Internet and privacy
Internet can be said as the most significant invention of the century. It simplified many annoying processes such as banking and shopping into one simple step that can be achieved at home. Nevertheless, there are some drawbacks. The control of one's personal data on net is not as easy as in real life. Technologies on net can make tracking one's behaviors and interests without asking for permissions possible. In other words, World Wide Web users may be monitored by someone they do not know. In what ways our personal data are leaked out and whether Internet and privacy can finally co-exist peacefully? According to "Reconciling E-commerce and Privacy" in "Business Week" of 10/05/1998, there are web sites that force the users to give out their personal data such as your name, email address, demographic information, marriage and financial status, interests, hobbies and so on while registering their products. These data will be sold or given to their marketing partners without asking the users for permission. According to the passage "No Such Things as privacy" in "Report / Newsmagazine (Alberta Edition)" of 02/28/2000 Vol. 26, the emails people gives to newsgroups and business web sites may be sold to ¥spammers', those who send lots
In conclusion, the privacy is being seriously threatened on net. Companies are trying every method to gather the personal information of each of their customers. The users of their services must have a good knowledge of how their information will be used by the company and should not give out their information without regarding the matters. The problem cannot be solved unless the companies and the users are taught such that they will take the issue into a serious account. And then privacy and Internet can co-exist peaceful finally and the use of Internet will be moved to a much more delightful era. Besides the personal information gathered by companies in various ways, email privacy is also one of the controversial issues. Stated in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986 (sourced from "A study of individual's ethical beliefs and perceptions of electronic mail privacy" in "Journal of Business Ethics"), the interception of electronic mails by a third party outside the company are prohibited. However, the law is enforced only for those emails outside the company, while the law does not protect the mails flowing inside the company system. According to "The myth of E-mail privacy" in "Fortune" dated 02/03/1997 volume 135, most networks in the company system stores backup of the mails that passes through the system. Deleting mails means nothing. The contents of the mails are exposed to the others without one's permissions. The information thus cannot be exposed according to the users' willingness. The exposure of the email contents is also a violation of one's privacy in the company. Employees of the company can buy or download some software that encrypts the email they sent. The author of "The Myth of Email Privacy" suggests that this method is not as brilliant as it seems to. Encryption technology nowadays restricts the users to use the some program for the mail's sender and receiver. Furthermore, it may increase the suspicion of the employer when he or she read an encrypted mail from his or her employees. It is a cruel fact that we do not have guaran
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1408
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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