Up to date, social networking sites, such as Facebook, have more than 750 million active users, and these users contribute about of 30 billion pieces of shared information (blogs, web links, pictures, etc.) each month. This by no means indicates that social networking sites, similar to Facebook, are a private place. Every “log in to Facebook” you click to connect to other websites, every status update on your wall, with every Twitter post, or Foursquare check-in you allow others to view your life so why not a future employer or the school you go to? Mainstream society has started to fully embrace the digital age; therefore, several people, companies, schools; governments, etc. have come to allow their information to be viewed by whoever has a device that connects to the Internet. With that, your online identity and “real life” persona now blend into one single identity that both worlds can easily view with just a few simple facts like your name or e-mail address. Because of the ability to freely distribute information across social networks, people who use them should not be entitled to privacy.
When a person joins Facebook, they become “publicly available” to the Internet. Facebook writes, "Such information may, for example, be accessed by everyone on the Internet (including people not logged into Facebook), be indexed by third party search engines, and be imported, exported, distributed, and redistributed by us and others without privacy limitations." In simpler terms, once you put it out there, it’s out there and there is no turning back. With every single website you join, you sign away your rights to privacy if you read the “Terms & Policies” section that every website advises you to read whether you do or not. What info...
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Using the informal tone he enhances his argument by providing several thought-provoking statements that allow the reader to see the logic in the article, “Social media is designed for the information shared on it to be searched, and shared- and mined for profit… When considering what to share via social media, don 't think business vs. personal. Think public vs. private. And if something is truly private, do not share it on social media out of a misplaced faith in the expectation of privacy” (134). The reader should agree with Edmond that when posting or being a part of the social media bandwagon, you’re life and decisions will be up for display. Moreover, the business vs. personal and public vs. private point is accurate and logical, because evidently if you post something on any social media outlet you should expect that anyone and everyone can see it, regardless of your privacy settings. Edmond highlights that Facebook along with other social networking sites change their privacy settings whenever they please without
“The standards of what we want to keep private and what we make public are constantly evolving. Over the course of Western history, we’ve developed a desire for more privacy, quite possibly as a status symbol…”(Singer) Technological change leads to new abuses, creating new challenges to security, but society adapts to those challenges. To meet the innate need for privacy, we learn what to reveal and where, and how to keep secret what we don't want to disclose. “Whether Facebook and similar sites are reflecting a change in social norms about privacy or are actually driving that change, that half a billion people are now on Facebook suggests that people believe the benefits of connecting with others, sharing information, networking, self-promoting, flirting, and bragging outweigh breaches of privacy that accompany such behaviours,”(Singer) This is obvious by the continuous and unceasing use of social media platforms, but what needs to be considered is that this information is being provided willingly. “More difficult questions arise when the loss of privacy is not in any sense a choice.”(Singer) When the choice to be anonymous it taken away through social media, the person loses the ability to keep their personal information
It is not a technological problem, it is a legal problem. In the Facebook & Your Privacy, the author point out that "In the U.S. online privacy laws are weaker than those of Europe and much of the world, so you have few federal rights to see and control most of the information that social networks collect about you."(Facebook & Your Privacy) I find numerous legal cases of Facebook privacy issue in the European Unions, however, I only find several cases in the US. Due to the privacy law is one of the fundamental law in the EU, Europeans pay attention on their privacy. On the other hand, the US absence of a Federal-Level privacy protection law. The courts need to recognize that in the technology age, people have both virtual privacy and physical privacy. People should be able to control their own data, regardless of where it is stored. People should be able to make decisions about the security and privacy of that data. The Congress and Supreme Court should set a complete legal system of privacy in the internet, just as the Supreme Court eventually ruled that recording cell phone conversation was a Fourth Amendment search, requiring a
Social media companies have complete control a their users information and can do what they want with it. Now if those companies went spreading the information, no one would use their sites but they can make changes to privacy setting that make it easier for anyone to view information of other users. For example, Facebook has privacy settings so your information is not out for public viewing, but a while back they changed the default privacy setting to make all your information viewable to the public unless you changed it. There was an uproar and everyone felt they were trying to be sneaky about it because they did not give any notice when they did it, but Facebook claimed they were not trying to do anything fallacious. Social media companies have to be careful when doing anything with privacy settings because people get extremely defensive regarding their information. There is also a level of comfort that comes with age. The older generations have no trust when it comes to putting their information online. Most feel as if they are being tricked in some way. But the generation kids are growing up in now, all their trust is put in the internet. Kids and young adults will put all their information online because that is how the world functions. In today’s world, if you are not putting all your information online and using your phone and laptop to get everything done, you are inefficient. And this
