Are you Safe on Cyber Monday?

     

     Cyber Monday is a popular day that follows the other popular discount day, Black Friday.  Cyber Monday is the biggest day of the year for online shoppers and the amount of people who are using the web to buy things using discounts may actually be in for a shock.  This is because many times when you are shopping online the websites that you are using are tracking your spending data and keeping it in their systems.  There are also apps that do the same thing as they track what you have bought and can even sometimes read your personal data and even track your location and send coupons to you based on it.  This technology was found at a Macy’s in Manhattan that tracks the customer’s exact location in the store and sends them info on products they are near.  Some people are really disturbed by the idea that their shopping habits could be being tracked online while others are ok with the idea and are willing to make that sacrifice in order to get the discounts that they are looking for.  Congressman Steve Israel thinks that people should have the option to opt out of having your shopping patterns traced and says that a bill to pass this is under way in Washington.  He feels that being that you can opt out of things such as telemarketing calls; you should be able to opt out of having your shopping info tracked.

     My personal opinion is that I don’t mind having a few things tracked and actually see it as beneficial.  To be able to be given the chance to buy something at a discount and on top of that be told on an app that the item is near me definitely increases my chance of wanting to purchase it.  I think that the exchange of your privacy may be a little too much to ask for the average person, but I am very liberal when it comes to these things.  I am willing to go forward with the technology that allows this.  However, I think the option to opt out should be available because to force people to just give away their information isn't right and is an invasion of privacy.  I believe that one day this technology will be more accepted, but as for right now, the world simply isn't ready for it.  Maybe in a couple decades.

Word Count: 400

http://longisland.news12.com/news/cyber-monday-generates-concern-over-online-privacy-1.6524717

U.N. Reaches Resolution!

          
     On November 26^th, 2013, the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee unanimously adopted the Brazil and Germany sponsored resolution to protect the right to privacy against unlawful surveillance.  This is a follow-up story to the last post in which the U.S. privately wanted to kill such a resolution.  Stated by Brazil’s Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota the resolution “establishes for the first time that human rights should prevail irrespective of the medium, and therefore need to be protected online and offline."  The U.S. didn't’t fight it after speculation that it wanted to change some of the language in the resolution to favor them in terms of being able to “spy” overseas.

     I believe that the adopting of the resolution by the U.N. was the right decision as people deserve their privacy no matter what the medium may be.  Now, with the fact that technology is so prominent in our society we have a right to be protected from not only being spied on and intruded upon, but also to have that right everywhere in the world and not solely in the states.  I think far too many times our human rights are violated and the fact that steps are being taken to prevent such things from occurring is a wonderful thing and is definitely a step in the right direction. 

Word Count: 220

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/advances-internet-privacy-rights-21017539

US Fights Privacy

          On Wednesday, November 20, 2013 it was reported by The Cable, which reports on foreign policy, that the U.S. is trying to kill online privacy everywhere.  While places like Brazil and Germany are pushing for online communications to have the right of privacy applied to them thus protecting the home, family, privacy, or correspondence from being subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference.  However, the U.S. is privately seeking to kill that provision due to it stating that “extraterritorial surveillance” and mass interception of communications, personal info, and metadata are included. 

          Basically what I get from this is the fact that the U.S. wants to continue to spy on other countries while protecting only their own citizens, if that.  The U.S. in my opinion likes to put on a façade that it wants to protect privacy of citizens, but at the end of the day it actually wants to have control and keep an eye on everything that it can.  After the events of September 11^th, privacy has been very hard to come by in this country as the U.S. always wants to be on top of things and not being able to “spy” on other countries puts them in a vulnerable spot that they do not wish to be in. 

Word Count: 210

          On Wednesday, November 20, 2013 it was reported by The Cable, which reports on foreign policy, that the U.S. is trying to kill online privacy everywhere.  While places like Brazil and Germany are pushing for online communications to have the right of privacy applied to them thus protecting the home, family, privacy, or correspondence from being subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference.  However, the U.S. is privately seeking to kill that provision due to it stating that “extraterritorial surveillance” and mass interception of communications, personal info, and metadata are included. 

          Basically what I get from this is the fact that the U.S. wants to continue to spy on other countries while protecting only their own citizens, if that.  The U.S. in my opinion likes to put on a façade that it wants to protect privacy of citizens, but at the end of the day it actually wants to have control and keep an eye on everything that it can.  After the events of September 11^th, privacy has been very hard to come by in this country as the U.S. always wants to be on top of things and not being able to “spy” on other countries puts them in a vulnerable spot that they do not wish to be in. 

