Importance of Online Privacy - Essay Example

Online Privacy Online privacy is not something that we as citizens have to worry about but with the current economic times, no one is safe. Every time we go onto the Internet, we are risking people taking our identity or finding out more about us than we want strangers to know. According to the article, "Online Privacy: Do Americans Need Better Protection?" the government, a potential employer, an insurance company or a scam artist can find information twenty-four seven on anyone. When the Internet first entered our society, it was something fun. Everyone learned how to "surf the net" and find anything they wanted. As the Internet grew and technology becomes more sophisticated, advertisers found that they had fertile ground to hawk their products. If you have a laptop, "hot links" can be found in most fast food restaurants, hospitals or airports. Today, information is accessible from anywhere. Advertisers can also use consumer information to market specifically to their hobbies and interests. Social networking has created more challenge to privacy (36) because anyone who takes part in it has their information availably through search engines. "Personal websites, blogs, social networks and Twitter people are sharing too much information about their lives" (935). It only takes a few mouse clicks and this information can be broadcasted all over the world. No one is safe whether they are a grandmother or grandfather or a small child; if they are on the Internet, someone can find them. Many people think that if they stay away from the social networking sites they are safe. However, the article states that people are being tracked anyway by advertisers who surf the Internet for people who are looking for their products. A frightening fact of this practice was that they do not only find out the search words that were searched, but they can find out the dates that people searched and the time; they can also find the computer that the information came from to more directly target their consumers (935). Many advocates of more controls for the Internet suggest that there should be changes in the laws that govern the Internet but reform efforts are very slow (941). Instead of waiting for reforms, citizens must take charge of their own online privacy. In this readers opinion, it is very important for people to take control of their own privacy online. One of the challenges to better controls over the Internet information is that many people like the fact that they can share everything with the world. This creates a hassle for those people who do not want to share everything and for many websites. According to the article, some of the social networking sites are taking extra precautions and giving more control to the consumers to insure online privacy (p. 940). The article gives many ways that people can protect themselves. Some of the things that people should do include educating themselves about what they need to do. They must learn what to do and then follow these suggestions. Consumers can also hide their personal information on social networking sites. In most sites like Facebook, there is the ability to not only keep information private but also to keep whatever is written on the site available to friends only. There are also ways to block information from search engines (937). The more people understand how to protect themselves, the easier it will be for them to avoid scams. Protecting private data is also difficult. We have seen in the news where many database from insurance companies or hospitals have been stolen online. The article makes the point that there are too many discrepancies for this to work. One example they give is the idea of the government getting into your records. If you have a checkbook at home that actually has your information stored in a desk drawer, the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution will protect this from seizure; online this is a different story because the checking account is available easier (944).As consumers, we can think about this issue and realize that the Internet is to large and too out of control to be regulated. If we look into our history, we will see that there a number of laws outside the Internet that are very difficult to enforce, so it stands to reason that something larger and very popular would be difficult to regulate. Advertisers prey on consumers because there are no restrictions and to restrict anything on the Internet would be an invasion of privacy to many people. Consumers already worry about identity theft and about people getting into their bank accounts or into their hospital records. The idea that they can have their identity compromised because they use any part of the Internet just makes for a more fearful society. The question becomes then, what can we do? Do we stop using the Internet? Do we become paranoid about its use and the facts that are presented? Or do we just not worry about it? In this readers opinion, this is not something that we can worry about because it will drive us insane. The best we can do is take as many precautions as we can and then the rest is left up to a power bigger than ourselves. The best we can do is weigh the pros and cons of using our cell phones, computers or other electronic devices and decide how we are going to conduct ourselves. We cannot be worried about other people are and whether or not they are going to get our information. The best we can do is take the precautions and move on. What is learned from this article is that nothing is really safe. Just like one can take many precautions to insure their home against theft but can still be burglarized, precautions online can only work to a point. It is important for people to understand that they have a right to protect themselves. They can report unwanted email as spam, they can send emails to companies and be asked to be taken off of lists. The bottom line is that if peel are conscious of what they are doing, and they take precautions when they are visiting websites, they will be safe for the moment until something new comes along that also breaks those privacy codes. Read More