Importance of Defending Online Privacy in Digital Age - Essay Example

Why defending online privacy in digital age is so important Introduction In modern digital age, people are being encouraged to share their personal information online. This is done because people trust Internet companies to keep their data secret. However, revelations of massive spying shows that people’s privacy is not respected. People rely on the Internet to communicate, network, make purchases, learn, and much more. These activities produce massive amount of data that NSA and other groups are interested in. However, this information is not mined legally. Illegal mining violates people’s privacy and in also undermine the trust people around the world has in American technology companies. This should change because maintaining vibrant Internet demands that the government respects privacy of the information people share online. This research paper argues that illegal data mining is a threat to the Internet and American technology companies. Why defending online privacy in digital age is so important According to data from American data companies, National Security Agency’s Internet surveillance, and illegal data mining is hurting international sales of American Internet companies and hurting online freedom. Estimates by a policy research group called Information Technology & Innovation Foundation says by 2016 US companies will lose an estimated $35 billion in lost revenues (Herman 15). Some of the companies likely to lose out most are Apple and Google that benefit most from an open Internet without national boundaries. Data mining is become an important way of getting personal information because so many people rely on the Internet to communicate and get all types of information. According to Carr (2008), he does not all his research as a writer online. Previously, he had to get magazines, books, and other written materials to research and this used a lot of time and slowed down his productivity. Internet research on the other hand is easy. He says that he starts his research by selecting a few articles, which guides him onto resources that are more similar by clinking on links. Within a short time, he is able to get quality resources that he can use for his writings. The downside of this convenience is his activities can easily be tracked. Search engines and other websites track their visitors using cookies. Tracking is done for purposes of advertising. The other groups of people interested in online activities of people are hackers and the NSA. Hackers are interested in stealing personal information for personal gain. NSA on the hand track online users in order to detect illegal online activities and communications between terrorists. Relying too much on the Internet-by-Internet users has created a lot of information that groups such as the NSA are interested in acquiring. The estimated number of people that is online in the world is 2.7 billion people and increasing. This is the number of people that American technology companies can potentially monetize. This is a massive opportunity for Internet companies. Hardware companies such as Cisco report that customers in foreign countries are hesitant to buy their hardware for fear that the product have hidden backdoor (Mears Cohen 12). Orders from china for the company have fallen by as much as 18%. China, a big market for computer hardware, now prefers domestic companies to Cisco. The growing cloud computing industry that will be worth 216 billion dollars in 2016 will be affected. According to an industry group Cloud Security Alliance, at least ten percent of its members who are not Americans have canceled their contract with American companies (Schneier 24). People outside United States no longer trust American technology companies. United States is the leader in providing cloud-computing services in the world. American companies dominate in the United States itself and globally. Americans also leads on cloud computing use and innovation. Dropbox, Amazon web services, and Box, all American companies, pioneered the concept of keeping data in the cloud. According to people in the industry, this is due to economic competitiveness of the country (Schneier 25). Other companies in the world are playing catch up. Foreign companies in cloud computing are catching up fast. Foreign governments such as France aid domestic companies to set up viable cloud computing platforms and break the stranglehold of American companies on cloud computing in the world. Like the French government, European governments are supporting their companies because they believe that domination of American companies in cloud computing is bad for European people. European commission has called for the implementation of a number of steps to promote cloud computing in Europe. One of the steps is creation of standard that apply all over Europe. The goal of such measures is to support European companies in competing with American companies. By 2020, European cloud computing marketing will produce revenues in excess of 80 billion Euros (Mears Cohen 20). This is massive revenue that American companies deserve a pie for their pioneering work in this new field. Much of the European revenues from cloud computing will be captured by American cloud computing companies according to estimates before revelations of massive spying by Edward Snowden. The revelations of spying have changed the dynamics of cloud computing market. European commission has stated that the Europeans cannot trust American companies any longer to keep their data. As a growing industry, cloud-computing companies have to retain existing customers and recruit new ones (Bamford 19). With fears of spying, it is harder for Amazon web serves to