The Value Of Digital Privacy

Facebook is social networking website that can help people communicate. It is the fastest growing network as it has provided a great platform to people for communicating with their friends and families and updating themselves about their recent happenings.

This website requires the users to create a user profile before signing up which contains giving your personal details like name, address, age, email, education development, profession etc. This user profile is saved in the facebook database and is used to “suggest friends” to others depending on the common interests of both.

Also, their certain pages that once liked, take some information. Similarly, few game apps also keep track of users status updates, friends, and activity on facebook. There are privacy settings that allow the user to protect their timeline, pictures etc. And some apps also ask the user before locating the info at the start of games. But, there are many “quiz apps” etc that don’t let user understand that quiz it just a “trap” for the user to get into it. Once the user starts the quiz, his/her personal data is tracked either for some research or some other purpose.

Thus, despite the fact that it provides a great communication platform, there are many disadvantages as well. But, the duty wholly solely lies on the user to protect oneself and don’t involve in certain trapping apps. Marry. Dorm. Klas (2009)

Read more about Digital engagement 

Intelius.com:

Intelius.com is a public records business that provides information services, including background checks and identity theft protection and posts transaction marketing. This company earns a major portion of its revenue by selling the background reports of its users.Even though concerns from user groups between 2008 and 2010 have drawn pessimistic awareness to Intelius,the company has sustained working towards an Initial Public Offering and won awards from the business community.

The company basically drew the attention of people by helping them meet their family members, friends, colleagues, classmates all living in the United States. However, at the back end, it kept the data of signing up user and starting selling them to earn revenue from the business.Date Check is a site hosted by Intelius which stores reports including names, addresses, birth dates, court records, and cell phone numbers; hence destroying one’s privacy concerns. In 2009, the US District Court of California and the Federal Court in Seattle did take action against this but the outcome of these lawsuits is still pending.

The solution to such sites privacy bleaching could be that people should stop using these sites to give a huge blow to them. This will help to give the impression that users are now aware of the importance of their digital privacy fundamentals  and know how to keep it secure.Core 2011

Federal Trade Commission (FTC):

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of United States formulated to serve the purpose of promotion of consumer safeguard and the eradication and avoidance of anti- competitive business practices, such as coercive domination.

The main purpose of FTC is to explore issues raised by reports from customers and businesses,pre-merger notification filings, congressional investigation, or reports in the media.However, later is found that FTC was involved in the identity theft. The FTC works as a federal warehouse for individual consumer complaints regarding identity theft. Even though the FTC does not determine individual complaints, it does use the aggregated information to decide where the federal action might be taken. However, in 2011, FTC did introduce an option of “DO NOT TRACK” for the users; but still there are many controversies regarding this website.

Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, the FTC power to investigate and prevent misleading trade practices. The bill declares that:

“unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or

practices in or affecting commerce, are hereby declared unlawful.”

With the growing awareness, users have to point the privacy concerns regarding FTC and because of their efforts, courts have taken notice and issued a plan according to which tracking data is considered unethical and against public policy. However, there are many aspects still backing such tracking policies and need to be shunned strongly.

Now that we are aware of the digital privacy bleaching facts about many famous sites; we ca now look for laws in the United States that support them and back them.

United State has issued an“Electronic communications Privacy Act” (ECPA). According to this act, the access of stored electronic communication has been prohibited strictly with an exception of few acts such as USA PATRIOT ACT.

This act might seem appealing but has faced a lot of criticism. In 2011, The New York Times published “1986 Privacy Law Is Outrun by the Web,” highlighting that:

“Last year, for example, the Justice Department argued in court that cellphone users had given up the expectation of privacy about their location by voluntarily giving that information to carriers. In April, it argued in a federal court in Colorado that it ought to have access to some e-mails without a search warrant. And federal law enforcement officials, citing technology advances, plan to ask for new regulations that would smooth their ability to perform legal wiretaps of various Internet communications.”

Thus, there is a strong need for a better law and regulation against the tracking of personal details of users without any identification. Also, I agree that the user information might be needed in certain crime acts, but there has to be a proper system according to which it must be decided that which case needs information and how much information must be given. This will improve the security conditions as well as the trust of people in digital marketing of websites.M.A, Eden

Reference:

Marry. Dorm. Klas (2009) “Digital Privacy.” Wise Geek

Core 2011, “The value of digital privacy”

M.A, Eden, “Technology privacy essays”, the educator’s essays.