Internet Privacy and Ethical Issues - Essay Example

Internet Privacy and Ethical issues By: Student’s name: Tutor: Institution Affiliation: City: Date: Introduction In the recent days, the use of internet has been on the rise due to its convenience in the way they are solving various problems that individuals are facing in the society. The growth of internet use has been associated with the rise of various platforms that require the internet so that they can make it easy for individuals to carry out their activities. The greatest impact of the internet has been felt in the social media. The social media platforms that these individuals are using include; LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and 2go. All these have been used to enhance the social networking a lot that has seen to be benefiting many in the society. The use of internet has not come without has many of the ethical and privacy of individuals who are using it. Several sectors regardless of the benefits that have been got out of the use of the internet have been impacted negatively. In this paper, we are going to discuss how the use of internet has impacted ethical standards within the society and also how some of the privacy of individuals has been infringed through the increased use of the internet. Impact of internet on social networking Social networking has been one of those areas that have been impacted both positively and negatively by the increased use of the internet. Both professionals, leaders, and the common citizens nowadays are in active use of social media platforms. Professionals have used social networking to market their services to clients, the governments are using the social media to gather various views of what citizens perceive given policies that are being imposed by the government and make the necessary amendments. The common are using the social networks to get various services that they need and also seek advice regarding any problems that they may be facing. The power of social networking is great that is the reason in this paper I am going to extensively look into the impacts of the social media in the society and its position in the society currently. All these have been enabled by the rapid penetration of internet use in the world. The major aim of social networking at its beginning was to increase the number of persons that one reaches through the internet. This could see an individual talk even with those people that he/she has not met and shared his/her idea with him to ensure that his business or social network is always on the increase. This could help many individuals who are marketing products and services to be in a position of having a wide market and also, enable an individual to know much about those that they are dealing with. An individual can be able to link himself to millions of people and share his/her ideas with them. This will make him/her be known and be associated with given personalities who are going to assist him to do his things better in the name of friendship via the social media platforms (Metz, 2005, pg.131). However, with all these benefits that social networking was intended to create; it has resulted to some disadvantages that are affecting the whole world. An example is where terrorist groups are creating social networks that are used to ensure that the terrorist missions are achieved. In the recent days, we have seen terrorist groups like the ISIS, Al-Qaida, Al Shabab, Baka Haram, and others all having networks that they use in the recruitment of members into their groups. Also, these groups are using these networks to spread information that is meant to intimidate the civilians and cause panic. These acts have been on the increase with the rise of the use of the social media platforms. The terror groups also have embarked on using social platforms to gather information about the various places that they are targeting. Since we are not aware of their malicious minds, you find that the information about how these places are good and you will even find information on how the security details in this particular places are being organized has been shared hence making it easier for their planning (Telegraph Reporters, 2014, pg. 01). Due to the rise of this trend by the terrorist groups, software companies are coming up with ways that software that is going to enhance security in the social media. This is going to arrive through the analysis of information that is being shared in the social media which is going to assist companies to take precautionary measures (Fassihi, 2011, pg. 2). The achievement of this is by the software tracing the source and the destiny of given information and give a possible indication of who are the people being in constant communication and what their intentions might be. The only effect of this analysis and research that is being done by the software is that the individuals that may be traced may not be the real people who are giving or sharing the information. The social media contains names and individuals who may be sharing names and profiles that are similar hence it may not be giving out the analysis that is true. There have been fake social media accounts that have been created by individuals that are meant to ensure that the information is not known who the original source of information is. These acts have been used to propagate criminal activities. It has made it difficult for the social media to regulate and ensures that the right information that should be shared via the social media is contained but this has been in vain. Privacy through the internet platforms The research that is done on the social media and other internet platforms has brought in the effect of no more privacy again. It has resulted in private information being invaded. This has caused too much confusion as people are hiding information to ensure that they are not known. This effect has been felt even on the academic field since information about various authors is being shared without authority being sort. All this has been due to the rise of criminal activities in the social networks that need to be capped before they are on their rise. Those who have been affected most are those on the various social platforms, as nothing will be taken to chance. With the rise of the social network usage, ethical issues have been on the rise some who have benefited in the way things are done and some who are negative. Due to social media, we have seen several people sharing their profiles and also getting information about particular individuals has been easy hence making it necessary for most of them to behave in a manner that holds integrity. On the other hand, some individuals have used the social platforms to ruin the reputation of some individuals. It has also resulted in private information that need not be to the public to find its way leaking causing a lot of harm. In the recent past, we have seen individuals sharing information on the private discussions that have been discussed. This has caused a lot of questions and the ethics management teams in various organizations. Ethics is a very important virtue when it comes to the usage of social media platforms (Klovdahl, 2004, pg. 130). Many restrictions there have been put in place to see that the necessary measures meant to ensure sanity is maintained. Regulations have been legislated by the concerned bodies to ensure that the social media platforms are not misused by their users. This controls range from the kind of information that can be shared and also severe punishment in case an individual performs a crime related to the social media. We have seen several companies using social platforms to give updates about the various projects that they are going to undertake. Some companies can use the platforms to provide information that is not true but meant for a public relationship with the followers. They do that with the aim of showing how mindful they have been to their customers so as to command a large following and customer base. This is unethical because they are using false information to be able to penetrate the market (Borgatti and Molina, 2003 pg. 347). Cases of private status of individuals regarding their HIV aids status have been found in the public due to the sharing that is being done by the health professionals. This as exposed the way the professionals have not been very keen on what they are sharing via the platforms. There has been unrest since many have started to fear on how the information about themselves that might find its way to the public. This has made them go slow on their activities to the public. This has not made the social media be effective in the