” George Mason University professor Priscilla Regan and University of Ottawa professor Valerie Steeves explore how young people’s understanding and value of privacy has been shaped by the internet. The two found that while young people understand that information posted on the internet can be viewed by family members and the public, they trust that others will follow the unwritten social rules of the internet–essentially that they will act with morality–and respect their privacy by not looking at posts not directed at them (Regan and Steeves 302). This example shows that despite the interconnectedness

Modern Americans see privacy as one of the greatest freedoms. When Edward Snowden revealed the NSA surveillance program, the citizens of the United States were appalled by the extent of access the NSA had to personal information. However, according to Dan Tapscott in his essay, “Should We Ditch the Idea of Privacy?” we post just as many details daily on our numerous social media outlets. The majority of the information we freely post is not meaningful and does no harm to us by being public, yet there is a dangerous side to our open-book nature.

Our nation is built upon its foundation from the United States Constitution and its Bill of Rights. Included within this governing document is the Fourth Amendment, the laws and guidelines that gives the people the right to privacy. Within in this amendment, it is stated that “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated” (Magruder’s American Government 772). Despite the fact that these right are clearly stated and profound, recent advances in the scopes of technology and social media have violated the people’s privacy by deceiving them into thinking they are protected.

This editorial is intended to open the eyes of older and middle-aged Americans who are involved in the technology community that we live, but don't understand the hidden repercussions that permeate through their phone, computer, and laptop use. Not many people understand how the government's abilities affect their daily lives, and some are even completely ignorant to their privacy actions. I intend to inform them about the dangers of releasing personal information into the open, as it is not only harmful for yourself, but to others around them.The audience will then learn that the government is always listening to our every text, call, email, search, and keystroke and adding every day people into a bank of information.

Over the course of the past few decades, technology has been on a fast track to more advanced opportunities for communication. These developments have increased efficiency in society, however, it is evident that the basic values, such as privacy of personal information, are compromised significantly. Privacy is an essential element of a free society and without which, individuals would lose the ability to interact with one another in private. With the advancements of technology there is a clash between an individuals right to guard their personal information and the power of the cyber world to penetrate that information. Innovative technologies such as various forms of social media and surveillance are invading the freedom to said privacy.

“Privacy, he said, was a very valuable thing. Everyone wanted a place where they could be alone occasionally.” Through the power of social media, instant news, and the current technology revolution; our society is becoming parallel to the society of Winston Smith in 1984. The surveillance technology used by Big Brother similarly replicates the same technology used in the 21st century; however, as the years go on, our technology improves and somehow Big Brother really is watching us. However, the real question that many Americans are concerned with today is if Big Brother really might be watching us, what can we do to stop it?

Government surveillance in the past was not a big threat due to the limitations on technology; however, in the current day, it has become an immense power for the government. Taylor, author of a book on Electronic Surveillance supports, "A generation ago, when records were tucked away on paper in manila folders, there was some assurance that such information wouldn 't be spread everywhere. Now, however, our life stories are available at the push of a button" (Taylor 111). With more and more Americans logging into social media cites and using text-messaging devices, the more providers of metadata the government has. In her journal “The Virtuous Spy: Privacy as an Ethical Limit”, Anita L. Allen, an expert on privacy law, writes, “Contemporary technologies of data collection make secret, privacy invading surveillance easy and nearly irresistible. For every technology of confidential personal communication…there are one or more counter-technologies of eavesdropping” (Allen 1). Being in the middle of the Digital Age, we have to be much more careful of the kinds of information we put in our digital devices.

No longer do we live in an age where families socialize with one another face to face on a consistent basis with absolute privacy. In today’s society, technology has consumed most of our time leaving us zombified staring deep into the soul of a screen of some sort. In fact, you are doing just exactly that at this very moment. Privacy is no longer existent because little do people know, the screens they are staring into are staring right back. Our advancement in technology has without a doubt moved us a couple steps towards the world of Big Brother in the book 1984. However, we are still very distinct in the way in which we govern and use the data collected from our technology. .

Daniel Solove, a professor who specializes in internet privacy law, wrote this book to give his personal take on how the internet was transforming the way people connect through social mediums and how that could change in the future. An important thing to note about this book is that it was published in 2007, so some of the social and technological aspects of the book are slightly dated. Regardless of this though, this book provides an inquisitive perspective on the dynamic nature of the internet as a vessel of our society’s changing norms on privacy in the social sphere. Many of our learning points in class relate to topics discussed in this book and help to strengthen the context and significance of the underlying message.

Schinke explains two scenarios: Kevin Hoffman’s love of Howard Stern went out on social media and Jessica Blinkered shared photos of her drinking with friends, only for police to arrest her for drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter (72-73). He concludes people, between ages 18 and 34, have become “comfortable” in the Internet world; as a result, they refuse to adhere to the consequences of giving “too much” information to the public (73). Moreover, Surveillance cameras, cell phones, and computer cookies can now track their movements and posts anywhere (73). Because young people have grown interest with technology, Schinke also relates their actions with celebrities. He quotes Emily Nussbaum’s post, “In essence, every young person in America has become, in the literal sense, a public figure” (73).

Privacy and the conflicts associated with it that citizens face are some of the most controversial topics in the world today. One of the main conflicts that citizens deal with is if the government is spying on us all the time and that if people feel that this it is an invasion of their privacy. Peter Singer evaluates on this topic of the good and bad of privacy in his essay, “Visible Man: Ethics in a World without Secrets”. He explains how technology has changed the way people think about privacy. People know and share all kinds of information about themselves through social media.

Proponents of this surveillance might ask, “If a person hasn’t done anything wrong, then why would they fear it?” However, one has to realize that, “this familiar claim ignores the fact that privacy is valuable not just to criminals, but to all of us” (Cole 2). When someone wishes to keep intimate information to him or herself, it is important for a civil society to respect those desires, regardless of any promise of nondisclosure. Doing this creates trust, further strengthening

“We blog, tweet, and post what we are doing, thinking, feeling” (462). What we choose to let out gets taken without our consent. Society is under surveillance at any given time or

In this paper I will be talking about government surveillance. The government pries through social media sites to gain information about United States citizens. I have become reliant and careless on social media. My birthdays is posted on social media, location, and school. Cell phones calls have been invaded by NASA as well. Internet searches are one of the governments way of tracking habits and patterns of potential suspects. I use technology for almost every school assignment, so avoiding technology in this generation is practically inevitable. Since the release of the government being guilty of surveilling its citizens, many citizens vocalized their stance or opinion. While some citizens claim they cannot function with knowing that they

Today, individuals are sacrificing privacy in order to feel safe. These sacrifices have made a significant impact on the current meaning of privacy, but may have greater consequences in the future. According to Debbie Kasper in her journal, “The Evolution (Or Devolution) of Privacy,” privacy is a struggling dilemma in America. Kasper asks, “If it is gone, when did it disappear, and why?”(Kasper 69). Our past generation has experienced the baby boom, and the world today is witnessing a technological boom. Technology is growing at an exponential rate, thus making information easier to access and share than ever before. The rapid diminishing of privacy is leaving Americans desperate for change.