We all realize the
importance and benefit that we as internet users receive when using the World
Wide Web. And it’s no secret that the things we do and say online leave behind
trails of personal information. But many people are not clear just how
systematically their online behaviors are being tracked and recorded by modern
advertising networks, and the governments. We believe that our information is available
for all to see and benefit. Our intimate feelings and actions are being
recorded by certain parties to profile our personality for future use.
Therefore, in this essay we will be discussing the meaning of internet privacy;
in addition to dealing with some important aspects of the privacy issue, and
how can we protect ourselves from being violated by others.
Internet privacy refers to privacy over the media of the Internet; the ability to
control what information one reveals about oneself over the Internet, and to
control who can access that information. Many people use the term to mean universal
Internet privacy: every user of the Internet possessing Internet privacy.
According to the
American Civil Liberties Union “Many people ask themselves about the reason of
the existence of tracking companies; what they don’t know is that information
gathered by those parties are valuable to advertising agencies and the
government. There is a lot
of money to be made from watching what consumers do online, and what it says
about who they are, and there are plenty of companies that will pay big for this
information.”1
According to the Wall Street Journal “Technologies
such as cookies, flash cookies and beacons allow online advertising networks to
paint an alarmingly detailed portrait about an individual’s online activity by
linking together visits to various web pages and other online activities. For
example, it is possible to know that a person who read a newspaper article on
one site is the same person who bought some music on another site, and posted a
comment at a third site. For advertisers, this information is extremely
valuable. As targeted ads become increasingly profitable, behavioral marketers
are growing more ambitious and seeking to form an even more complete picture of
unsuspecting citizens. In fact, a study by the Wall Street Journal found that
the nation’s 50 top websites installed an average of 64 pieces of tracking
technology on user’s computers, usually with no warning. While any one
particular website may have little information about an individual, it is
possible for a large number of these “data points” to be aggregated over time
in an extremely detailed fashion, painting a shockingly detailed mosaic about
an individual based on online activity alone. One tracking company, for
example, tells advertisers it can predict a user's age, zip code, and gender,
as well as an estimate of a user’s income, marital status, family status and
home ownership status.”2
Protection from this illegal action must be at the
core importance for each person who takes his or her private life as something
of great value; but after reading this report, we come to certain realizations
that whatever one does, whatever antivirus software one have to protect one
internet privacy identity, the other party will always find a way to hack your
privacy at all costs. I personally believe that our internet privacy is given
for granted by a lot of people, and if the right actions have been taken maybe
in the near future, our information on the net may become private and not for
all see.
References:
1. American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU). http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/understanding-risk
2. Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/02/11/lawmaker-introduces-new-privacy-bill/?KEYWORDS=internet+privacy
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