Privacy Issues with the Internet Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research

Privacy Issues with the InternetPrivacy has long been as problematical as the mythical inauguration of Youth. The really idea of protecting knowledge active family stirs up ominousimages of powerful agencies stealing our individuality and even ouridentity. The fears about loneliness have grown exponentially with the Web. But who are we protecting ourselves from? The government? Not likely,at least in the Orwellian sense that around of us imagine it. go coition passes the laws and regulatory bodies enforce them, media focusof late has been on the private sector, particularly commercialWebsites. Civil libertarians protests against tuition-collectingWebsites are enigmatic given that most of this information has alreadybeen available for years in libraries, in town halls, in departments ofmotor vehicles and from countless opposite places. Thus it should beunderstood that privacy is largely an illusion. While the Lewinskytapes raised eyebrows, the media fanfare over the issue shows thatsomeone, somewhere, when you least expect it, will place a higher precedence on something that compromises your privacy. Nevertheless, the increasing commodification of personal information isworrisome to this author, particularly when the collectors get theirinformation wrong or draw incorrect conclusions from the data theyacquire. Already, some internal pharmacies have tried to sellinformation about their customers to musical scoreeters. (In at least one casethe pharmacy backed off after critics severely chastised them for theplan). No doubt other organizations will give out to sell medical recordsto the highest bidder. What does this mean to the public? ... ...we promise your privacy, we have someone who makessure we keep that promise. However, many other TRUSTe licensees provide more extensive privacystatements for visitors to scrutinize. Nevertheless, swan and privacyguarantees dont come cheap. Costs for TRUSTe licenses range from $299to almost $5,00 0, depending on the licensees corporate revenue. While$5,000 may non be a lot for a Microsoft, $299 is quite a bit for astart-up firm with no annual revenue. This license allows TRUSTeclients to showcase a mark of trust that could easily (but not legally)be copied and used by any Website developer who wants to capitalize ontrust. With all the trust-brokers on the Web, the question remainswhether buying trust is any less elusive than the Fountain of Youth.Moreover, one should ask, who is worthy of trust management? Privacy Issues with the Internet Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Privacy Issues with the InternetPrivacy has long been as elusive as the mythical Fountain of Youth. Thevery idea of protecting information about family stirs up ominousimages of powerful agencies stealing our individuality and even ouridentity. The fears about privacy have grown exponentially with the Web. But who are we protecting ourselves from? The government? Not likely,at lea st in the Orwellian sense that most of us imagine it. WhileCongress passes the laws and regulatory bodies enforce them, media focusof late has been on the private sector, particularly commercialWebsites. Civil libertarians protests against information-collectingWebsites are enigmatic given that most of this information has alreadybeen available for years in libraries, in town halls, in departments ofmotor vehicles and from countless other places. Thus it should beunderstood that privacy is largely an illusion. While the Lewinskytapes raised eyebrows, the media fanfare over the issue shows thatsomeone, somewhere, when you least expect it, will place a higherpriority on something that compromises your privacy. Nevertheless, the increasing commodification of personal information isworrisome to this author, particularly when the collectors get theirinformation wrong or draw incorrect conclusions from the data theyacquire. Already, some national pharmacies have tried to sellinformat ion about their customers to marketers. (In at least one casethe pharmacy backed off after critics severely chastised them for theplan). No doubt other organizations will move to sell medical recordsto the highest bidder. What does this mean to the public? ... ...we promise your privacy, we have someone who makessure we keep that promise. However, many other TRUSTe licensees provide more extensive privacystatements for visitors to scrutinize. Nevertheless, trust and privacyguarantees dont come cheap. Costs for TRUSTe licenses range from $299to almost $5,000, depending on the licensees corporate revenue. While$5,000 may not be a lot for a Microsoft, $299 is quite a bit for astart-up firm with no annual revenue. This license allows TRUSTeclients to showcase a mark of trust that could easily (but not legally)be copied and used by any Website developer who wants to capitalize ontrust. With all the trust-brokers on the Web, the question remainswhether buying trust is any less e lusive than the Fountain of Youth.Moreover, one should ask, who is worthy of trust management?