Privacy protection has been a public policy concern for decades. However, rapid technological changes, the rapid growth of the Internet and electronic commerce, and the development of more sophisticated methods of collecting, analyzing, and using personal information have made privacy a major socio-political issue in the U.S., Europe, and other areas. Privacy issues have attracted the attention of the media, politicians, government agencies, businesses, and privacy advocates. In addition, the public is becoming increasingly sensitized to the protection of their personal information. Nonetheless, some people appear to be willing to trade-off various degrees of personal privacy for discounts on merchandise, free computer hardware, software, or e-mail, and other benefits. Personal information is never copletely safe on the internet. The problem of keeping one's personal information data safe while still using it on the Internet is a problem as old as the Internet itself and one that will exist as long as the Internet is used. Tens of thousands of anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-spyware, identity theft protection and computer security programs and services exist, performing all sorts of different jobs. But there is no magic solution, nor will there ever be. On the Internet, your information can never be 100% secure; this is something you have to accept when you choose to put your information on the Internet. But this doesn't mean we should avoid putting information on the Internet; using the Internet to handle sensitive personal information is a calculated risk in which the benefits usually outweigh the costs, especially if you use the right tools to protect yourself. Let's take an example; say I choose to receive bank statements online through email and use other online banking features, which are offered by just about every banking institution today. I am obviously going to be concerned about the security of my email, which will
Privacy protection has been a public policy concern for decades. However, rapid technological changes, the rapid growth of the Internet and electronic commerce, and the development of more sophisticated methods of collecting, analyzing, and using personal information have made privacy a major socio-political issue in the U.S., Europe, and other areas. Privacy issues have attracted the attention of the media, politicians, government agencies, businesses, and privacy advocates. In addition, the public is becoming increasingly sensitized to the protection of their personal information. Nonetheless, some people appear to be willing to trade-off various degrees of personal privacy for discounts on merchandise, free computer hardware, software, or e-mail, and other benefits. Personal information is never copletely safe on the internet. The problem of keeping one's personal information data safe while still using it on the Internet is a problem as old as the Internet itself and one that will exist as long as the Internet is used. Tens of thousands of anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-spyware, identity theft protection and computer security programs and services exist, performing all sorts of different jobs. But there is no magic solution, nor will there ever be. On the Internet, your information can never be 100% secure; this is something you have to accept when you choose to put your information on the Internet. But this doesn't mean we should avoid putting information on the Internet; using the Internet to handle sensitive personal information is a calculated risk in which the benefits usually outweigh the costs, especially if you use the right tools to protect yourself. Let's take an example; say I choose to receive bank statements online through email and use other online banking features, which are offered by just about every banking institution today. I am obviously going to be concerned about the security of my email, which will