Internet Privacy: Does it Truly Exist?

Internet Privacy:

Does it Truly Exist?

By: Kristen Toso

Image: rosipaw

Today, there are over 2.5 billion Internet users worldwide.

With over 7 billion people in the world, that means that approximately 36% are using the Internet.

Source: Internet World Stats

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That’s a lot of people with, consequently,

a lot of personal data.

Image: Leo Reynolds

Image: Simon (via Pixabay)

...always under the

assumption that their privacy rights are being

respected.

Image: Nina Strelov (via Fotopedia)

However, throughout the Internet’s history, there have

been a number of privacy scandals that have shaken

users’ trust.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Violations of Internet privacy can happen to

anyone at any time, regardless of age, level of digital literacy, wealth, or any other factor...

Image: Wikimedia Commons

...which begs the following questions:

Can information be kept truly personal on the Internet?

Or, is Internet privacy simply an oxymoron?

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Today’s social media

platforms, online

shopping websites,

financial services, and

other such sites provide

users with privacy

settings in an attempt to

protect their personal information.

Image:chiarashine

Even with these privacy settings, information can easily

be acquired and used without user permission by

different groups, including:

The more transparent users are in their online

profiles, the better that advertisers and corporations

can target them with products and services.

Source: Film 260 Lecture 02: i-Friends

Image: Wikimedia Commons

“...Google Glass opens an entirely new front in the digital war against privacy. These spectacles [...] represent a developmental leap in the history of data that is comparable to moving from

the bicycle to the automobile...

...It is the sort of radical transformation that may actually end up

completely destroying our individual privacy in the digital 21st century.” - Andrew Keen, CNN

Image: Wikimedia Commons

“People say very personal information to Siri [...] They are

encouraged to think of Siri as

their confidante and their assistant...

...But Siri is not just working for

you. Siri is collecting a lot of data

for Apple and for its business...

...And people should be very

mindful and aware of what’s

happening to their personal information...

- Nicole Ozer, Lawyer (ACLU)

Image: MattsMacintosh

Scams, phishing and fraud are examples of ways that criminals can steal information from Internet users,

which can have detrimental consequences.

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Top continents from

which online fraud

originated from (2012):

1. Africa

2. Asia

3. South Amerca

4. Europe

5. North America

The most commonly targeted online services:

Retail, online dating, financial, gambling and travel.

Source: Iovation

Image: Simon Tong (via smugmug.com)

IP addresses, emails and social media activity can

potentially be obtained by the government under court rulings to closely monitor civilians.

Image: neeravbhatt

“Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets have a great deal of information about all of us — and the government wants to be able to

see it...

[...] the government scored a major win — and Internet privacy lost big —

when a judge ruled against Twitter in a fight over a trove of information

about [Malcolm Harris,] a political activist.” - Adam Cohen, TIME

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Image: araenae (via Deviantart)

In 2012, 849 requests were

made by governments all over the world to obtain

Twitter user information, with

80% of them being from the

United States alone.

Source: Twitter Transparency Report

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Users cannot assume

that privacy settings

are protecting their precious information.

Evidently, despite the belief that privacy exists, there is a real risk

involved with sharing personal information on the Internet.

Image: wallpapers-mobilewallpapers.blogspot.ca

Given this, there are preventive measures that you can take in order to protect yourself and

your personal information on the Internet:

in order to become more digitally-savvy.

Share Internet privacy tips with friends and family.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Image: Zomerstorm

Think critically about what you are sharing, where you are

sharing it, and who could potentially have access to it.

Image: Lip Kee

“A long-overdue bill in the

California legislature,

“The Right to Know Act,”

would force companies such

as Google and Facebook

to reveal what personal information they have collected

and how it’s being used.”

- Adam Cohen, TIME

Know, and fight for, your rights.

Even with these pre-emptive measures, it is difficult to

think that information can ever be private on the

Internet; as the saying goes...

Image: Chrisser

Image: Horia Varlan

What does the future hold

for Internet privacy?

Credits

All images are licensed under the Creative

Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0

agreement and, unless otherwise specified,

are sourced from Flickr.

References