With social media websites being the main hub of personal information, advertisers are consistently monitoring our social media activity, having the ability to look into our personal information. In the article "Advertising and Consumer Privacy: Old Practices and New Challenges." by Justine Rapp states, “Fueled by advances in capabilities and interconnectedness of computer based technology, advertisers are able to collect and assimilate information on consumers like no other time history” (51). Facebook has become the number one, social media website around the globe. It is the most popular website used by personal and business users in today’s society. In the article “Using Social Media to Reach Consumers: A Content Analysis of Official Facebook Pages” by Amy Parsons states, “As of July 2011, the social network site Facebook claims to have over 750 million members and in the terms of activity.” (27), making it easy to meet and connect with others. Facebook is considered the “hot spot” for online social activity, however, it exposes personal information about its consumers to
When we mention the word ‘privacy’, we mean that there is something very personal about ourselves. Something that we think others are not supposed to know, or, we do not want them to. Nevertheless, why is it so? Why are people so reluctant to let others know about them entirely? This is because either they are afraid of people doing them harm or they are scared that people may treat them differently after their secrets are known. Without privacy, the democratic system that we know would not exist. Privacy is one of the fundamental values on which our country was established. Moreover, with the internet gaining such popularity, privacy has become a thing of the past. People have come to accept that strangers can view personal information about them on social networking sites such as Facebook, and companies and the government are constantly viewing a person’s activity online for a variety of reasons. From sending email, applying for a job, or even using the telephone, Americans right to privacy is in danger. Personal and professional information is being stored, link, transferred, shared, and even sold. Various websites, the government and its agencies, and hospitals are infringing our privacy without our permission or knowledge.
Facebook is getting more open and social with every policy update and this poses problems for the privacy enthusiasts. The way Facebook collects and uses information can be categorised into two. One is information that the user can share under their control, and the other is information that is collected autonomously over which the user has little or no control.
Walton, Alice G. "Jealous Of Your Facebook Friends? Why Social Media Makes Us Bitter." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 22 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
The 21st century has brought a lot of modern ideas, innovations, and technology. One of these is social media. The invention of Facebook has completely changed the way we communicate with one another. Instant messaging, photo sharing, and joining online groups have created a way for families and friends to connect. Some argue that Facebook is the greatest invention however, while it is seemingly harmless, Facebook has created an invasion of privacy. The accessibility of Facebook and its widespread use has created privacy problems for users, teens, and interviewees by allowing easy control to viewers.
With more than 500 million active users, the site is a warehouse of personal information. Personal profiles allow users to provide information about their name, age, hometown, relationship status, activities, job, school, and more. They can connect with the others’ profiles and become ”friends”. Combined with a profile picture, you can pretty much learn anything you want to know about somebody over Facebook (should they choose to provide the information). However, what many users fail to realize is that in most cases this information is not only available to their “friends”. Though users can change their privacy settings to limit with whom their profile information is shared, the site gathers and stores more than most of us want to acknowledge. For instance, the Facebook “Like” butto...
The first aspect being addressed is the problem with social network sites exposing information. Social networking has created an environment where it is nearly a duty to expose oneself. Profiles on these social websites are updated everyday with personal information such as locations, status, and future plans. Anyone can search another’s name and find information about their history, pictures, and activity. With the help of social networking sites...
Stout, Kay. "The battle of full disclosure on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Orkut et al." Another Point of View. N.p., 20 Nov 2009. Web. 1 Apr. 2014. .
Keeping your privacy is getting harder and harder to do, but even though the privacy setting can help to an extent, they don’t always work the way they should. Putting information out for the public eye to see can be a risk but could also be used to the Facebook users advantage. With this comes a loss of privacy that the user has to deal with. No matter how many privacy settings are used or are changed they never a guaranty of full privacy. The only real way to guaranty this is to stay away from social media completely. With that we would lose the connected world we have today.
Vinson, Kathleen Elliott. "The Blurred Boundaries of Social Networking in the Legal Field: Just "Face" it." The University of Memphis Law Review 41.2 (2010): 355. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 7 May 2014.
Siddique, Haroon, and Helen Carter. "Facebook Security Measures Criticised after Ashleigh Hall Murder | Crime | Guardian.co.uk." Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. 9 Mar. 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.