Privacy

More than 40 million people in the UK regularly use the internet, with 13 million able to access the internet any time they like. 3o million of us are on Facebook alone, imagine all the information released on social networking sites, on online dating sites and online shops. The internet now holds more than 5 billion gigabytes of data.

In 2010 2,100 hours of footage was uploaded on to YouTube (Hypebot.com 2010). The amount of information we release about ourselves via the internet is unimaginable. So while the internet is changing out social norms it is also allowing us to live through our real live but also through our online selves. In a world so advanced in technology privacy issues are to be expected, in a world where information can be hacked or shared with unwanted parties. Google came across a problem when they uploaded Streetview which had captured images of people urinating in public places, being arrested and even visiting adult entertainment shops, which understandably cause a few complaints, it even lead to residents of a village near Milton Keynes forcing a driver to turn around and leave because they were uncomfortable with the camera peering over their hedges (BBC, 2011). Google street view also encountered issues when it was discovered that the cars used for Google Streetview had wrongly collected information had sent over encrypted Wi-Fi networks such as passwords, addresses and other data. John Simpson, from the Consumer Watchdog, told the BBC “This information was leaking out and they picked it up. If you are going to broadcast your e-mail on an open Wi-Fi, don’t be surprised of someone picks it up.”


Christopher Poole, spoke of anonymity online during a TED talk (February 2010), he spoke of Dusty the Cat, when a young man posted a video of him abusing a cat, which did not go down well with people who viewed it, in an attempt to do something about it people on the internet were able to match parts from the video and find his MySpace profile, within 48 hours he was identified and arrested. This just shows that being active on so many sites and pages we are entering into a world where there is a lack of privacy that go unnoticed.
http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_m00t_poole_the_case_for_anonymity_online.html


There are two legislations that cover privacy on the internet. The Data Protection Act which governs how parties use data both on and off-line and the e-Privacy Directive which governs how data is handled as well as how information is gathered, for example consumers now have to give consent for cookies to be imported on to computers. As bad as it feels for our personal details to be know by unwanted parties we seem to be laid back with the information we give out, even on social networking sites we don’t realise the extent our photo’s, plans and where about are all available for people to see. My Friend informed me that she walked past a girl browsing through my Facebook pictures in the library and it was not anybody she recognised, this made me feel as if my privacy had been invaded even though I have chosen to put the pictures up and I am fully aware that people can see them, I just don’t register that people actually look through them and how easily they are accessed.  
As our technology increases so will the issues that develop regarding privacy, in order for people stay active online they have to feel certain that their information will be kept private and that they are safe, to keep up with these changes the government will need to enforce stricter legislations involving data and privacy.