Internet Privacy

Internet Privacy

Many people use the Internet today and everyone will have at least one chance during a lifetime to use the internet or see how it works. The internet is the modern day encyclopedia, dictionary, streaming media like TV­­, and much more information just at the touch of your finger-tips. These are all great pros about the internet but there still remain a couple of questionable things about it. Do people have privacy rights or any rights while surfing the internet? A couple of questions must first be answered and they are how does it work, and do we have any privacy rights that we can claim to while surfing the internet.

Now a days’ the internet is the absolute most important thing in the world LITERALLY. Without the internet there would be no phones, communication, and almost life would come to a complete stop. So what exactly is the internet and how does it work? The internet is a large group of interconnected computer networks all over the world. Each person when they log on to the internet they have something almost like a photo I.D. or a drivers license. This I.D is called the Internet Protocol(I.P) address is basically shared with the internet company provider without your choice. Jonathan Bick is an adjunct professor of Internet law at Pace Law School and Rutgers Law School. He is also the author of '101 Things You Need To Know about Internet Law' [Random House 2000]. Based on his research on the internet privacy laws he has found out that once a person signs up with an internet provider they are basically signing over their internet right over to the provider. Meaning that your I.P address will be traced and many of your activities online are basically being watched. Bick says states that “Internet communications necessitates sharing content and data with third parties. The voluntary transfer of such content and related data to third-party Internet communication facilitators reduces or eliminates First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of Internet users”. So does this mean that we don’t have any privacy while surfing the internet.

So what does Bick think is a good way to start a privacy policy online or an internet privacy law? Bick reviewed a 1999 federal commission trade policy and thinks it should be taken also as an internet privacy policy. " 1. Notice/awareness: covers the disclosure of infonnation practices, including a comprehensive statement of information use; 2. Choice/consent: includes both opt-out and opt-in options and allows the consumers the choice to trade information for benefits, depending on the

value consumers place on the benefits; 3. Access/participation allows for confirmation of the accuracy of information; necessary when information is aggregated from multiple sources; 4. Integrity/security: controls for theft or tampering; and 5. Enforcement/redress: provides a mechanism to ensure compliance; this mechanism is an important credibility cue for online companies, but is extremely difficult to accomplish effectively". With this idea in place this would probably be the most effective

Based on the PRIVACY RIGHTS ON THE INTERNET article many websites have a policy that each person has to read and agree to while on the site. A good example given is the website of E-Bay. On the website upon signing up the “…registration process automatically sets the default to "yes," which ensures

that unless the readers are fully alert in reading all the details, they would automatically and perhaps inadvertently, agree to have their private information sold or shared with telemarketers and to receive promotional material from eBay. As you have read this what exactly does it mean? This means that you do have some sense or kind of privacy on the internet protected by the fourth amendment but once you agree to the policy you are basically signing those rights over to the website you are on. Once a person does that, their surfing history, clicks, and anything they have done is being shared or given out and all by their consent.

So what a good way to start a privacy policy online or an internet privacy law? A reviewed 1999 federal commission trade policy should be taken also as an internet privacy policy. " 1. Notice/awareness: covers the disclosure of infonnation practices, including a comprehensive statement of information use; 2. Choice/consent: includes both opt-out and opt-in options and allows the consumers the choice to trade information for benefits, depending on the

value consumers place on the benefits; 3. Access/participation allows for confirmation of the accuracy of information; necessary when information is aggregated from multiple sources; 4. Integrity/security: controls for theft or tampering; and 5. Enforcement/redress: provides a mechanism to ensure compliance; this mechanism is an important credibility cue for online companies, but is extremely difficult to accomplish effectively". With this idea in place this would probably be the most effective.

Based on the Internet Privacy and State having internet Privacy is kind of a two way thing. To have privacy "data privacy must be constructed around “the primacy of individual responsibility and nongovernmental action.” This is basically saying that each person kind of protects their own privacy. Meaning that our privacy falls within our control. Later in the article it says it more clearly and explains it more clearly " Despite the belief that cyberspace is a “friction free” medium, pervasive

restrictions exist in it regarding freedom of choice regarding information

privacy. Yet, for self-reliant consent to fulfill its assigned role for shaping privacy, individuals must be able to choose between different possibilities—and significant reasons exist for doubt on this score". Some people are unhappy about not having internet privacy, but the matter of fact is that we do have internet privacy but it is just not favored by the providing internet companies. The basic default settings from the internet companies disfavor the idea of privacy. This is because they make an enormous amount of money by selling this information. In the article of Internet Privacy and state it is stated that the best way to have privacy is to completely leave the cyberspace " Yet, industry standard setting largely disfavors privacy at present.

