Freedom of Speech and Internet Privacy - Report Example

The Border Between Freedom of Speech and Internet Privacy Introduction: The world that we live in today is one that has evolved in many ways. Basically, the evolution that is well known to man today is due to technological developments. These developments manifest themselves in different ways. One particular face of technological development is the Internet and the services that are provided through it. Using the Internet is part of everyday life across the world, and globally, the principles, laws and regulations that apply to liberty, now also apply to the Internet. This is because the Internet is now an area through which business relationships as well as personal communication are maintained. Given that each human being has a democratic right to free speech, Internet Privacy is an important consideration. This becomes especially important since cyberspace is an area that one does not have tangible control of, and one cannot ascertain whether s/he is being spied on. However, in view of the terror threats in this day and age, intelligence agencies have been given considerable authority to invade various areas of cyberspace. Therefore, though people may have the right to free speech, and rights to Internet Privacy, there is a border that needs to be defined. While Internet Privacy refers to one's personal information being transferred, stored or exchanged to carryout business or personal activities, and are not meant for disclosing to the public, Freedom of speech is one's right to speak out publicly, but responsibly. Freedom of Speech: People tend to forget what freedom of speech is; they sometimes mistake it for speaking out irresponsibly. It is important for one to take his or her right to free speech seriously and responsibly in order to use it for what it is worth. In today's world, one needs to give this right more consideration. This is because there are many people who fear terrorist attacks; if they just get a hint of hate speech that another person might utter as an expression of frustration, they could inform concerned authorities. On the Internet, there are many people who express their views on open forums as well as in private ones. Community groups like Myspace.com, Msn My space, Facebook, etc. are ones where different kinds of people converge to vent their dismay at many conditions, such as the war in Iraq, and other severe issues. Most individuals are harmless and only express their views. However, intelligence agencies take these threats seriously and try to trace them out (Markoff, 2006). This is where many Internet users get offended, and feel their right to free speech is being smothered or interfered with. Debate over the extent that intelligence agencies go through to obtain information from different forums is ongoing. This is expected to continue for a longer period with the prevailing global political and military conditions. Privacy with Online Activity: It is obvious that privacy needs to be protected as much as possible, as one's civil liberties should not be disrupted. If one's privacy is not protected in the manner it should be, there can be no guarantee about anything online. It would also mean that privacy and security is only limited to the physical space that people live in and cannot be extended to cyber space. Cyberspace needs to be treated as an extension of the very space we live and trade within (Speed & Ellis, 2001, 238-240). The differences between existence in one's physical space and cyber space have been disputed for a while; many are skeptical about the extent of control that authorities have in cyber space, as they feel that their privacy is being undermined. This is legitimate to a great extent because of the fact that there is control over programs that are not visible and sometimes not even detectible (Speed & Ellis, 2001, 238-240). However, when one makes vital transfers of information, signing them digitally enables a receiver of such information at another point to have confidence in what a user has sent. The receiver automatically takes it for granted that the owner of a private and public key has sent particular information (Gordon et al, 2003, 2-6). Internet Banking: Regarding safety and privacy, federal laws and various other approaches have been sought and rightly so because in time to come it is expected that one will be dependent on the systems that are presented to the common man. This means that if electronic banking systems are ones that the common man is compelled to use, there will be little or no way of escaping them. Whether or not risks of security will be present or not is another matter, but with the way that everything is being globalized it is expected that Internet Banking will grow more and more common. Undoubtedly, this is a necessity for the pace of business to increase and greater gains to take place. However, the problem is that there has to be a way of dealing with the current security problems that are feared. Only appropriate litigation and technological advancements can deal with these, and it is hoped that some solution will be formulated (Gordon et al, 2003, 2-6). Insecurity with Exchanging Data Online: Online payments can be affected due to the interference of hackers on line. This is the reason why it is extremely risky for a person to send his or her passwords or credit card number while they are chatting on the Internet. This is another very risky means of communicating because during this process sensitive information can very easily be picked up. It is one of the easiest messengers to break into1. In addition to the transactions and the flow of information that are made through the Internet on a modem or a cable, one can also say that the wireless method of communication is by no means a safe mode of carrying out business, especially with users who do not protect their wireless Internet access through passwords. The use of wireless means of conducting business is supposed to be the most