Privacy

Privacy is an important thing for everyone and it is something that isn't honored as often as it should be. It is the option of the individual to be able to say what we want when we want without having to be judged. Unfortunately that is not the case with this generation who is technologically savvy. It is hard to keep something private these days without wanting some sort of attention from a stranger or an admirer.

Compared to living in an age of overshaing and ten years ago, I believe that it is nearly impossible to share anything online without someone somewhere finding out about it from an outside resource. There is no privacy on the world wide web, and as they say " once you put something online, it is there forever". Although, society has made it clear that we need to post everything online for everyone to see. Teenagers post everything online from what they eat to when they are going to sleep.

Argument?
My argument is that we cannot have online privacy in an age of over sharing because society is too oblivious about what we put up on the internet. There are high school and middle school studetns who post up nonsense and post up their personal information on social networks. Anyone who is a friend of theirs or a friend of a friend can easily have access to their information. Many of these networks have a setting to where you can choose to have something visible, but in actuality where there is a will, there is a way.

There is a certain extent as to how private we can be “But sometimes we're victims of other people's carelessness or malice, such as when a service or a retailer gets hacked or a government employee loses a briefcase containing a laptop with people's unencrypted personal information.” (Magid, 2013). Many example of other individuals who post up information of others is invasion of privacy and that is something that we really cant control. According to the Huffington Post article (Magid, 2013) there are only certain things we can and cannot control as far as privacy matters.

Over Sharing...
  In this age of over sharing, it is nearly impossible to remain subtle with anything or anyone. Information is bound to get passed around and in reality; it is really up to the “poster”. I believe that this is only going to get worse due to the fact that the younger generation is already posting up discrete information without a care. This will not only affect their future careers but it will also affect who they are as a person. Privacy is one of the few things that we can control and at the rate that everything is just “spitting out” their information makes it difficult for others to remain conservative.

 It is a gamble when dealing with privacy. It is just a matter of what is worth it or not. Below are some helpful links where you can read more about online privacy.

Magid, L. (2013, February 13). We all have a role to play when it comes to privacy and security. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-magid/we-all-have-a-role-to-pla_b_2678740.html?utm_hp_ref=online-privacy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_privacy

https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm Privacy in the age of technology is impossible

In today’s age of technology, can we truly say that we have privacy? Today, people tweet their location, what they are currently doing, and with whom, what is currently bothering them, etc. Utilizing Facebook to rant and provide information on what your likes are, posting pictures for friends, not to mention giving others insight into your intimate thoughts and conversations. Further, we have individuals using cell phones to sext their partners. Not all of these partners are honorable, thus when they break up or have problems, one click sends those personal pictures out to whomever desires to see them, and some of us who do not wish to.

But that is voluntary information exchange. What of the intercepts of all communications done by the federal government? With the war on terror, the NSA intercepts all text data, emails, cell phone calls, etc. for dissemination throughout the intelligence community. Granted, the amount of data is huge, but they have computers that sort through looking for key words. The problem is, all of this communication data is stored and available for anyone within the government to look at, with the proper clearance. The question arises, how long will it be before someone requests this information under the freedom of information act? Thus, privacy as we know it, is non-existent.

Obviously, with the availability of data, the lack of restraint shown by young, and older, individuals, information is readily available for anyone with the desire, or the ability to read it. I work in a school where students will communicate a drug buy over the phone, not even realizing that the cell signal can be intercepted, let alone overheard by individuals who can turn them in. Students seem to be ignorant of the lack of privacy afforded through the technology they take for granted on a daily basis. It is this openness that has removed all ideas of privacy through the technology available today.