Privacy and Surveillance - Essay Example

Privacy and Surveillance Internet or online privacy concerns the man or right of personal privacy in relation to the storage, repurposing, provision to third parties or the act of making information of oneself available through the internet. On a broader perspective, internet privacy is seen as a subset of computer privacy. Privacy includes either non personal identifying information (non PII) or personal identifying information. Non PII or PII information can be obtained from the behaviour of an individual on a site. PII is any type of online data or information that can be used specifically to identify a person. For example, physical address and a person’s age can be used to point out a person without the disclosure of the person’s name, since these main elements are unique to each and every person to primarily identify an individual. Some internet privacy investigators unanimously agree that personal privacy is long dead. In fact, some argue that the basic appeal of the internet services is to transmit personal data purposely. Bruce Scheneier in his article the value of privacy implies that privacy guards us from abuses by those in charge or power, especially when we are not committing anything wrong during the time of the surveillance. In light of this, I am going to evaluate and analyse privacy and surveillance. Subsequently, the various methods which we can adopt to increase our privacy while online will be highlighted. Online privacy is a complicated murky concept characterised by misinformation, conflicting interests, technology snafus and innuendo. On the surface, privacy advocates and e commerce companies and the government are basically locked in an unending stalemate (Rule 08). Whereas people and consumers in general want to share as little information as possible, websites and the government want to know as much information as possible about you. Criminals who hack into websites and make away with personal information are complicating matters even more. These criminals use the personal information for their own gain. Actually, in the modern world, the number of individuals and organisations currently tracking each and every one of you are very many. The personal data obtained from consumers and people is a lucrative and powerful marketplace which involves a lot of influential players. For example, 11 pharmaceutical firms including Smithkline Beecham PLC Glaxo Welcome PLC and Pfizer Inc formed a group and commenced tracking their consumer website visits across their websites. Every click the consumers made was recorded. The companies used this information to compare notes. The revelation was courtesy of the Washington post. This act encroached on privacy since the consumers were never told. Although a lot of people mainly point to the encroachment of privacy by advertising companies, they don’t comprehend what is transpiring out there. Advertising is just an iceberg tip (Milne 108). The problem of internet privacy at its centre is a paradox (Lyon 76). The internet was invented as a research tool which was open to everyone. As such, the internet’s design did not encompass security or privacy features. Conversely, the internet tends to offer users perfect anonymity, thus encouraging or making users believe they are anonymous and thus cannot be seen (Caudill et al 49). Who has not done or said or posted something online that we can’t do in the real world? Most people think about surveillance and privacy but they do not give it a lot of thought until something bad happens to them or their families. Internet privacy can be compared to a person’s freedom. You do not appreciate or know its significance until you are denied the freedom. A lot of identity theft victims embrace a different world view after the theft. They often come to the realization of how little or no control they possess over their world. Edward Snowden’s recent disclosure of the United States government surveillance projects has elicited an emotional debate about privacy, secrecy and security (Slobogin 54). From the disclosures, it is succinctly clear that the government is virtually engaging in unchecked monitoring of all communications. The communications which people thought were private are now being monitored by the national security agency (NASA). A lot of questions therefore arise from this scenario. Firstly, was it ethical and necessary for the NASA to conduct surveillance on a mass scale and subsequently store the data? Secondly, was the institution on the right side by keeping its activities secret? These questions cannot be justly answered by simple answers. All governments worldwide conduct some surveillance, even those governments which have privacy concerns at their heart. On a mass scale, government surveillance is an infringement on the citizens’ privacy (McKee 384). The special rapporteur of the UN gave a report on the mass surveillance being undertaken by the United States government. The report implies that mass surveillance is a violation of the basic privacy rights which are guaranteed by the various multiple conventions and treaties. The report further went ahead to state that the conduction of mass surveillance activities by the state completely erodes internet communication privacy. The report clearly differentiates between mass surveillance and targeted surveillance. Mass surveillance is defined as the process of nations with high internet penetration levels can easily access the communication information of a large or unlimited number of people (Lyon 87). Additionally, the state has access or an overview of all internet activities. During a mass surveillance exercise, personal information is accessed and recorded even though the