Future Outlook of Digital Privacy - Coursework Example

Digital Privacy Name Institutional Affiliation Date Introduction Digital privacy is a human right. People need privacy while online because of the massive migration to the digital era. Today, many people use the Internet for various reasons which range from, interacting on social media platforms such as Facebook, sharing personal information online and even for business transactions (Gellman & Dixon 2011). Online security is the question many people are asking. Personal and high profile information and secrets have been leaked and compromised lives and government operations. How secure are personal Facebook accounts? How secure are government documents? This digital age has opened up new opportunities for people the world over but it also has its negative side. When signing up to an online page, how safe is the information given? Thus, this paper seeks to analyse the future outlook of digital privacy, the positive and negative impact of the digital society and its consequences. Future Outlook of Digital Privacy According to Sturges (1999), mmore and more people are embracing the Internet as it is readily available and affordable. People do online shopping, search for jobs, and socializing. However, how safe is the personal information shared? Lives are at risk online without even noticing. The digitalised society is not a friendly place but one where people ought to tread softly and carefully. The organizations where people share personal information such as full names, current residence, address, and date of birth should protect the privacy of the clients. However, a person should first be protected by avoiding detailed personal information. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Children are bullied and abused online all the time with or without the knowledge of the parents or guardians. Digital privacy begins with the digital users. Gritzalis (2006) emphasizes that bbefore giving personal information online to any organization, ask if the organization is credible or not. The reason for the request to give personal information and what the organization plans to use that information for. Next, as a responsible person, find out if the site has a privacy note and ascertain what they intend to do with the information received. An indication of whether the information received will be shared with other organizations should be clearly given. If the intentions are not clear, personal information should not be given at all. Digital privacy, in future, will be aided by advancing electronic technology where online activities will be monitored (Sturges 1999). Sharing personal information with multiple people or organizations online is not a safe move either. The information given might be used to steal a person’s identity and commit crime. Caution should be taken when a person is asked to provide bank or credit card information. When shopping, secure sites which carry a padlock sign should be used. One thing most online users ignore is the importance of a password. The same or obvious password may help hacker get online account information easily. Maiden names, date of birth or even your child’s name are all obvious choices that may reveal personal information. Random letters and numbers to create strong passwords ought to be used. Some online organizations will tell the user whether a password the person has chosen is strong or not. Anyone trying to get someone else’s personal information will be tracked easily (Waldo, Lin & Millett 2007). When socializing online, users need to pause and consider online safety. Think about who will see the information that is posted. Most sites will allow users to control who gets to see the posts. There is a public and private choice of what information can be seen by which audience. Resetting privacy settings filters the audience. Reliable social networking sites have clear privacy settings that ensure clients’ safety while online and offline. Minors are the major victims of insecurity because of the increased online frequency. Older users need to regulate the time minors spend online to protect and teach the minors about online safety. The older users can also set privacy settings for minors (Gellman & Dixon 2011). Positive and Negative Impacts of Digital Privacy to the Digital Society Digital privacy has its pros and cons in the digital society. The digital society with the help of technology has made life easier. On one hand, digital privacy allows people to share private information with commercial organizations which make lives easier by targeting their needs. Tracking of consumers will increase meaning the organizations will start producing advertisements that are driven by the user (Gellman & Dixon 2011). Encryption is bound to continue improving with the use of privacy technology, but, technology that penetrates privacy will also increase in equal measure. People will be smart and motivated on both sides. As encrypting software grows, so the decrypting software will also grow. The more data is made available online, the less privacy will be enjoyed. Another positive impact of digital privacy in the digital society is that many internet users will be better at concealing information no other person will be able to access (Cate 1997). Technologically well informed consumers, governments, and businesses will control who sees certain information. However, there is a downside to this because the users who will have this opportunity will have to be financially stable. The users will need to be prepared to pay a fortune to gain control over personal information. On the contrary, digital privacy will not be afforded by every Internet user. Public life is slowly becoming the latest default. Modern lifestyle has been made impossible without revealing data to organizations and the government. Digital privacy will be a luxury in the future as few individuals will have the resources to protect personal information. A section of the public who will not be comfortable with surveillance may opt out of online platforms. There will be no privacy as people will be monitored all the time. Only the few users who can afford to protect personal data will be safe but not entirely safe. The digital public sector and the digital private sector will overlap in the future creating an unsafe environment for digital media users (Agre & Rotenberg 1997). Information will no longer be private. Users will have to contend with sharing information and collecting data and accept it as a way of life. This will mean adjusting norms to fit in the digital society. Consequences of Digital Privacy to the Digital Society Digital privacy comes with some consequences. Waldo, Lin & Millett (2007) notes that lying to get through a site that needs personal information is now normal. There is no transparency whatsoever. Minors will be able to use internet and the numbers will increase. This is majorly because honesty will not be there while giving personal information such as age, name, date, and place of birth and physical addresses. Once a digital user’s privacy has been breached, the person may be ashamed to share the information with anyone or report the incident to the relevant authorities. This is a consequence depending on how secure the user’s information was. Minors do not disclose privacy breaches to parents due to the fear of being punished. Economic interests are protected with digital privacy. The digital society can keep ideas, inventions, and ways of making products secured. This will help in creating and distributing new ideas and products while competing with others in the market. Until a product is released, the privacy of that product is kept secret. No one will steal the same idea from the originator. This creates a competitive economic world. Facebook Privacy Facebook is home to many users. The services that Facebook offers attracts anyone from the age of about 13 up to the ages of about 60 (Acquisti 2008). Personal information is frequently shared on Facebook. Facebook has, however; not been good at protecting the personal information of the users it serves. Anything personal about Facebook users is displayed for friends to see. Such information ranges from current location, favourite movies, books, institutions of learning attended and even the people you trust. Family members are also freely shared on Facebook. Since its inception, Facebook has helped reconnect with millions of people worldwide. Sharing personal experiences with friends and acquaintances has been on the increase in the recent years. The privacy of the users has been questioned by many. With such openness about private information, privacy on Facebook has been lost. A Facebook user can be tracked right to the place of residence based on the information provided on the user’s account (Acquisti, 2008). Innocent family members’ lives have been at risk of privacy after information about them has been shared on this social media platform. Any information that is personal in nature that has been shared on Facebook endangers the user’s life and everyone around. In as much as Facebook has tried to revise social media’s privacy policy, the users are still not safe. WikiLeaks Sensitive information about governments has been leaked through WikiLeaks in the recent past deliberately. This website has been a whistle-blower releasing sensitive information about the US government (Cady & Mcgregor 2002). The release of such information has been termed as reckless by the Pentagon. It is evident that even the US is not cushioned against leakage of high profile government information. Therefore, it is clear that digital privacy continues to be compromised and this raises doubts about the safety of the digital society both online and offline. These privacy issues are detrimental to the development of any digital society. Espionage Congress passed the espionage act in June 1917 (Cady & Mcgregor 2002). This legislation stated that newspapers and magazines be banned from the mails. Fines of up to $10,000 and a jail term of 20 years in jail would be given to any individual charged with obstructing the draft (Cady & Mcgregor 2002). Clearly, espionage was an expensive crime to commit. Any information that could be obtained by a country or organization with the intent of harming the US or that could be used against the US could cause severe consequences to the organization or country. Having possession of sensitive information about the US was a dangerous affair. Conclusion In conclusion, digital privacy may on one hand get better in the near future with the help of advanced technology, but; it may also worsen with the same technological advances. Personal information will still be shared on various digital platforms and privacy will be compromised as digital users will accept the sharing as a way of life. This is detrimental because the safety of the users online and offline will be compromised. Social media sites are doing little or nothing to protect the privacy of the users they serve. Personal information shared on social endangers the lives of minors and older users as well. Although the safety of the digital society online is questioned, economic interests are protected. The US condemns the leakage of sensitive information by websites such as WikiLeaks and has put measure in place for any organization with espionage intentions. References Top of Form Acquisti, A. (2008). Digital privacy: theory, technologies, & practices. New York, Auerbach Publications. Bottom of Form Top of Form Cady, G. H., & Mcgregor, P. (2002). Protect your digital privacy! survival skills for the information age. [Indianapolis, Ind.], Que. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=81327. Bottom of Form Top of Form Waldo, J., Lin, H., & Millett, L. I. (2007). Engaging privacy & information technology in a digital age. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10180651. Bottom of Form Top of Form Agre, P., & Rotenberg, M. (1997). Technology & privacy the new landscape. Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=446. Bottom of Form Top of Form Cate, F. H. (1997). Privacy in the information age. Washington, D.C., Brookings Institution Press. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=18783. Bottom of Form Top of Form Gellman, R., & Dixon, P. (2011). Online privacy a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif, ABC-CLIO. http://ebooks.abc-clio.com/?isbn=9781598846508. Bottom of Form Top of Form Gritzalis, S. (2006). Privacy & anonymity in the digital era. [Bradford, England], Emerald. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10132661. Bottom of Form Top of Form Sturges, P. (1999). Privacy in the digital library environment. Boston Spa, Resource. Bottom of Form Read More