Privacy Online is Important

20% of employers use Facebook to do background checks on potential employees. 60% use search engines. [[http://www.onrec.com/news/employers_use_facebook_for_further_backg]]. This information people do not seem to take into account. Whilst on Facebook in their leisure time, employment prospects are the last things on people’s minds. Especially the young, With an ever growing population of academics any compromising photos or status’ found can result in people losing out on employment. We should not carelessly wash our laundry in public, we should be more careful with our personal information.

If we easily disseminate over the internet all of our personal information, we are opening ourselves to the risk of people taking our identity. Internet hackers and clever thieves can use the information that we all too easily post on the internet to access files which only we should be able to access. Often passwords will have a security question attached. With all our blogs and status updates, it would not take a hacker much time to work out the answer to the security question and access email accounts. From here they can apply for things in your name and use them. People do not think of these consequences when they place all their information online; but they should. The more we search for free stuff we are more likely to be attacked, [[http://www.bloggernews.net/125335]] McAfee recently conducted a series of studies determining that searching for celebrities like Cameron Diaz can increase your chances of infecting your PC. McAfee’s new “Digital Music & Movies Report: The True Cost of Free Entertainment” also confirmed that your PC is equally vulnerable when searching the word “free.”

Often, how we feel about our privacy is a reflection of the context in which the information was disseminated. Chris Peterson of University of Massachusetts-Amherst Legal Studies commented on this phenomenon [[http://etc.cpeterson.org/documents/2009/savingface.pdf]]. He stated that whilst we would not mind information regarding our drinking being told around a bar, we would feel that our privacy was breached if that information was delivered in a church. In this regard, how we feel about privacy is a matter of context. Facebook eliminates this context. The default privacy settings now send the information to everyone. Therefore, our ‘church friends’ and our ‘drinking friends’ are both able to see all information. We do care about this privacy, but we are unable to see the context which is why we are unaware of our privacy being breached.

When the internet comes under surveillance, you will not be able to express your ideas freely. There is sophisticated software that can be used to extrapolate your activities on the internet. With this data, you can be targeted by the state or a private agency. When you become aware that this is happening, you will be less likely to express your views online. You will also fear to research certain topics. The result is that you will lose perspective, which will affect your ability to make the right choices. This self-censoring can have negative consequences on society in the long term. Besides your freedom of thought, your freedom of movement is also threatened. This happens when your online data is used to track your physical location. This is a major impediment to freedom of association. In some cases, it will affect your ability to protest injustice for fear of being tracked.

In the US, six major companies control the press. These few companies could have a major say on what Americans do and think by feeding them lies. The privacy on the internet allows other independent press to cover stories from an alternative viewpoint. That way, people can make up their mind by getting the story from different points of view. With the internet, everyone has a chance to find his or her own voice.

On the internet, you can conduct extensive research and invent something new. This could be an idea or a machine that helps to improve everyone’s lives. Without privacy, it would be hard to engage in any innovative activity on the internet. The reason for this is that your information would be accessible to anyone at all times. No one wants to waste time developing an idea only to have it stolen. People would prefer to have the ability to develop ideas that can be beneficial to them financially. More privacy means more innovation, which equates to a better economy. Besides that, privacy ensures there is no constant judgment from others. It can cause innovators to second guess themselves and abandon potentially lucrative innovations.

In this case, we are thinking of a young child accessing the internet. They can do this with or without permission from their parents. When internet privacy is enhanced, it becomes difficult for predators to seek out young children online. These people may wish to manipulate them into doing awful things. Besides that, those with mental disabilities are also protected with internet privacy. People who may wish to use their mental illness to exploit them for money or sexually cannot do that with internet privacy.

For some people, going to the store and purchasing a pack of condoms can be quite difficult. However, these are important products to the health and safety of the population. Privacy on the internet makes it possible for individuals to purchase these products anonymously. They are able to stay safe while avoiding embarrassment.

With internet privacy, you do not have to deal with endless emails from online marketers. You will also not be targeted elsewhere with ads trying to get access to your bank account. The result is that your experience on the internet is going to be stress-free. Being nagged on the internet can be a major issue, especially when you have tight schedules to meet. Additionally, you do not have to keep viewing the information you do not like online. For instance, if a friend on social media keeps posting fake news, you can just block them.

Big businesses would like to keep track of you all the time. If they could, they would want to know when you get up, go to sleep, and eat. However, privacy online makes this hard for them to achieve it. You can change your setting so that you are not being used as a commodity by big businesses.