Friday, July 3, 2009
Computer Surveillance: Privacy
The internet is almost like a completely different world. People can live their life differently in the physical world and the cyber world. This brings up the question of internet privacy. Every person has the right to their own privacy when in the confines of their home, so shouldn’t they have privacy on the internet? This question can be debated forever, but I will explain a couple of the pros and cons of internet privacy. Some people do things on the internet because they don’t want others to know what they are doing. This doesn’t mean what they are doing is bad, it just means the person wants to keep it private. For example, someone might have concerns about a health problem. If they are too self-conscious to go to a doctor, the internet is the perfect place for them to seek help. That person would no doubt argue that the government has no right to track down and use surveillance systems to see what sites he/she is looking at. It is nobody but her own business to know what she is doing. The argument on the other hand would be that it makes our country a safer place by giving government full access to police the internet. If we have nothing to hide about our internet use then there should be no reason to oppose the government searching your information and web logs. The debate is an ongoing one, and is not limited to internet privacy, but privacy in general.
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I definitely agree with your post. I think that the internet is really powerful now, especially to regular citizens who don't belong to any media companies or governmental bodies. However, the topic of privacy will (as you said) always be debated.
ReplyDeleteI think people who use the internet sometimes underestimate how much privacy they really have. Because there are so many hackers these days, information can easily be traced. There's also a lot of people who aren't careful about their passwords or other privacy-protecting information so it's easily leaked as well. I defintely think there's a limit to how much information the government and other bodies should have access to if they are not using it for investigation purposes.
I think the best option is just for everyone to watch what they put on the internet. If they don't want other people to see certain information, then it shouldn't be anywhere on the web. For example, a lot of employers now are convincing students not to put questionable photos or text on Facebook because they might be a factor in the firm's hiring decisions. If a student had a ton of drunk pictures online, then the firm may reconsider their decision, even if the student may be a hard worker as well.
Glad you made this post! Very relevant to today's information-driven society.
I think that the argument between the two sides is very interesting. I think we would all agree that we want a safer country, but I also see that there is a very important moral question.
ReplyDeleteEventhough I have nothing to hide from the government, I personally don't like the idea of them being able to track my internet usage (sounds like China or other countries where the internet is controlled and tracked).
ON THE OTHER HAND. Time is obviously of the essence and in today's fast moving world it would probably be useless to require a warrant by a judge to track someones internet, and at certain times it would seem necessary to listen in.
I personally think that this is a very important societal question, and one that requires a lot of very clear thinking. I personally think that we are headed towards more government information rights rather than personal, and I don't really know how I feel about it.
I feel like it probably needs to happen, but it needs to regulated and controlled in some way. How this happens I think will be the most important question in the coming debates on the subject.
I believe that it is human nature for the human race to always be curious about what everyone else is doing. This has most likely been true since the dawning of time and will continue to be true for many many years to come.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I also believe that it is an essential human characteristic to try and hide our personal information from one another. It is this constant and cat and mouse chase that has been around forever that we are more familiar and aware of today because of the technological advances we have been and are living through.
The extent to which we are legally allowed to probe into one anothers lives, and the extent to which the governement is allowed to probe into our lives will forever be up to debate criticism. I thoroughly agree that this is a forever on going issue, and not just within the world wide web community, but also within the general population. We all want our privacy, yet we all want to know what is going on behind the closed doors at the Jones'.