Technology+Report



 EDLD 5306: Week 4 – Internet Privacy October 31, 2010 

Student Lamar University

 Internet Privacy  According to the Online Policy Group (Hunter, 2000), it seems there’s always someone trying to hack into our private lives every day .  Recent news reports have also pointed out that there are increasing concerns about the amount of private data energy firms will have access to following the roll-out of smart meters (Wait, 2010) .  Energy companies are installing smart meters to measure energy use and for billing purposes and most homes will have them by 2020 .  The energy company’s host meter will communicate with both the customer and the supplier <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> What does all this have to do with privacy? The smart meter can reveal when you are away from home, asleep or cooking, using an air conditioner, stove or taking a shower <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Someone else has the ability to be in control of how much hot water is available, how cool your house can be, how long you use lights because they have the power through the smart meter to control your way of life <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> It isn’t just Google or bank accounts or ordering over the internet or social networks or internet service providers that can reveal things about you and invade your privacy and way of life <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">So what is privacy and what is the greatest threat to privacy? First let’s try to define privacy because it is really difficult to define – one person’s opinion on privacy may differ from another’s <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> According to Privacy International (2007) it generally: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Is a fundamental human right, it underpins human dignity and other values such as freedom of association and freedom of speech <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> It is the individual's right to be left alone or the desire by each of us for physical space where we can be free of interruption, intrusion, embarrassment, or accountability and the attempt to control the time and manner of disclosures of personal information about ourselves <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Thus, Internet privacy is one of the concerns of today’s wired/wireless environment <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Taking the definition of Privacy International (2007), the primary issue really pertaining to Internet privacy is the disclosure of personal information especially to unscrupulous individuals and organizations <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">What can be done to protect your privacy? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">1 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">) Be vigilant about your bank account <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> If you bank or pay bills on-line, check in often to spot-check your account <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">   <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">2 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">) Protect your computer with a good anti-virus package and turn on your firewall <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> This provides protection that you control <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> You may not be able to control how other people handle your information but you can take responsibility for your own computer <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">3 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">) Open a separate disposable or alias email account when signing up for a service <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Never allow your main account to become bombarded with spam <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">   <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">4 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">) Keep your personal information personal <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Never send out personal details in an email <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Secure sites must start with https:// and information over these sites is encrypted <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">5 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">) Be careful when social networking <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Nothing can be more revealing than MySpace, Twitter and/or Facebook <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Never advertise vacation times and dates, children’s soccer game times, and/or include your mailing address and telephone number <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Remember also that employers regularly look at employee’s sites <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Nothing you do in any of these sites is “private” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">There is much that can be written about privacy but how does all of this relate to students? It’s very simple: they must learn that everything they say and/or do has consequences <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> What they say and when they say it can follow them for a very long time <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Teaching them early on about privacy will make them better students, citizens and, hopefully, keep them secure from predators <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Internet privacy is truly a major concern that individuals, organizations and the government should do everything possible to protect in this world of technology <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Without it we’re likely to end up like the characters in Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel // Brave New World // – they may live in Utopia but the price was the surrender of their free will and privacy <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 200%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">References <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Wait, R <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> (May 2010) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> 14 ways to protect your privacy, retrieved from: [|www.lovemoney.com]<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Hunter, C <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Online Privacy Group <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> (2000) Annenberg Internet and the Family Study, retrieved from: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|http://www] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">[|.] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|onlinepolicy] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">[|.] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|org/privacy] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">[|.] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|htm] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Privacy International <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> (Dec <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> 2007) Overview of Privacy, retrieved from: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|http://www] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">[|.] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|privacyinternational] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">[|.] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|org/article] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">[|.] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">[|shtml?cmd[347=x-347-559062]] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">