efficient and cost effective means of dealing with customers (Boulton, 2001). Suggestions That Have Been Made For Safer Transactions and Exchange of Information: From a purely legal aspect, the manner in which one uses the Internet needs to be considered first. This is with special regard for business conducted online, in which confidential information is often communicated to serve customers (Anderson & Moore, 2006, 611-612). Businesses should be familiar with the relevant directives and should carry out their own evaluation in order to get an idea of where they may be penalized and how they can boost their protection. Bodies that are likely to be available for this purpose will demonstrate objective, verifiable and effective mechanisms to ensure data protection. This will aid companies in challenging determinations of inadequacy in the event of them occurring (Swire & Litan, 1997, 25-33). There are certain categories of data transfers that are necessary to carry out a contract to which an individual may provide consent. Simple modifications to everyday data processing in cases may cut down the risk of unintended violations. Notice Provisions of directives should also be reviewed and put into action along with business practices. It may also be of some use in pinpointing the risk that exists between trade regions such as the US and the UK (Gordon et al, 2003, 2-6). Present contracts should be reviewed and modified according to its requirement. Internal codes of conduct may also help towards existing protections. There are also several standards that aid in preserving privacy for Internet transactions. The "P3 standard" proposed by the World Wide Web, sets fourth a platform for privacy that enables computer users to be informed and make their choices about the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information on the World Wide Web. Implementation will result in companies being aware of a site's privacy practices and a user's privacy preference (Swire & Litan, 1997, 25-33). It should be made clear to electronic facilitators that it is their duty to ensure their customers safety and security of personal and sensitive information. Laws that cater to this ensure the tightness of a net against any breach in security. If this is not done, in the long run one will surely find that there will be a lot of people losing their faith in electronic transactions, and this will directly affect the pace of business (Campbell et al, 2003, 432-447). People largely have confidence in applications that use DSA and other technology that makes transactions and exchange of information safer. It is then hoped that faith in electronic transactions will continue. Conclusion: Online transaction such as Internet banking is a convenient means of speeding up things in everyday life. People and businesses both rely on such technologically-driven facilities, and these facilities need to be made safer than they are currently. Though much of the international online business world have implemented relevant directives to operate safely online, today people are also quite concerned with the freedom they need to have in terms of what they want to talk about. This is because not all individuals use the Internet for business; there are many who wish to communicate with like-minded people in different parts of the world. Many of these individuals believe that they need more Internet Privacy for their communications online. While this is a dilemma since the September 11 attacks on the WTC, another issue is the right to free speech. People feel that they no longer can express what they feel in online public spaces because they could be tracked down and questioned. Finally, and as mentioned earlier, Internet Privacy refers to one's personal information being transferred, stored or exchanged to carryout business or personal activities, while Freedom of Speech is one's right to speak out publicly, but responsibly. However, there are legal implementations to protect users who transfer personal information for business and personal reasons. These are continuously being updated to provide better protection online. As far as intelligence agencies tracking people using chat rooms and discussions, tracking people only occurs if there is significant reason to do so, and it may take place when there is clear indication of hate speech and breeding hate, as opposed to simply showing general discontent with any situation. It is, therefore, expected that the current scenario will remain unchanged in terms of tracking suspicious Internet users while the utmost will be done technologically as well as legally to protect users with their personal information, such as passwords, credit card details, etc. References: Anderson, R. & Moore, T. (2006, October 27) "The Economics of Information Security." Science 314 (5799), Pp.611-612. Boulton, C. 2001. Developer. Internet Security Systems Moves to Parry Drive-by Hackers http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/10_752201 Campbell, K., Gordon, L., Loeb, M. & Zhou, L. (2003). The Economic Cost of Publicly Announced Information Security Breaches: Empirical Evidence from the Stock Market, Journal of Computer Security, Vol. 11, No. 3. Pp. 432-447. Expert Recommends Protection Against Internet Hackers, 2001 http://finance.pro2net.com/x30969.xml Gordon, L., Loeb, M. & Lucyshyn, W. (2003). Information Security Expenditures and Real Options: A Wait-and-See Approach, Computer Security Journal, Vol 19, No. 2, Pp. 2-6. Markoff, J. (2006, February 25). Taking Spying to Higher Level, Agencies Look for More Ways to Mine Data. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/25/technology/25data.htmlei=5088&en=d231d2f98b31262a&ex=1298523600&pagewanted=all Speed, T. & Ellis, J. (2001). Internet Security: A Jumpstart for Systems Administrators and It ManagersDigital Press. Pp 238-240. Swire, P. & Litan, R. 1997. None of Your Business: World Data Flows, Electronic Commerce, and the European Privacy Directive. Pp 25-33. Read More