Impact of Digital Technology on an Privacy
Digital technology has been revolutionizing the world step by step over the past couple of years. The manner in which people interact, communicate and carry out their daily activities has been the highest priority of technological inventions. The internet, for example has caused major changes to the lives of individuals, corporations and the whole world as a whole. There is however some rising concerns over the effects of digital technology on contemporary culture. Today, people have turned out to be more information oriented than before. Exploring deeper and exposing personal information has not only become an obsession, but also a requirement in some quarters. Privacy is therefore one of the main aspects that digital technology has greatly affected in today’s information-oriented society.
Privacy is one thing that has significantly gotten affected by the digital technology. The ability of individuals to reveal most of their personal information in a single page has great effects to their privacy and that of others (Hand 4). Firstly, by having exposed information, which is available for the world to see, there are increased chances of getting tracked and getting hurt. Taking an example of the social sites like MySpace, the ability of an individual to post information related to their personal lives may subject one to potential harms. In addition, it makes the person in question feel exposed to some uncertainties.
Monitoring devices like the chips, whose popularity has risen equally with contentions, can be categorized under privacy-breaching gadgets. The storage of personal information in an-online connected database increases the potential harm of the person using an implant. The chi...
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...nts and other officials, about the safety of their children and other employees.
In conclusion, digital technology has revolutionized the information-oriented society by enhancing several aspects. From security to enhanced interconnections, the new wave has managed to change the manner in which people communicate and also the way in which corporate information and property is protected. Despite the misgivings, digital technology has managed to positively influence the society, the contemporary culture and changed the hitherto employed analogue models of social integration.
Works Cited
Hand, Martin. Making Digital Cultures: Access, Interactivity, and Authenticity. Hampshire, UK: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008. Print.
Lewan, Todd. Chips: High Tech Aids or Tracking Tools? n.p, 2007. Web. 29 May 2011.
Long, Cindy. I Need Myspace! n.p, 2007. Web. 29 May 2011.
The personal connection Americans have with their phones, tablets, and computers; and the rising popularity of online shopping and social websites due to the massive influence the social media has on Americans, it is clear why this generation is called the Information Age, also known as Digital Age. With the Internet being a huge part of our lives, more and more personal data is being made available, because of our ever-increasing dependence and use of the Internet on our phones, tablets, and computers. Some corporations such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook; governments, and other third parties have been tracking our internet use and acquiring data in order to provide personalized services and advertisements for consumers. Many American such as Nicholas Carr who wrote the article “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty, With Real Dangers,” Anil Dagar who wrote the article “Internet, Economy and Privacy,” and Grace Nasri who wrote the article “Why Consumers are Increasingly Willing to Trade Data for Personalization,” believe that the continuing loss of personal privacy may lead us as a society to devalue the concept of privacy and see privacy as outdated and unimportant. Privacy is dead and corporations, governments, and third parties murdered it for their personal gain not for the interest of the public as they claim. There are more disadvantages than advantages on letting corporations, governments, and third parties track and acquire data to personalized services and advertisements for us.
Computers, tablets, cellphones and all modern tenchnology has decrease our expectations of privacy in this digital age. People don't care anyone for their privacy, they only want the benefits that modern technology has brought to them. In the essay, “Privacy is Overrated” by David Plotz (2003), argues that it is sometimes good to be open and not be bother by privacy. In Jack Shafer's (2010) essay, “The Invasion of the Cookie Monster” he argues that we are the ones to be blame for the lost of our online privacy. The didgital age has created an extremely big problem of privacy for people.
Different people, cultures, and nations have a wide variety of expectations about how much privacy is entitled to or what constitutes an invasion of privacy. Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information. Personal privacy has been declining in the past year which is caused by today’s technological society. With the latest technology such as face scanners, data collecting, and highly advanced software’s, privacy can be compromised, which is exactly what is being done today and it is unconstitutionally intrusive.
Information technology has advanced in multiple ways in society, where organizations has implement the structure into their work environment. Industries have outsource their manufacturing to other places in the world and rely on telecommunication to keep the marketing. The geographic distribution has changed significantly by reducing the distance it takes to complete an operation, due to information technology. These are just a couple of examples of how this advanced technology has reshape our society and continuing.
In contemporary society, people mostly spend their lives with technology. Before those new technologies were developed, people had less opportunity to contact others anytime they want. However, as computers and cell phones were developed, people are able to enjoy comfortable life compared the period without computers and cell phones. At the same time, people had to give up their privacy and security to enjoy the new technologies.
Part of the allure of the Internet has always been the anonymity it offers its users. As the Internet has grown however, causing capitalists and governments to enter the picture, the old rules are changing fast. E-commerce firms employ the latest technologies to track minute details on customer behavior. The FBI's Carnivore email-tracking system is being increasingly used to infringe on the privacy of netizens. Corporations now monitor their employees' web and email usage. In addition to these privacy infringements, Internet users are also having their use censored, as governments, corporations, and other institutions block access to certain sites. However, as technology can be used to wage war on personal freedoms, it can also be employed in the fight against censorship and invasion of privacy.
Ever since day one, people have been developing and creating all sorts of new methods and machines to help better everyday life in one way or another. Who can forget the invention of the ever-wondrous telephone? And we can’t forget how innovative and life-changing computers have been. However, while all machines have their positive uses, there can also be many negatives depending on how one uses said machines, wiretapping in on phone conversations, using spyware to quietly survey every keystroke and click one makes, and many other methods of unwanted snooping have arisen. As a result, laws have been made to make sure these negative uses are not taken advantage of by anyone.
