Internet privacy threats across social networks and digital media

Computer Ethics: Internet Privacy

One of the more interesting aspects of privacy in general is how people from different countries view the need. In the highly individualized United States, many people cherish their privacy as a legacy of their Fourth Amendment rights and this expectation of privacy extends into virtually all aspects of their lives, including the Internet. By sharp contrast, people in other countries such as China or India where the good of the group is paramount, expectations of privacy are less pronounced. Irrespective of such individual expectations of privacy, though, consumer behaviors in every society today are in fact being increasingly scrutinized and their privacy eroded through sophisticated software applications that track every move and record every purchase for analysis. In this environment, identifying risks to Internet privacy, digital images on the Internet, privacy considerations within social networking sites and the laws that cover Internet privacy has assumed new relevance and importance and these issues are discussed further below, followed by a summary of the research in the conclusion..

Risk to Internet Privacy

In today's technological world, millions of individuals are subject to privacy threats (Bamberger & Mulligan, 2011). For instance, according to Buchholz and Rosenthal (2006), professors of ethics and philosophy, respectively, "The Internet is a relatively new phenomenon, and with all the advantages it brings, it has also spawned new concerns about privacy. New technology has not only increased the amount of information circulating about individuals, but also the ease of retrieving virtually anything one wants to know about someone." (p. 35). In many cases, consumers are unaware of the amount and type of personal information being collected online, making the process especially insidious (Bucholz & Rosenthal, 2006).

In response to increasing concerns by consumers over Internet privacy issues, privacy measures are provided on several social networking sites to try to provide their users with protection for their personal information. Social media networks are defined by Hensel and Dies (2010) as "a type of online media that expedites conversation as opposed to traditional media, which delivers content but doesn't allow readers/viewers/listeners to participate in the creation or development of the content" (p. 88). These emerging social media networks are a veritable gold mine of personal information, of course, and Facebook executives and marketers alike have been quick to recognize the value of this data.

In late 2007, Facebook launched the Beacon program where user rental records were released on the public for friends to see. This initiative was cancelled, though, following a lawsuit from a nonprofit foundation that challenged Facebook's right to aggregate and disseminate personal information in this fashion (Brodkin, 2009). Although Facebook never admitted any wrongdoing at the time, the case was settled with a $9.5 million fund that is intended to support future Internet privacy projects (Brodkin, 2009).

Privacy within social networking sites

Currently, there is a wide array of social media networks available, including social sharing sites such as YouTube and Flickr and social networks such as Linkedln and Facebook (Hensel & Deis, 2010). Others such as Spokeo and Twitter have become the virtual meeting places of choice for millions of users (Hensel & Deis, 2010). Expectations of privacy within these computer-media forums is challenged on two fronts: the consumer-generated material posted on the site and the personal information that is provided to the site in order to register and continue to use the site's various features (pers. obs.).

Laws for Internet Privacy Protection

Besides the Fourth Amendment, there are several other laws that directly address privacy protections on the Internet. According to some legal scholars, though, the current laws for Internet privacy protection, including the U.S.A. Patriot Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Employees and Employers Internet Regulations are regarded as a "patchwork" approach that "fails to ensure across-the-board conformity with the standard measure of privacy protection" (Bamberger & Mulligan, 2011, p. 247).

Conclusion

The Internet may only be a few years old, but the privacy concerns that its introduction has raised are as old as the United States itself. Indeed, one of the first things the Founding Fathers did in crafting the laws for the new country was to write a Bill of Rights that would cover unexpected changes in technology that would affect American's right to privacy, and even though they could not foresee the Internet, the Founders clearly envisioned a period in American history when the potential would exist. Finally, the research was consistent in showing that as more and more people use the Internet and wireless digital devices, more and more people are lining up to use their personal information in nefarious ways and consumers should recognize that personal information may be vulnerable as a result.