Internet companies generally benefit from developing standards, including

new software, that preserve the current status quo of maximum

information disclosure.32 Once online industry is able to “lock-in” a poor

level of privacy on the Web as the dominant practice, individuals may not

have effective recourse to other practices. They can protest, but collective

action problems on the Internet, as I have suggested above, are widespread.

Moreover, there is nowhere else to go—except to leave cyberspace".

Working Paragraphs

Internet Privacy

Many people use the Internet today and everyone will have at least one chance during a lifetime to use the internet or see how it works. The internet is the modern day encyclopedia, dictionary, streaming media like TV­­, and much more information just at the touch of your­ of your finger-tip. These are all great pros about the internet but there still remains a couple of questionable things about it. Do people have privacy rights or any rights while surfing the internet? A couple of questions must first be answered and they are how does it work, and do we have any privacy rights that we can claim to while surfing the internet?

Now a days’ the internet is the absolute most important thing in the world LITERALLY. Without the internet there would be no phones, communication, and almost life would come to a complete stop. So what exactly is the internet and how does it work? The internet is a large group of interconnected computer networks all over the world. Each person when they log on to the internet they have something almost like a photo I.D. or a drivers license. This I.D is called the Internet Protocol(I.P) address is basically shared with the internet company provider without your choice. Jonathan Bick a is an adjunct professor of Internet law at Pace Law School and Rutgers Law School. He is also the author of '101 Things You Need To Know about Internet Law' [Random House 2000]. Based on his research on the internet privacy laws he has found out that once a person signs up with an internet provider they are basically signing over their internet right over to the provider. Meaning that your I.P address will be traced and many of your activities online are basically being watched. Bick says states that “Internet communications necessitates sharing content and data with third parties. The voluntary transfer of such content and related data to third-party Internet communication facilitators reduces or eliminates First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of Internet users”. So does this mean that we don’t have any privacy while surfing the internet?

Based on the PRIVACY RIGHTS ON THE INTERNET article that many websites have a policy that each person has to read and agree to while on the site. A good example given is the website of E-Bay. On the website upon signing up the “…registration process automatically sets the default to "yes," which ensures

that unless the readers are fully alert in reading all the details, they would automatically,

and perhaps inadvertently, agree to have their private information sold or shared

with telemarketers and to receive promotional material from eBay. As you have read this what exactly does it mean? This means that you do have some sense or kind of privacy on the internet protected by the fourth amendment but once you agree to the policy you are basically signing those rights over to the website you are on. Once a person does that their surfing history, clicks, and anything they have done is being shared or given out and all by their consent.

Areas of Discussion

1)is there legal internet privacy?
- all the sources have concluded that no there is not really internet privacy. It is just the fourth amendment from the constitution that has hints about privacy when saying unlawful seizure of information.
2) Is privacy actually a problem that people actually worry about?
- yes, in-fact many surveys done say that over 60% of the people surfing the internet worry about their privacy and what information about them is going out and being taken without their knowledge.
3) does it matter whether these people have internet privacy or not when using the internet? and would it stop them from using the internet?
- of course it does matter people have important information on their computers whether it is credit cards, bills, or even family things that are not meant to be shared.
- the second point is would they stop using the internet if there is not really a law protecting their privacy while surfing the internet. Based on the PRIVACY RIGHTS ON THE INTERNET: SELF-REGULATION OR GOVERNMENT REGULATION article people would not stop using the internet but instead will be just a little bit more careful and try to be more educated about surfing the internet

Circles of Evidence

Internet Privacy has been a great argued issue by internet users. Internet privacy is the most important problem people discuss when talking about the internet. So the big question do we really have internet privacy? Well, no not really and all of my sources concluded so. There is not really a law that specifically talks about privacy or even a law made for privacy but there is however one possible point made by the constitution. in the fourth amendment it states that " unlawful requests for information with unlawful search and seizure. The other approach required physical trespass into a zone of privacy". in here there is not really privacy but instead unlawful seizure of information. The word privacy is not used but is hinted out. Three of my four sources states that to have privacy on the internet a person must first be educated on how to use and navigate the internet safely. For instance using the new Internet Explorer 6 browser which in the default settings of the browser it does not accept third party cookies which is one of the ways our privacy and unlawful seizure of information is taken. knowing which websites to enter and which websites not to enter for your safety is a great way to protect your privacy. Also e-mails are a great way that people might be tricked into giving out personnel information like social security number, credit card numbers, and personal information. The best way to keep your privacy as seen in these sources is to not open any e-mail you don't know. If you did not expect an e-mail from your bank for instance know that it is a scam. Unless you were expecting an e-mail from that person or place do not open it, as some of them may inject trojans and cookies on to your computer. The main claim that i have reached from all these four sources is that we do have privacy but we are the ones that control it and control how much of our information is given out.