As technology as advanced, so has our society. We are able to accomplish many tasks much easier, faster, and in effective ways. However, if looked at the harmful impact it has had on the society, one can realize that these are severe and really negative. One of the main concerns is privacy rights. Many people want that their information and personal data be kept in secrecy, however with today’s technology, privacy is almost impossible. No matter how hard one tries, information being leaked through technological advancements have become more and more common. With personal information being leaked, one does not know exactly how the information will be used, which validates the statement that privacy rights have been diminishing and should be brought to concern. Many people do not realize that their information is being used by third-parties and to consumer companies. In conclusion, technology has had a significant effect on privacy
The New Media Age has brought about a wealth of technological innovations from the smartphone to online social media platforms. These creations have changed the way many people conduct their daily lives, but it has also changed the way the world faces privacy. New technologies make the spread of information astonishingly easy. As information is more readily available to a vast online audience, there is growing concern for the protection of people’s private information. Yet these technologies offer a number of limitations ranging from ownership of information to the ability to circumnavigate privacy systems that diminish privacy to a mere concept left to be desired, in turn altering the perception of the devices spawning the issue.
As technology penetrates society through Internet sites, smartphones, social networks, and other modes of technology, questions are raised as the whether lines are being crossed. People spend a vast majority of their time spreading information about themselves and others through these various types of technology. The problem with all these variations is that there is no effective way of knowing what information is being collected and how it is used. The users of this revolutionary technology cannot control the fate of this information, but can only control their choice of releasing information into the cyber world. There is no denying that as technology becomes more and more integrated into one’s life, so does the sacrificing of that person’s privacy into the cyber world. The question being raised is today’s technology depleting the level of privacy that each member of society have? In today’s society technology has reduced our privacy due to the amount of personal information released on social networks, smartphones, and street view mapping by Google. All three of these aspects include societies tendency to provide other technology users with information about daily occurrences. The information that will be provided in this paper deals with assessing how technology impacts our privacy.
new advancements such as microchip implant for humans and animals can be very controversial. At first, the implants may seem to have benefits but in the long run they will actually cause more trouble than they are worth. These potential "troublemakers" are about the size of an elongated grain of rice and are injected in the skin under the arm or hand (Feder, Zeller 15). The chip is not powered by battery and there is nothing that can possibly leak out into the body (Posada-Swafford 8). An early form of this technology was used to monitor salmon and has been used for other wildlife research (Verhovek 5). The idea of the chips was started from the September 11 tragedy when the firefighters going into the Twin Towers were "IDing" themselves by writing information on their arm about their blood type, health conditions, and their identity with a permanent marker (Bentley 10). The VeriChip Corporation, which is owned by Applied Digital Solutions, saw this as an opportunity to market their product. As a result of their marketing ploys, Applied Digital claims that so far there have been about 1,000 human recipients of the chip.
John C. Dvorak, author of “Privacy and Social Media”, argues about how many people are so unconcerned with their privacy. He states, “This amuses me because it seems as if the majority of Facebook users don't even know about or care about the privacy settings” (Dvorak). This argument of definition brings up the debate of the multiple definitions of privacy. For example, an individual who applies to Dvorak’s statement might have a definition of privacy as something very open and simple. However, someone else who may be applying for jobs may think of privacy as a much more serious concept. Therefore, the debate over what is “private” information means nothing due to the fact that everyone’s definition of privacy is different. Once everybody agrees on a worldwide definition of privacy then this issue can be debated and solved
In the early years of computers and computerized technology, computer engineers had to believe that their contribution to the development of computer technology would produce positive impacts on the people that would use it. During the infancy of computer technology, ethical issues concerning computer technology were almost nonexistent because computers back then were not as multifaceted as they are today. However, ethical issues relating to computer technology and cyber technology is undeniable in today’s society. Computer technology plays a crucial role in all aspects of our daily lives. Different forms of computer technology provide unique functionalities that allow people to perform daily activities effectively and efficiently. In modern society, we use computer and cyber technology to communicate with friends and family via social networking sites, participate in business transactions, and get current news. Different tasks require unique technological feature in computer technology to function properly. Although, unique technological features increase people’s proficiency in accomplishing various tasks, unique technological features in computer and cyber technology increase security vulnerabilities. In many cases, the security vulnerabilities in computer technology are exploited by cybercriminals to invade people’s privacy, and steal people’s identity. We know that computers have no moral compass; they cannot make moral decisions for themselves. Essentially, people make moral decisions that affect others positively or negatively depending on how they use computer technology. Some of the biggest ethical issues facing people in the computing environment include privacy concerns on the web and identity theft. Privacy concerns...
The consistent use of information and communication technology (ICT) in modern world enables us for countless opportunities for individuals, institutions, business organisations and scientists, but it also raises difficult ethical and legal problems. In particular, ICT helped to make societies more complex and thus even harder to understand. The use of ICT has led to changes in concepts: ownership, buying and selling, right to possession, theft, justice in the distribution of resources and access rights. During the nineties, the internet has grown into all business segments resulting in a large number of questions running. It has been noted that during those time period there has been merging of computers, telecommunications, and media which is further emphasized by the emergence of new issues and strengthening old ones.
Technology has changed modern society drastically, both positively and negatively. Technology has influenced every aspect of our life, making it simpler but not necessarily better. Albert Einstein was concerned about the advancement of technology. "I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction."1 Undoubtedly, what has changed the most are communication, the spread of information, and how business is practiced. Consequently, practically everyone knows how to use a computer, connect to the Internet, or use a smartphone. This is demonstrated by the way the Internet is used daily by millions of people to communicate, to sell, advertise, retrieve, and share information. Thanks to the Internet, information from anywhere in the world is at our fingertips. As a result, the advancement of technology has changed our life in many ways including; sharing of information, communication, business, education, social interaction, simplifying everyday tasks, replacing basic skills and jobs.