Privacy in the Internet
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
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The European Union (EU) has introduced and enacted a privacy law that protects all of its member countries’ citizens from both governmental and commercial misuse of citizens’ personal data. Meanwhile, the U.S. has been busy with protecting its businesses (e.g. passing laws such as DMCA, et. al.). Of course, that is not to say that no steps toward achieving a better privacy have been made by the U.S.
On April 21, 2000, Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has come into effect[3]. This law states that no information about children under the age of 13 may be collected without prior parents’ consent[4]. Theoretically, the law only allows the data to be used as described to the parent. In practice, however, it does not prevent the operator (i.e. the collector of the information) from using the data in any way they like – so long as they mention the way of using the data. The reason for that is that many parents do not read the agreement, and in some instances, the child accessing the website is asked whether they have their parents’ permission, to which they just answer “yes” without actually checking in with their parent or legal guardian. It is partially due to those reasons that some companies have started overcompensating for the law; for instance, AOL has disabled accounts for all users that have specified that they are less than 13 years of age[5]. Currently, the service is “restricted” to 13-and-over users, which, as already
Ever feel like you are being watched? How about having the feeling like some one is following you home from school? Well that is what it will be like if users do not have the privacy on the Internet they deserve. EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center), a advocacy group that has been fighting the Clinton Administration for tougher online consumer protection laws, and other privacy protection agencies have formed to protect the rights and privileges of the Internet user. With the U.S. Government, EPIC has had to step in and help small companies and Internet users with their own privacy problems, hackers getting into their systems and ruining the networks, and crackers stealing and decrypting private
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
Individuals and companies having a website must consider if the site is marketed or if it is appealing to individuals under 13 years. Website developers need to be aware of the children’s online privacy protection act that places parents in control of the type of information that can be collected from young children online. The legislation was designed to protect individuals less than 13 years about the dynamic nature of the internet. The statute applies to commercial websites and online services aiming children under 13 that collects, make use of information and gathers personal information from children. The act also applies to general websites and an online service that receives application and extracts personal information from individuals under 13. The paper provides the measures that sites can use to ensure their website does not violate the
Privacy is what allows people to feel secure in their surroundings. With privacy, one is allowed to withhold or distribute the information they want by choice, but the ability to have that choice is being violated in today’s society. Benjamin Franklin once said, “He who sacrifices freedom or liberty will eventually have neither.” And that’s the unfortunate truth that is and has occurred in recent years. Privacy, especially in such a fast paced moving world, is extremely vital yet is extremely violated, as recently discovered the NSA has been spying on U.S. citizens for quite a while now; based on the Fourth Amendment, the risk of leaked and distorted individual information, as well as vulnerability to lack of anonymity.
Digital privacy concerns, which have been a major issue in our country since 2001, increasingly violate our basic human rights as global citizens. The growing amount of government surveillance has manifested in the enactment of acts such as SOPA and CISPA. Although their intent on stopping digital piracy and attacks were clear, both were immediately met with harsh criticism; they allowed big corporations to violate our privacy rights by sharing our personal information with both other companies and the government. Our President, although publicly expressing his acknowledgement of the issue, failed to discuss an array of other pressing dilemmas regulated by the recently exposed National Security Agency (NSA), especially those involving
How many apps have you used today, or how many websites have you visited? The answer is probably very many, some even without your knowledge. Behind the pixels of your phone or personal computer’s screen, thousands of bytes of data are being transmitted. Most of that data is what you’d expect: e-mail, texting, weather, games, and so on. Unfortunately there has been a growing problem over the last several years, and it’s not one that is obvious to the average internet user. Some of that sent data contains information which isn’t necessary, oftentimes it’s personal data. Your browsing habits, favorite games, most listened to music genres are being shared to advertising agencies for profit. Privacy is quickly vanishing from the internet and
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). (2011, September 15). Retrieved January 17, 2012, from EPIC-Electronic Privacy Information Center: http://epic.org/pricacy/kids/
The words, “Arguing that you don’t care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say” were said by Edward Snowden who is a computer professional in America. Similarly, the essays “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty,” “Web Users Get as Much as They Give,” and “Facebook Is Using You” from Nicholas Carr, Jim Harper, and Lori Andrews respectively points out that the internet privacy is good and bad. However, the articles by Carr and Andrews are based on the negative side of the internet privacy, which means that the internet privacy is not good. On the other hand, Harper’s article is based on the positive side of the internet privacy, which means that the internet privacy is good and scary, but people need to be careful of their own information and browsing histories, and websites. Jim Harper’s essay is more relevant and reasonable than the Nicholas Carr and Lori Andrews’s essays. However, Harper seems more persuasive to readers because he believes that the internet is good if people use it in a right way, whereas Carr and Andrews believe that the internet is not good at all.