way information should be shared. You will find that a lot of information has been hidden from the public. Whereas individuals could be sharing among small groups, they may try to hide it to ensure that it does not get publicized. However, some experts have indicated that no information can be hidden from the public since a small hint will magnify it and make it be found in the public arena (Klovdahl, 2004, pg. 132). The research field by scholars, we have seen some basing their evidence on the information that they get from various social media platforms. This has made these research not to be once that is perfect because you find that there are networks that provide information that is false. These social networks provide information which they have a hidden agenda that they want to achieve. Some provided some interesting false facts about a given topic. This act has resulted in research that does not provide a true picture of what is on the ground. The results that have been used out of these researches have resulted to different observations from the expected ones. Other social networks have resulted to the causing of confusion in the research field as they provide information while quoting a different author. This results to several researchers are lacking a clear support of their research due to the fact that they are found to unoriginal and not having a clear source that they can link their research to (Charles, 2005, pg. 07). Companies have embarked on the use of the social media to get information about their employees. This has enabled the human resource departments to have a lot of data about a given individual and from this data, they can be able to use this data in the recruitment activities and also the in their promotion procedures. However, this method may not be the best because of the false information that may be posted on the social networks frequently. This is likely to occur at times when the individuals may have a rumor that the department is going to use them in their promotion procedures. However, the method is the best to be used in the formulation of questions that are going to be asked in the interviews and the panels of promotion. Questions that are going to be based on the social media are going to expose the real character of an individual making it a perfect opportunity for the company to filter the needed workforce in a standard and ethical manner. However, a challenge may be presented in getting who the real person is as you are going to seek the information from the social platforms. Social platforms provide a wide range of information regarding a particular person, and even it can be a source of history on the achievements of an individual has had to this extent (Borgatti and Molina, 2003, pg. 340). The social media and networking have been used by individuals who are bad intentions to corrupt the minds of those young men and women who have not reached the age of being able to take critical decisions. We have seen some young men being engaged in activities that are not acceptable in the society due to the information that they have got from the internet that ends up corrupting them. An example is a case of being involved in sexual behaviors that do not hold the morality that is required in the society. Cases of young people watching pornographically films are rampant on the social media platforms. Though such sites have been banned, they find their way into t young people where they bring damage to them. Also, cases of young men and women being manipulated and promised to get good things in return in case they carry out a given activity are also rampant. We have seen young people joining the businesses of drug trafficking not because of their wish but due to the persuasions that they gate from some social networks that have an intention of making billions of money through the use of this young men and women. On top of this, the young people have been found to get into relationships with individuals that they have never known for a long time something that has caused many to suffer in the hands of an individual who turn out to be exploitive and also they may get diseases (Titan & Fisher, 2011, pg. 02). Some have even found their images on the internet on the acts that are sexual cases that will lead them even to try to commit suicide. Their careers may be ruined, as they may not have the trust of employers due to the acts that had been published about them. Professionals, on the other hand, have not been left out as the social media can be used to tarnish the image in the public. We have seen cases in the world where we are being told that a given professional body is full of individuals who are corrupt. These cases are common in African countries where we have a shortage of individuals in various sectors. Even in the delicate professions like the medical sector, we have had cases of collusion which are done via the social media. Some of these acts are false, and some are true. However, the long-term impact that they have on the body of professionals may not be good as they may lose the confidence of those they serve. African medical sector has mostly associated with cases where medical practitioners are used as agents of marketing (Klovdahl, 2004, pg.119). Overseas hospitals usually tell them to refer cases of treatment to their hospital in the name that the only place you can get search medical care is found overseas in a particular hospital. All these cases have been published in the social media hence making civilians lack confidence in the professionals in their countries. Cases of cybercrime have also been on the rise more that where unauthorized individuals are trying to access information that they are not allowed to see through fraudulent means (Steve, 2010). The military and security agencies in the world have been affected both positively and negatively. In the first place, the internet has assisted them to gather intelligence about their enemies. Top military troops in the world frequently do use their social media to gather their intelligence. The FBI which is the American security department has always got information that is viable of the imminent attacks that could have caused destruction in the world. Once information has been got from the social platforms, it is treated with a lot of seriousness and care so as to ensure that it has been dealt with. The same has been done by other military personnel in the world where they can tricky themselves and get in touch even with criminals so as to be able to access them. On the other hand, criminals have not been left behind they have been able to use information from the public which is able to update them on the way the security teams are doing their activities. This information may be used by these groups to ensure that they have beaten the security personnel who are in their pursuit (Klovdahl, 2004, pg.121). Conclusion From, all the above factors that have been discussed, I can be able to say that the internet is one of those things that have been on the rise of usage by each person depending on its importance. With the fact that it touches almost each and every profession, it means that it cannot be underestimated. Use of the internet for networking and carrying out online activities, with the aim of acquiring knowledge that helps one in the daily solving of problems. All field of the economy is being affected by the use of the internet as seen from the above discussion. The suggestion that the security of a country is affected bu the use then it means each and every individual has been affected. Clearly from the above discussion, one can be able to establish that communication via the internet has to lead to a reduction of privacy of individuals and also ethical issues has been on the rise as some have resulted in the use of the internet in the wrong manner. Bibliography Borgatti, S.P., Molina, J.L, (2003). Ethical and strategic issues in organizational social network analysis. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 337–350. Charles Kadushin, (2005). Who benefits from network analysis: ethics of social network research. Fassihi, F (2011). Two novice gumshoes chartered the capture of Saddam Hussein. Klovdahl, A.S (2004). Social network research and human subjects’ protection: towards more effective infectious disease control, 119–137. Metz, C (2005). Make contact. PC Magazine, 131–138. Teten, D., Fisher, D., Allen, S, (2004). The Five Keys to Building Business Relationships Online. On-Line Business Networks. http://www.onlinebusinessnetworks.com/books.htm. Steve Rambam, (2010). Privacy Is Dead – Get Over It at The Next HOPE, in New York City. Read More