Word Count: 210

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/11/20/exclusive_inside_americas_plan_to_kill_online_privacy_rights_everywhere

  

'Revenge Porn' Halted!

On Tuesday November 12, 2013 in Madison, Wisconsin, lawmakers were discussing the banning of access to employers of the applicants Facebook and email passwords along with criminalizing so-called revenge porn under two new Internet privacy bills that were passed.  The first bill will still allow employers to look at the public postings of the potential employee, but prohibit them from being able to gain access to their private content that can only be accessed with the obtaining of their passwords.  The second bill passed was one that would criminalize ‘revenge porn’ or the releasing of private images by a sour former significant other in order to humiliate them.  With these two bills a lot of new issues are arising.  The issues range from the fact that with evolving technology employers must become more lenient.  The fact that now that social media is so prominent in our society and media can be disbursed at such a rapid pace, means that someone who is bitter or is seeking revenge and has incriminating or embarrassing images, can get them out to a large variety of people within a short amount of time.  Representative Melissa Sargent said legislators are trying to keep up with the evolving technology and with the passing of this new bill; efforts are being made in order to keep private content of potential employees as private as possible.

My take on this is the fact that you have to take major precaution in today’s world with the content that you choose to share.  Whether it is public content that you share with the world, or private content you wish to keep to yourself or select others, in the growing world of technology and social media the line is becoming more and more blurred between the two.  The only way to truly take out discrimination based on someone’s email or Facebook is if they are not asked about it at all.  When an employer asks and you are not necessarily obligated to show them say your Facebook, you still feel somewhat obligated as you think that if you turn them down that they will assume you have content to hide.  I do like the addressing of so-called ‘revenge porn’ just due to the fact that this is a growing issue in the lives of teens and young adults.  Now that media can be sent almost instantly from a computer or even a mobile device, it is much more dangerous to have pictures or even worse video of private things that were not meant for the eyes of the public.  At the end of the day I feel the most important lesson to be learned is that you have to be very careful and selective with what you post online in any medium. 

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http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/state-lawmakers-take-up-internet-privacy-revenge-porn-bills-tuesday-b99141106z1-231626891.html

Video about revenge porn being illegal:

Google Block?

A recent story involving Max Mosley, the former president of the International Automobile Federation, has come out stating that a lawsuit was filed against Google in order to force them to filter images of him from a 2008 British Newspaper that included both photo and video-graphic images of him participating in a sadomasochistic sex party.  His argument was that it was a breach of privacy and he proceeded with successfully suing the News of the World in a London court for $96,000 in damages.  On Wednesday November 6th, the Tibunal de Grande Instance in Paris backed Mosely on his attempts to have Google block the images from worldwide searches, but said that it would appeal its decision.  Mosley's argument is that French Law makes it illegal to take and distribute images of a person who is in a private area without their consent.  Google's argument is that it would limit freedom of speech, forcing the company to block search results without the overseeing from a court.   Analysts said the ruling against Google could lead to the restriction of what can be accessed online through search as more people would demand that their private activities be taken off of search.

In my opinion the ruling should go in favor of Mosely just due to the fact that as individuals are privacy has to be respected.  In the world that we live in now, it is all too easy to access someone's information and get into their private lives and at some point we as people have to have protection against our own privacy rights.  While some people, like myself, don't mind having sharing some of their personal life with others, there are a large portion of individuals who like to keep everything very private.  The fact that Google can just distribute these images is kind of disturbing just for the fact that any little picture that is out there can seemingly be accessed and many times we like to have photo privacy just as a peace of mind.  Now don't get me wrong, I can see things from Google's end as well being that many times it is not them who is responsible for dispursing the video but it is the users of the internet and those with access to the incriminating photos and video that are posting it.  Google is almost just the medium through which people can find the content.  It's almost like a person who has Comcast as their ISP and they stream disturbing footage and then Comcast is sued.  They merely provided internet access but did not themselves post the footage.  It's a steep slope to be on, but at the end of the day I believe Google should do their best to remove the items and work in the future to prevent such things that they can.

New York Times Article
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/business/international/google-is-ordered-to-block-images-in-privacy-case.html?_r=0#h[AstAst,AtpAtp,TrrTrr]

Video of News Report 
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/google-told-to-block-max-mosley-orgy-pictures-20131107-2x25w.html

Privacy and the Internet?

When it comes to privacy and the internet, it seems that in this day and age these two things cannot comfortably coexist as there is always some kind of privacy issue going on in today's world.  My blog will focus on what the future holds for the internet and how we use it and the way that it is monitored by the government and whether or not there should be restrictions.