INTERNET PRIVACY
Privacy can entail either Personally Identifying Information (PII) or non-PII information such as a site visitor's behavior on a website. PII refers to any information that can be used to identify an individual. For example, age and physical address alone could identify who an individual is without explicitly disclosing their name, as these two factors are unique enough to typically identify a specific person.
Some experts such as Steve Rambam, a private investigator specializing in Internet privacy cases, believe that privacy no longer exists; saying, "Privacy is dead – get over it". In fact, it has been suggested that the "appeal of online services is to broadcast personal information on purpose." On the other hand, in his essay The Value of Privacy, security expert Bruce Schneier says, "Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're doing nothing wrong at the time of
surveillance.
Levels of privacy
Internet and digital privacy are viewed differently from
traditional expectations of privacy. Internet privacy is primarily concerned
with protecting user information. Law Professor Jerry Kang explains that the
term privacy expresses space, decision, and information. In terms of space,
individuals have an expectation that their physical spaces (i.e. homes, cars)
not be intruded. Privacy within the realm of decision is best illustrated by
the landmark case Roe v. Wade. Lastly, information privacy is in regards to the
collection of user information from a variety of sources, which produces great
discussion.
The 1997 Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF)
created under President Clinton defined information privacy as "an
individual's claim to control the terms under which personal
information--information identifiable to the individual--is acquired,
disclosed, and used." At the end of the 1990s, with the rise of the
internet, it became clear that the internet and companies would need to abide
by new rules to protect individual's privacy. With the rise of the internet and
mobile networks the salience of internet privacy is a daily concern for users.
People with only a casual concern for Internet privacy need
not achieve total anonymity. Internet users may protect their privacy through
controlled disclosure of personal information. The revelation of IP addresses,
non-personally-identifiable profiling, and similar information might become
acceptable trade-offs for the convenience that users could otherwise lose using
the workarounds needed to suppress such details rigorously. On the other hand,
some people desire much stronger privacy. In that case, they may try to achieve
Internet anonymity to ensure privacy — use of the Internet without giving any
third parties the ability to link the Internet activities to personally-identifiable
information of the Internet user. In order to keep their information private,
people need to be careful with what they submit to and look at online. When
filling out forms and buying merchandise, that becomes tracked and because the
information was not private, companies are now sending Internet users spam and
advertising on similar products.
There are also several governmental organizations that
protect individual's privacy and anonymity on the Internet, to a point. In an
article presented by the FTC, in October 2011, a number of pointers were
brought to attention that helps an individual internet user avoid possible
identity theft and other cyber-attacks. Preventing or limiting the usage of
Social Security numbers online, being wary and respectful of emails including
spam messages, being mindful of personal financial details, creating and
managing strong passwords, and intelligent web-browsing behaviours are
recommended, among others.
Posting things on the Internet can be harmful or in danger of
malicious attack. Some information posted on the Internet is permanent,
depending on the terms of service, and privacy policies of particular services
offered online. This can include comments written on blogs, pictures, and
Internet sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. It is absorbed into cyberspace
and once it is posted, anyone can potentially find it and access it. Some
employers may research a potential employee by searching online for the details
of their online behaviours, possibly affecting the outcome of the success of
the candidate.
Risks to
Internet privacy
Companies are hired to watch what internet sites people
visit, and then use the information, for instance by sending advertising based
on one's browsing history. There are many ways in which people can divulge
their personal information, for instance by use of "social media" and
by sending bank and credit card information to various websites. Moreover,
directly observed behaviour, such as browsing logs, search queries, or contents
of the Facebook profile can be automatically processed to infer potentially
more intrusive details about an individual, such as sexual orientation,
political and religious views, race, substance use, intelligence, and personality.
Those concerned about Internet privacy often cite a number
of privacy risks — events that can compromise privacy — which may be encountered
through Internet use. These range from the gathering of statistics on users to
more malicious acts such as the spreading of spyware and the exploitation of
various forms of bugs (software faults).
Several social networking sites try to protect the personal
information of their subscribers. On Facebook, for example, privacy settings
are available to all registered users: they can block certain individuals from
seeing their profile, they can choose their "friends", and they can
limit who has access to one's pictures and videos. Privacy settings are also
available on other social networking sites such as Google Plus and Twitter. The
user can apply such settings when providing personal information on the
internet.
In late 2007 Facebook launched the Beacon program where user
rental records were released on the public for friends to see. Many people were
enraged by this breach in privacy, and the Lane v. Facebook, Inc. case ensued.
Children and adolescents often use the Internet (including
social media) in ways which risk their privacy: a cause for growing concern
among parents. Young people also may not realise that all their information and
browsing can and may be tracked while visiting a particular site, and that it
is up to them to protect their own privacy. They must be informed about all
these risks. For example, on Twitter, threats include shortened links that lead
one to potentially harmful places. In their e-mail inbox, threats include email
scams and attachments that get them to install malware and disclose personal
information. On Torrent sites, threats include malware hiding in video, music,
and software downloads. Even when using a smartphone, threats include
geolocation, meaning that one's phone can detect where they are and post it
online for all to see. Users can protect themselves by updating virus
protection, using security settings, downloading patches, installing a firewall,
screening e-mail, shutting down spyware, controlling cookies, using encryption,
fending off browser hijackers, and blocking pop-ups.[
However most people have little idea how to go about doing
many of these things. How can the average user with no training be expected to
know how to run their own network security (especially as things are getting
more complicated all the time)? Many businesses hire professionals to take care
of these issues, but most individuals can only do their best to learn about all
this.
In 1998, the Federal Trade Commission in the USA considered
the lack of privacy for children on the Internet, and created the Children
Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA limits the options which gather
information from children and created warning labels if potential harmful
information or content was presented. In 2000, Children's Internet Protection
Act (CIPA) was developed to implement safe Internet policies such as
rules[clarification needed], and filter software. These laws, awareness
campaigns, parental and adult supervision strategies and Internet filters can
all help to make the Internet safer for children around the world.
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