In the recent days, we have seen terrorist groups like the ISIS, Al-Qaida, Al Shabab, Baka Haram, and others all having networks that they use in the recruitment of members into their groups. Also, these groups are using these networks to spread information that is meant to intimidate the civilians and cause panic. These acts have been on the increase with the rise of the use of the social media platforms. The terror groups also have embarked on using social platforms to gather information about the various places that they are targeting.

Since we are not aware of their malicious minds, you find that the information about how these places are good and you will even find information on how the security details in this particular places are being organized has been shared hence making it easier for their planning (Telegraph Reporters, 2014, pg. 01). Due to the rise of this trend by the terrorist groups, software companies are coming up with ways that software that is going to enhance security in the social media. This is going to arrive through the analysis of information that is being shared in the social media which is going to assist companies to take precautionary measures (Fassihi, 2011, pg. 2). The achievement of this is by the software tracing the source and the destiny of given information and give a possible indication of who are the people being in constant communication and what their intentions might be.

The only effect of this analysis and research that is being done by the software is that the individuals that may be traced may not be the real people who are giving or sharing the information. The social media contains names and individuals who may be sharing names and profiles that are similar hence it may not be giving out the analysis that is true. There have been fake social media accounts that have been created by individuals that are meant to ensure that the information is not known who the original source of information is.

These acts have been used to propagate criminal activities. It has made it difficult for the social media to regulate and ensures that the right information that should be shared via the social media is contained but this has been in vain. Privacy through the internet platforms The research that is done on the social media and other internet platforms has brought in the effect of no more privacy again. It has resulted in private information being invaded. This has caused too much confusion as people are hiding information to ensure that they are not known.

This effect has been felt even on the academic field since information about various authors is being shared without authority being sort. All this has been due to the rise of criminal activities in the social networks that need to be capped before they are on their rise. Those who have been affected most are those on the various social platforms, as nothing will be taken to chance. With the rise of the social network usage, ethical issues have been on the rise some who have benefited in the way things are done and some who are negative.

Due to social media, we have seen several people sharing their profiles and also getting information about particular individuals has been easy hence making it necessary for most of them to behave in a manner that holds integrity. On the other hand, some individuals have used the social platforms to ruin the reputation of some individuals. It has also resulted in private information that need not be to the public to find its way leaking causing a lot of harm. In the recent past, we have seen individuals sharing information on the private discussions that have been discussed.

This has caused a lot of questions and the ethics management teams in various organizations. Ethics is a very important virtue when it comes to the usage of social media platforms (Klovdahl, 2004, pg. 130). Many restrictions there have been put in place to see that the necessary measures meant to ensure sanity is maintained. Regulations have been legislated by the concerned bodies to ensure that the social media platforms are not misused by their users.

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