Digitally Nude: A Look at Online Privacy

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Recommended: Why privacy matters summary

The popular debate question over which came first, the chicken or the egg, has never been decided. There are some very good reasons for both sides: The chicken needs the egg to be born while the egg needs the chicken to be laid. Both are capable of surviving without the other although it is tough to decide which would be the most important. The same relationship exists between the Internet and it’s consumers in the form of privacy versus information accessibility. While the concept of online privacy is desired by all computer users, it will never be realized because of the rapid evolution of Internet search tools and a growing abundance of online records.

The idea of privacy is considered to be a basic human right. To American’s, privacy is not only a basic right, it is protected by law. As described in West’s Encyclopedia of American Law:

The Constitutional right to privacy protects the liberty of people to make certain crucial decisions regarding their well-being without government coercion, intimidation, or interference…. The federal Constitution guarantees the right of individuals to make these decisions according to their own conscience and beliefs. (98)

Privacy begins to be redefined when the use of technology starts to also be considered a basic right. There are legal ways that businesses and governments can collect and store information about online activity, information that is either directly or indirectly published by an individual user (“Privacy”). In a survey conducted by the Federal Trade Commission in 2000, over 90% of online users showed concern over computer related privacy (“Internet Privacy”). This creates a large discrepancy between what is considered to be an inalienable right and that which has become a...

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...2007): 1004-06. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web.26 Feb. 2011

Araya, Augustin A. “Internet” Encyclopedia of Science, technology, and Ethics 2 (2005): 1048-52. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web.26 Feb. 2011

“European Commission’s Directive on Data Privacy.” Gale Encyclopedia of E-Commerce 1 (2002): 279-80. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web.26 Feb. 2011

“Safe Harbor Privacy Framework.” Gale Encyclopedia of E-Commerce 2 (2002): 637-38. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web.26 Feb. 2011

“Privacy Act of 1974.” West’s Encyclopedia of American Law 2.8 (2008): 107-08. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web.26 Feb. 2011

Battelle, John. The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed our Culture. Ney York: Penguin Group, 2005. Print.

Gralla, Preston. How The Internet Works. Ed. Thomas F. Hayes. 8th ed. Indianapolis: Que, 2007. Print.

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