Websites that collect personal data from children under the age of 13 are required to comply with COPPA. Because of this act, websites need to obtain a parent’s permission to collect or share their kid’s personal data. Although children’s personal information may not seem important now, releasing very important data may cause serious damage in the future.
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.
The digital age provides individuals with numerous ways of innovative opportunities like recording data in an effective manner, electronic banking, online shopping, by violating privacy. Despite what might be expected, the national and global security framework needs components to check programmers and outsider interceptors, who can access delicate data and information, placed in various divisions of the financial framework. These outsider interceptors can then break-in remotely to harm or get access to passwords and usernames.
Technology is great in so many ways. It has provided us with more communication access, access to knowledge at our finger tips, and so much more. Technology has overall made life easier, but maybe too easy, and has made things a lot less private. This results in us having to be extra careful with security on the internet. Internet security is important to protect our privacy, protect us from fraud, and from viruses that could destroy a piece of our technology. Internet privacy and security may be different but share a responsibility, but it is up to us to take personal responsibility to protect ourselves on the internet. We should pick unique, carful passwords, and never share this sensitive information, and encrypt our data when online.
The European Union consider data privacy as a basic right that is best preserve by legislation and federal policing. The United States, in contrast, relies largely on a self-regulatory approach to effective data privacy and protection. The provisions of the European Union law require businesses to accumulate individual data only for clearly stated purposes and prohibit data revelation to third parties unless consumers agree to give permission to do so. European consumers have the authority to sue companies that don 't follow the practices of these regulations.
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) were big bills recently in the EU and America that caught the attention of nearly every internet user. It was hard to not notice these two bills. These legislations would have pushed copyright infringement on many sites and much of the internet as it is known would have been shut down. On January 18, big sites such as Wikipedia, and Google blacked out their site for a day. This sent a loud and clear message to the creators of this bill and they put it on indefinite hold. While this was happening another bill decided to raise its ugly head. It had been lurking in the shadows of the other two bills and would prove to be a much more immense monster to face. Much like
The idea of privacy has been around since the 1760’s. John Adams was the first to speak on privacy issues. He stated that the British doing random searches of people's houses without their permission was the final straw in starting the revolution (EDRi). A breach of privacy or even a discomfort regarding privacy was a big issue for the colonists. It even made it into the constitution, saying that you cannot search and seizure. They claimed that they had their “natural rights” violated. This was an idea that was brought forth by John Locke that everyone had their rights to life, liberty, and property. People have always been very protective of their privacy. At the start of the 21st century, the risk for losing your credit information went very high. In 2016 this study showed that since the start of the century 41 million people have had either their identity or credit card information stolen (Jessica Dickler). Many people are wondering what the government is doing to change or help this, not just stopping the problem after it has happened. The newest breach of privacy is the new facial recognition software that is being used by the government, law enforcement, iPhone, and even facebook. The first facial recognition database was created in the 1990’s and updated in 2003, the goal of inspiring a revolution of innovation. This technology is now available to the public and is widely abused (Jesse David West). Many people feel that the government uses this technology to keep tabs