Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Privacy & The Internet


"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." –Eric Schmidt


This statement seems false in some aspects. There are certain obligations on the Internet that we must put in private information in order to receive the benefits of the service. Although we may not want to put in the information, it is required. For example, social security numbers, bank account and passwords are all obligations that we must put in the Internet database. Although someone ‘is always watching’,even though it may be a secure cite, people never know who has access to it.

I do not believe that this ISP system is an effective method to combating piracy nor is it proper. I feel this way for several reasons. The Internet is a public place where people share documents, information, videos, pictures and much more private information. Although privacy on the Internet may seem hypocritical, it is our right to pick and choose what information we do put on the Internet and what we do not. We should be allowed enough privacy to keep us safe. If monitoring or tracking specific documents that may pose a threat to others or help others find information, the government should do it, if there is firm evidence of activity. If there is no firm evidence of piracy or criminal acts of some sort, there is no need for monitoring and privacy invasion should be omitted.


If our anonymity was taken away almost completely, the obligation of Internet ID cards would be almost ineffective. There is a reason as to why people are picky about what they put on the Internet. They do this to avoid stalkers, and also thieves who break into bank accounts and steal personal information. These Internet ID cards would make it easier for these types of people to track down the exact location of people and bigger problems could occur, because we do not know who has acces to these cites, even if they belong to the Government.


Overall, privacy to some degree should be monitored. Yet certain accounts, such as facebook, can be set as public or private, the reality is that it is always public and depending on the information that it contains, could have serious consequences. Privacy control is an issue on the internet that will always be there, and it is only up to you as to what information you do not want to be seen, not because it is secret but because of the potential consequences that may occur.

This website gives information on privacy of the internet and what to do to protect yourself and your computer from potential harm. http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm

4 comments:

  1. Good point about those ID cards potentially being more harmful than helpful. I am definitely against required ID cards for internet usage/transactions.

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  2. Thank you. I had read your article and actually answered some of your quesitions that you raised at the end of the post. I found your article really interesting with good points. I also am against the use of ID cards. It makes things way more difficut to use and may actually discourage people from using the Internet.

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  3. Yeah I think with Internet ID cards there is another bag of issues that happens for example another level of crime. People could steal Internet IDs and use them to make a money. I know it might sound far fetched but you never know.

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  4. I totally agree. Anybody could have access to them and easily steal identities and more personal infomation. People these days will do anything for money so it is not far fetched it is almost expected.

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