individual has no prior suspicion. As such, every internet user’s activities are open to government scrutiny at any time. On the other hand, targeted surveillance depends on the individual or organisation having been suspected in the past. Mass surveillance thus is incompatible with the existing privacy laws or concepts for the governments that indiscriminately collect or gather nearly all communication metadata. Article 17 of the international covenant on civil and political rights implies that the state should not interfere in its citizen’s communication. As such, information sharing should reach the targeted audience alone. The USA ratified this treaty in 1992. The state’s surveillance has infiltrated nearly all the communication technologies American use. These programs were made possible through the passing of the FISA amendment act and the patriotic act by congress. The government surveillance activities are normally overseen by the foreign intelligence surveillance court. Nevertheless, the court conducts its businesses and activities in a secretive manner which automatically favours the government. The American constitution stipulates that the federal government should be transparent. According to history, secret surveillance has often been mi used by people for political reasons (Polletta, Francesca & Kelsy 423) Education institutions especially universities are facing a wide array of cyber security threats. The threats range from attempts to disrupt the university’s networks to trying to acquire sensitive student data and information. Universities store a large amount of student data that is quite sensitive. Additionally, universities store a lot of data that should only be used for educational purposes only. How to protect oneself while online Besides the government surveillance programs, the most vital element of online privacy is what we should do. The increase in internet penetration and use of sites such as twitter, Facebook, Google, and MySpace has led to more personal information being made available online (Debatin et al 44). As such, it is easily accessible by strangers. Hence, I will talk about some of the methods we can adopt in order to protect our privacy online. Personalised search engine optimisation is the first method. Strange as it may seem, people are willing to pay experts to alter positions of their names in Google`s listings as it is typed. This method keeps the bad news private. Secondly, change your name. Eric Schmidt who is Google’s CEO argued that most young people will have to change their names so as to disassociate themselves with their bad past which is recorded and stored online. Adults have embraced this method and mostly use aliases while online. Thirdly, change your security/privacy settings. Privacy settings over the internet enable you to decide who can see your online activities (Milne 98). For instance, no one wants a potential boss to know what you have been doing online Fourth, set strong passwords. A lot of people just put in their birthday, names or school names as their passwords. A strong password with both letters and numericals will deter hackers from gaining access to your information. Fifth, untag yourself from photos. You should review all photos you have been tagged in. if they seem inappropriate, untag yourself. Sixth, don`t include dates of birth/address. Addresses or birth dates are used by most financial institutions as security questions. Therefore, using them on the internet makes it easier for unauthorised people to fake your credit cards. Seventh, don`t respond to dodgy emails. This trick has been used by hackers for some time now. In fact, it is one of the oldest tricks. Delete emails that seem suspicious. Eight, log out. Learn to log out of the websites you have signed in from public places. People can access these computers and access your information if you have not logged out. Lastly, secure the home WI FI. This will bar intruders from accessing it. Conclusion Online privacy is an issue that must be taken seriously. Online tracking by advertising firms and mass government surveillance are activities which infringe on an individual’s basic privacy rights. Nevertheless, we can adopt some changes (as shown earlier) in order to increase our online privacy. And that brings me to the end of my presentation. Works cited Caudill, Eve M., and Patrick E. Murphy. "Consumer online privacy: legal and ethical issues." Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 19.1 (2000): 7-19. Debatin, Bernhard, et al. "Facebook and online privacy: Attitudes, behaviors, and unintended consequences." Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication 15.1 (2009): 83-108. Lyon, David, ed. Theorizing surveillance. Routledge, 2006. Lyon, David. Surveillance society: Monitoring everyday life. McGraw-Hill International, 2001. McKee, Heidi A. "Policy matters now and in the future: Net neutrality, corporate data mining, and government surveillance." Computers and Composition 28.4 (2011): 276-291. Milne, George R., and Mary J. Culnan. "Strategies for reducing online privacy risks: Why consumers read (or dont read) online privacy notices." Journal of Interactive Marketing 18.3 (2004): 15-29. Milne, George R., Andrew J. Rohm, and Shalini Bahl. "Consumers’ protection of online privacy and identity." Journal of Consumer Affairs 38.2 (2004): 217-232. Polletta, Francesca, and Kelsy Kretschmer. "Free spaces." The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements (1999). Rule, James B. Private lives and public surveillance: Social control in the computer age. Schocken Books, 1974. Slobogin, Christopher. Privacy at risk: The new government surveillance and the fourth amendment. University of Chicago Press, 2008. Read More