Social Media
“At one level, the computer is an empowering tool, which gives unprecedented access to information and to communications; at another, it might be seen as an implement of control giving unlimited power to those who control the information that it stores. The central dilemma of the information society is how to resolve that issue.” (Feather, J. (2008) The Information Society)
Discuss why you think Feather has come to this conclusion.
What actions are being and can be taken to resolve this issue?
In this modern day society, the use of computers, technology and the internet are increasingly growing. There are websites and programmes that have been developed which are increasingly exploiting individual’s privacy, in some cases without their realisation. Social networking sites play a key role in this exploitation of user’s privacy. This essay will refer frequently to ‘Facebook’ (a social networking site).
So what is Privacy? Privacy can be defined in numerous forms; it can be relatively subjective and can vary between individuals. It is described as “easy to identify when experienced but difficult to define” (Introna, 1997). This emphasises my above point, users may realise that their privacy is being wrongly accessed once an incident has occurred; as opposed to realising the information that they have exposed on a social networking site is already too detailed and is putting them at risk. Furthermore, Yael Onn mentioned that ‘The right to privacy is our right to keep a domain around us...to give us the ability to choose which parts in this domain can be accessed by others, and to control the extent, manner and timing of the use of those parts we choose to disclose" (Y Onn 2005). Onn’s views are comparable to those of Alan Westin (1967) who thought it was strongly down to individuals being able to ‘determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is communicated.’ These three definitions show the extent to which the term privacy
Discuss why you think Feather has come to this conclusion.
What actions are being and can be taken to resolve this issue?
In this modern day society, the use of computers, technology and the internet are increasingly growing. There are websites and programmes that have been developed which are increasingly exploiting individual’s privacy, in some cases without their realisation. Social networking sites play a key role in this exploitation of user’s privacy. This essay will refer frequently to ‘Facebook’ (a social networking site).
So what is Privacy? Privacy can be defined in numerous forms; it can be relatively subjective and can vary between individuals. It is described as “easy to identify when experienced but difficult to define” (Introna, 1997). This emphasises my above point, users may realise that their privacy is being wrongly accessed once an incident has occurred; as opposed to realising the information that they have exposed on a social networking site is already too detailed and is putting them at risk. Furthermore, Yael Onn mentioned that ‘The right to privacy is our right to keep a domain around us...to give us the ability to choose which parts in this domain can be accessed by others, and to control the extent, manner and timing of the use of those parts we choose to disclose" (Y Onn 2005). Onn’s views are comparable to those of Alan Westin (1967) who thought it was strongly down to individuals being able to ‘determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is communicated.’ These three definitions show the extent to which the term privacy
Bibliography: Facebook, 2004. <www.facebook.com> [accessed 12.04.12]. Facebook Newsroom 2012 Govani, T., Pashley H., 2005, Student Awareness of the Privacy Implications When Using Facebook. [online]. <http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/cs199r/fp/Brian.pdf>, [accessed 15.04.12]. Jones H., Soltren J., 2005, Facebook: Threats to Privacy. [online],<http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/student-papers/fall05-papers/facebook.pdf>, [accessed 13.04.12]. Posner, R.A., (2006) ‘Chapter 6: Rights of Privacy’ from Posner, Richard A., Not a Suicide Pact; The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency .127-145, Oxford University Press. Yael, O, et al., 2005. Privacy in the Digital Environment, Haifa Centre of Law & Technology, 1-12.