Final on-line essay

Why is privacy such a contentious issue for internet users?
Discuss with reference to at least ONE social network service (or other web2.0 service).

Internet is a network which you can give away a lot of information about yourself if you are not careful. It is significant to understand the Internet is a world wide web and largely unregulated. The laws of internet is differentiated in every country and don’t usually apply to the activities derived in other countries. The government should have a different Privacy Act in different regions which is able to have a right protecting privacy of internet users.

Privacy has been “right to be left alone”, it can protect personal information on the internet when the technology that sustains. Usually we can make a choice for a privacy setting on the internet, but generally it does not necessarily give users a choice. There are several laws for internet that protect our privacy and help our rights on each different state in every country, but there is always a leakage between the protection and freedom on the internet.

Internet privacy has been involved with following issues, for instance. What personal information does user provide to people/the public? What personal information or content is unknowingly being gathered? Do all users know about the privacy rights, ethics or legal boundaries are being infringed?

Why should we be concerned? There are always some rules and responsibilities which are still not legislated on the worldwide internet. Personal privacy is no longer protected, because technologies, programming and software engineering have been developed to be able to obtain individual information and contents of users o n the internet, and it doesn’t prevent data from being collected, modified, sold and abused.
Once you disclose your information or content on the internet, it is very easy for everyone to see it and use it.

ROBERT MUELLER (FBI Director) said “The Internet has expanded as a platform for spreading extremist propaganda, a tool for on-line recruiting and a medium for social networking with like-minded extremists”. Since technology is improving day by day, the user can no longer keep their privacy on the internet which we need to be aware with.

The US government wants to follow the digital trail, but Eric Sorensen(Washington Bureau Chief) said “the freedom to browse may be at stake”, and mentioned “the Time Square bomb was suspected plotted their attacks by using internet.” and “The Russian spy ring employed internet cafes to avoid detection”. These days, criminals and extremists manipulate the internet to communicate anywhere and everywhere.

Internet users’ privacy has been challenging with a big contentious issue since internet was developed, especially the affecting to social networks devices. Facebook is a large platform which allows people sharing information and contents with anyone who owns a Facebook account. Privacy right becomes a big issue since World Wide Web internet was invented in 20th century, people can easily share or copy the information and contents from somebody around the world. Therefore, copyright is set to be a legal law to protect everyone’s moral property and have a restriction of plagiarism on the internet.

For an example of a social network on Facebook website, we own the contents and information we posted online, but the contents or information we posted on the website which is with a setting showing to everyone. It means that we are allowing everyone, including people off Facebook, to access and use our contents and information, and to associate them with us. Such as pictures and videos we uploaded, texts we wrote on Facebook,etc.

The terms and conditions of Fcaebook was changed in Februrary 2009, which is "anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later.” When we post contents on the Facebook, it means that we authorise and direct them to make copies as they deem necessaru in order to facilate the posting and storage of our user data on the website.

By posting user contents and information to any part of the site, it automatically grant the permission and represent and warrant that we have the right to grant, to Facebook company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising.

Users of Facebook could remove the items they upload in any time, if we choose to remove our user content,the license granted above would automaticallu expire. However, we are accknowleded that Facebook may retain copies of user data even after our accounts were terminated.
Facebook retain full ownership of all of our contents, Information and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with the content we post on the website.

Everyone who uses the internet will face the privacy risks one day, and it comes with the capabilities, which the Web language will enlarge the internet power. In the next couple of years, a powerful new suite of capabilities will become available to Web developers. “Online privacy touches and affects all of us”, said Social Media Club Vancouver Lorraine Murphy. "Research suggests that we all care deeply about our privacy and dislike and distrust online surveillance, especially where we communicate and play."

In conclusion, the marketers and advertisers can access too many details about computer users’ activities online. It means every internet account user can be monitored by the web developers. Therefore, the serious problem of internet privacy will continue to happen in the future. We need to have a restricted law to protect internet user’s privacy and legalised the right to be used on internet. The web developer or the company should set up a term and condition which is not to reveal the information or detail of every internet users to any public or business uses. An social network example of Facebook which is discussed above, it allows users to set up their own privacy level of setting on the internet which determines how much information the users choose to sharing with the people on the internet or either limited users on the website. Facebook company seems to have a lawful of term and information of use, but some terms of right to use are not disclose and detailed enough for internet users to understand the internet law of privacy. The web developer and internet users should have to understand, agree and make sure the right to use on the internet for both parties.


Reference list:

Protecting your privacy on the internet. (2010) Australian Government, Office of the Privacy Commisioner. Retrieved from http://www.privacy.gov.au/topics/technologies/privacy

Internet privacy? (2001). School Libraries in Canada: A Teachers' Guide, 20(4), 20-22. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from Academic Research Library. (Document ID: 73275036).

NA FRIESEN. (2010, September 27). Internet Privacy and Security. Global News Transcripts. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from CBCA Complete. (Document ID: 2150175501).

Statement of Rights and Responsibilities: Sharing your content and information. (2010). Facebook. Retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/terms.php

Stelter, B. (2009, Febrarury 16). Facebook's Users Ask Who Own Information [Press relaese]. The New York Times, New York. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/technology/internet/17facebook.html

Tanzina Vega. (2010, October 11). Web Code Offers New Ways To See What Users Do Online :[Business/Financial Desk]. New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast)), p. A.1. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2158633661).

Social Media Club Vancouver Tackles Internet Privacy October 7th: Who Should You Trust with Your Data :Chris Parsons to Lead Discussion on Online Privacy Policies and Ethics - and Why We Should Care. (2010, September). Marketwire. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from CBCA Complete. (Document ID: 2150713441).

Coruse Evaluation

This course is great, we can learn and understand the information and research through digital media, this is significant for the people who live on the 21st century to update and get involved withthe knowledge of using technology.

Week 10

1. Discuss the impact of TWO of the following figures on the development of digital technologies and digital culture: Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage, William Gibson, Kevin Mitnick, Alan Turing, Ray Kurzweil, J.C.R. Licklider, Douglas Engelbart.
   
2. Explain what Creative Commons is and, using examples, show how it is different to other forms of copyright.
   
   
3. Why is privacy such a contentious issue for internet users? Discuss with reference to at least ONE social network service (or other web2.0 service).
   
4. Is the “virtual community” (Rheingold, 1993) a useful way of understanding contemporary online life? Discuss using one example of an online community OR a video game world (Virtual community is not to be confused with a “social network” site).
   
5. How do social media change our understanding of individual identity, with regard to the kinds of people we have in our social networks?
   
6. Increasingly mobile devices are an aid to the gathering and reporting of information, both by professional journalists and “citizen journalists”. Outline the advantages and disadvantages of this sort of news gathering. How might it impact on journalistic practices and news values and ethics?