Privacy and Internet Policy - Essay Example

Identity theft is not a new happening. It has been around for ages now and have transformed from using the names of deceased people for voting or turning to crime that is against the social welfare. The surge of pre-approved credit cards, pre-approved loans and unsolicited credit card checks along with the ease of accessibility and reach of the Internet has made identity theft a crime that can fool anyone and lead to overwhelming financial costs for the victims (Stanley, 2008). James Moor (2009) observes that a policy vacuum exists regarding the usage of computer technology.

The increased range of opportunities that computers provide also necessitates the development of more comprehensive policies to guide actions. Advancement in technology has given rise to greater vulnerabilities in the security of systems; this has been the case for websites too. Due to the chances of access by unauthorized agents, websites often develop web privacy policies. Internet policies can be used by a number of bodies ranging from companies and schools to web based sellers and vendors.

Regardless of how dedicated or vaguely controlled the web servers, the level of risk that these bodies are exposed to and their adherence to an Internet privacy policy is not the same. If companies do not observe a concrete security system for the protection of information, then the gap between the intended level of security and identity theft protection system is widened and manifests itself when a security breach occurs. It needs to be emphasized that the range of attacks and risks to the system from outside sources is very diverse and complicated.

Web-based attacks such as identity theft, common gateway interface code etc lead to drastic consequences internal intrusion, receipt or dissemination of a malicious code, decrease in the security fortressed by network security procedures and misrepresentation and authentication problems. Moreover if a system is exposed to high levels of internet identity theft, people would not trust the system anymore (Vacca, 2003). There are various measures that are employed to protect the web sources from intrusions and identity theft.

According to Vacca (2003) one of this is the development and effective enforcement of an Internet policy which is meant to cover and develop management, usage and processes associated with configuration in the context of identity theft protection. Internet service providers should take into account the privacy legislation policy and should be able to not only understand it but also comply with it. Vacca argues that one of the best practices for online identity theft protection is openness, for which companies need to make identity theft policies and practices mandating the management of personal information in an open yet responsible manner.

The website of the company should encompass an accurate and comprehensive identity theft policy. In particular, the privacy policy should coherently divest the responsibilities of organization as well as the information practices. The government places great emphasis on the protection of financial businesses, workplaces etc against identity theft. A privacy policy serves three main purposes. It tells the user about the information and security policies of the company. It gives the consumer information about the range of options that he has