convince foreign customers to keep their data in America with them and this means losing market share. By losing market share in the short term, American tech companies will lose out in the long term. Rivals in Europe and elsewhere in the world are telling potential customers to avoid American cloud computing companies because storing data with them is not safe because American government can access it at will. European providers are selling their services around the world on the basis they are European and American government cannot access that data. German politicians have publicly encouraged Europeans to avoid American companies if they fear American government will access their data illegally. Other governments have called for the boycotts of American companies. Estimates indicate that American cloud providers will lose between 20 billion dollars to 35 billion in lost business (Bamford 24). They are also estimated to lose at least 10 per cent of foreign market to competitors. Illegal data mining affect companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. The NSA has forced them to participate in PRISM spy program. This involvement has compromised their reputations. Internet companies that include Google, Facebook and Yahoo that handle sensitive customer data need to build trust with their users. This is done by maintaining transparency and protecting the privacy of their users (Bamford 20). The three companies have international operations and a good proportion of their revenues come from their international operations. NSA revelations destroyed the trust in these companies and therefore eroding their business foundation. Competitors of Internet companies will paint them as collaborators with American government spies in taking private information of users in unauthorized manner. Ironically, even as the companies are accused of taking private information of users to American government, twitter, and Facebook has in recent years played a key role in bringing down dictatorial regimes in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In Moldova in 2009, dissidents used twitter to challenge an election declared as sham. The same thing happened in Tunisia and elsewhere in Arab Middle East. American companies are trusted because they are seen as independent unlike Chinese companies that are controlled by the communist party of china and the country’s leadership (Herman 17). The perception that American government and its spy agencies control Google and Facebook is dangerous because it erodes trust in these companies. Without trust, international operations of these companies would be in doubt. A few years ago, Google pulled out of china due to censorship demands by Chinese government. In law, American companies are powerless to resist demands for data by the NSA. Aggrieved companies can challenge requests for data at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The government is not required by law at the court to produce evidence of probable cause. The only evidence required is that the targeted person or institution is a foreign power of an agent of such a power. Since the establishment of the court of 1979, the court has overturned less than 20 NSA requests for data challenged by data companies. This shows without a fundamental change in law or the way NSA handles American Internet companies, there will be no trust in these companies (Herman 23). Data mining as practiced by NSA therefore undermine the trust people have with American companies and this has implications for business. The latest leaks about the workings of NSA shows that the American spies are planning to install malware in millions of computers around the world by installing malware in websites that tricks users it is a Facebook website. Such revelations give the company bad coverage in world press. Considering that these companies are banned in china or not allowed to operate freely, people now consider china to have made a good move. However, because freedom to communicate freely is so important, illegal data mining essentially undermine democracy and legitimize illegal actions by states that as china, Korea, and Iran that restricts people’s access to the Internet (Schneier 45). With massive surveillance of American citizens and other people across the world, including foreign heads of state, NSA putting the future of the Internet at risk. Brazilian president who was targeted by NSA spying is supporting proposals to protect the country from having its data being routed to American due to spying. The current Internet governance is U.S centric and that is why it is so easy for Americans and NSA to spy. If the model changes, the Internet would fragment as more barriers to the free flow of information is implemented to protect nations against NSA spying. United Internet is better for American because American companies dominate. This form of data mining is not restricted to American governments alone as there are other countries that get this data as well including companies and illegal groups of hackers. All these undermine peoples trust in global Internet. One solution that has been suggested is changing Internet governance which is where America is heavily represented (Schneier 50). The libertarian values behind the Internet are essentially American. Another suggestion is limited the movement of data from countries. This last suggestion is similar to starting national Internet with little or no connection with global Internet. If these suggestions are implemented, Internet would fragment. American people have constitutional rights that safeguard personal liberty. The government is also tasked with securing the nation. The constitution limits the power of government in order to limit its ability to