MIS: USAData's Web
1. Do data brokers such as USAData raise privacy issues? Why or why not?
Yes, they do raise privacy issues, as they don’t verify the information they acquire on consumers. Their acceptable use policies have more to do with protecting the value of their data asset than the consumer’s privacy. The companies for the most part are unregulated which makes them susceptible to criminal behavior in the form of having their security breeched and consumer data stolen.
If you are on the Internet chances are your activity is being tracked in some form or fashion. It appears there are few data brokers that offer, “opt out” on a voluntary basis. The ones that do are often hard to maneuver, leaving the opt out option incomplete, which in turn still makes your information susceptible to being sold or shared.
To be totally honest, until reading up on this – I had no idea of the vastness of these types of warehouses of information. The fact that there is really little to no legal framework requiring these companies to offer consumers the ability to opt out or suppress their information is pretty scary!
2. If your name and other personal information were in this database, what limitations on access would you want in order to preserve your privacy? Consider the following data users: government agencies, your employer, private business firms, other individuals.
Government: I would like to think the Fourth Amendment still meant something in this country! I’m sure that our forefathers had no way of knowing how ridiculously easy it would be to gather and store information on the citizens of the United States of America. Still, the Fourth Amendment clearly states, “a search is any intrusion by the government into something in which one has a reasonable expectation of privacy.” That “something” should include the Internet and databases that collect information on citizens. There are those that would argue the government should have access as part of the
Yes, they do raise privacy issues, as they don’t verify the information they acquire on consumers. Their acceptable use policies have more to do with protecting the value of their data asset than the consumer’s privacy. The companies for the most part are unregulated which makes them susceptible to criminal behavior in the form of having their security breeched and consumer data stolen.
If you are on the Internet chances are your activity is being tracked in some form or fashion. It appears there are few data brokers that offer, “opt out” on a voluntary basis. The ones that do are often hard to maneuver, leaving the opt out option incomplete, which in turn still makes your information susceptible to being sold or shared.
To be totally honest, until reading up on this – I had no idea of the vastness of these types of warehouses of information. The fact that there is really little to no legal framework requiring these companies to offer consumers the ability to opt out or suppress their information is pretty scary!
2. If your name and other personal information were in this database, what limitations on access would you want in order to preserve your privacy? Consider the following data users: government agencies, your employer, private business firms, other individuals.
Government: I would like to think the Fourth Amendment still meant something in this country! I’m sure that our forefathers had no way of knowing how ridiculously easy it would be to gather and store information on the citizens of the United States of America. Still, the Fourth Amendment clearly states, “a search is any intrusion by the government into something in which one has a reasonable expectation of privacy.” That “something” should include the Internet and databases that collect information on citizens. There are those that would argue the government should have access as part of the