intrude into people privacy. If government power was not limited, it would turn into an oppressor. The goal of keeping America secure from threats and respecting the privacy of people are two conflicting goals because terrorists live among people (Schneier 62). After September 11, American government started a program of eavesdropping secretly on Americans in order to catch terrorists ("How Your Data Are Being Deeply Mined"). The president said that NSA surveillance with or without a warrant is critical for national security. However, warrantless surveillance is against civil liberties of the people enshrined in the constitution. The war of terror seems to have compromised constitutional guarantees on privacy. Due to the threat of terror, most Americans are unwilling to criticize the government for intruding in their personal lives and undermine their liberties. American law enforcement agencies regularly use national security letters demanding access to phone records, emails, and even financial information. The sweeping powers of the law enforcement agencies are defended on the basis that the country is on war. However, the law enforcement agencies are using the law of liberally that people have started to question the rationale for waging a war that undermine constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. According to the law, surveillance and other forms of searches or intrusion into people’s private homes or access to emails must be done with a warrant from law courts ("How Your Data Are Being Deeply Mined"). However, the law enforcement agencies circumvent the law and initiate searches without following the right procedures. These actions that do not follow the law are similar to restrictions imposed by other countries such as china on their people. The actions by NSA therefore go against the letter and spirit of American constitution. According to FISA, congress restricted the ability of government to conduct unrestricted surveillance even during war. The law does not prohibit surveillance but sets limit to avoid abuse. Despite the law, the government nevertheless conducts unauthorized searches and surveillance as the actions of NSA shows. With the passage of Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act it is now easier to circumvent constitutional guarantees. Enactment of FISA sought to facilitate the ability of government to spy people living in United States but with ties to terrorists and also protect civil liberties of the people ("How Your Data Are Being Deeply Mined"). In order to achieve that, this law requires that the government get a warrant from a FISA established court by providing probable cause that justifies the surveillance. The ability of the president to authorize such broad based surveillance even during war is limited. The safeguards set by FISA are in agreement with the principles established in the fourth amendment. According to data, despite massive surveillance, the amount of people apprehended per year on suspicion of engaging in terrorist activities is less than ten. The number is too few to justify the practice. The demand for a warrant before surveillance is the most important procedural safeguard established in law to protect people against abuse ("How Your Data Are Being Deeply Mined"). Warrantless searches such as those carried online ignore both the safeguards and the constitution. American government need to respect the rule of law and the role of interpreting what is legal and what is not should be left to the court and not executives. Surveillance should be restricted to persons known to engage in terrorists and not collecting all metadata from Gmail and Facebook and mining in it. The war of terror is difficult because the enemy is not clearly recognizable. However, the war is not a license to disregard law and procedural safeguards meant to protect the people from government power. From the foregoing information, the total disregard of American government through the NSA of people’s online privacy is creating a big problem that is threatening American companies and the future of the Internet (Herman 23). Surveillance is not only illegal but also damaging successful American companies. Therefore, defending online privacy in digital age is so important for it is illegal as well as it might lead to fragmentation of the Internet. Furthermore, it undermines the future of American cloud computing firms and it erodes trust in American companies that owns web search engines and social networking sites Conclusion Illegal data mining by NSA and other data miners is undermining the future of united Internet and could cause its fragmentation. Data collected also suggest that although data mining by programs such as prism expensive and massive, only a few arrests have been made based on the data collected. This suggests that the exercise is not worth it. The mining should stop it is illegal and undermines American companies. Works Cited Bamford, James. The shadow factory the ultra-secret NSA from 9/11 to the eavesdropping on America. New York: Doubleday, 2008. Print. Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 1 July 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. . Herman, Susan N.. Taking liberties: the war on terror and the erosion of American democracy. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. "How Your Data Are Being Deeply Mined." by Alice E. Marwick. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. . Mears, Bill, and Tom Cohen. "Judge: NSA domestic phone data-mining unconstitutional." CNN. Cable News Network, 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. . Schneier, Bruce. Schneier on security. Unabridged. ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2013. Print. Read More