Internet Privacy and State

SECION1: Schwartz, Paul M. "Internet Privacy and the State." HEINONLINE. 1999-2000. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/conlr32&div=34&id=&page=. SECTION2: In this article the writer speaks about privacy on the internet and whether it is something that is there or not. he first starts speaking about the market privacy and the normal privacy. He explains that there is a great difference between market privacy and what should be called the normal privacy. Some information that if let out to the market would not harm or hurt the person and secondly is the normal privacy which is privacy that all people acquire. This is information about your personal life, bills, credit card numbers etc.. This article relates to my paper in a great way. First it is speaking about the different kind of privacy's a person has while surfing the internet. Secondly it is speaking about how to protect it and who else can help you protect your privacy . A great privacy protector is the state you are living in . Each state has its own rule on the internet. Some states are more stricter than the others. QUOTES: " I seek to characterize information privacy as a constitutive value that helps both to form the society in which we live in and to shape our individual identities"

PRIVACY RIGHTS ON THE INTERNET: SELF-REGULATION OR GOVERNMENT REGULATION?

Section1: Bowie, Norman E., and Karim Jamal. "PRIVACY RIGHTS ON THE INTERNET: SELF-REGULATION OR GOVERNMENT REGULATION?" EBSCohost. July 2006. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=21&sid=f110098f-88fc-41e9-9aee-50e74dfeefad%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVybCxjb29raWUsdWlkJnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=21192224. Section2: In this source there is an arguement to how privacy is viewed by us. Sometimes we all might put privacy aside for a greater purpose/ for the better. does privacy matter? and is there greater information that deserves more privacy? in this paper the writer clearly states that there is not an absolute privacy but we as individuals have the right to reject things. We can modify our internet browser to reject third party cookies and when we revice unknown e-mail we can easily not open and delete it. These unknown e-mails are most likely sent to you because some of your online surfing habbits were stolen and recorded and your so called privacy was intruded. The writer is clearly telling us that our privacy is basically in our own hands. We are the ones that can decide what gets on the internet and what doesn't. It is not that the privacy invasinos are done without our knowledge but basically done with our approval. Just being more aware of your movement on the internet ia a great factor to your rivacy. knowing what information to let out to spam e-mail and knowing what web-sites to go on is also a key factor. Plus all this your internet browser has a great option and that is not allowing any third party cookies and these are basically the ones that steal your information and invade your privacy. This is a great source in that it really explains whether we do have or not internet prrivacy. It tells us exactly how we let out information and how we can easily prevent the information. One of the best things in this article is seperating between important privacy and the not so important privacy. QUOTES: " Once a person discloses information at a site or registers at a site there is no limit on what can be done with that personal information so long as no fraudulent actions are involved. In the United States there is no requirement that a site have a privacy policy or that an opt-out option be provided by those sites that do"

Internet Privacy Law A.B

1) Author: Timothy J. Walton 2) Title: Internet Privacy Law 3) Publication Date: August 20, 1999 4) Format: web 5) Date Accessed: April 10th, 2011 Timothy starts this with an introduction paragraph explaing the reasons to why some people sometimes want internet privacy. He states that some internet criminals use this so called "Privacy" to their advantage. he then asks a question to why we or some people want to have privacy? some people that are annonymoouse on the internet harass others and abuse them all due to being annonymouse while surfing. He then states that there are not written down laws or any constitutions about internet privacy but instead laws made the governement in charge. So look around and do research because each state and each country may have a different law or rule concerning internet privacy. Quotes: 1) "Nowhere does the text of the United States Constitution contain the word "privacy." The Supreme Court has found the concept of "privacy" to be protected by a number of the Amendments.Thus, privacy is known as a "penumbra right." It is the essence of the Bill of Rights and thus a guaranteed right"

Internet Communication Privacy Rights A.B

Bick , Jonathan. "INTERNET COMMUNICATION PRIVACY RIGHTS." Bicklaw.com. 16 Mar. 2009. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. http://www.bicklaw.com/INTERNETCOMMUNICATIONPRIVACYRIGHTS.htm. SUMMARY In this journal jonathan bick shows and tells us exactly what happens on the internet. he first starts by telling is we have rights of privacy on the internet or not. As clearly seen, yes we do. it's not that the word pricave is written in the constitution but the fourth amendment does say that we are protected against unlawfull intrusions in or any intrusions without a reasonable cause. Therefor yes he believes strongly in internet privacy and that we sshould be protected at all times. Bick wrote this journal article to make people aware of their privacy rights on the internet and on the web. He demonstrates many examples from the contitution that dont exactly have the word privacy in them but rather protection against unlawfull intrusions. The writer in this journal article is clearly trying to get across one clear message, and that is all of should be protected while surfing the web and while using the internet. As writen we all should speak against any violation of our rights on the internet. - This source answers many of my research questions. The first is, if we have any rights while on the internet. The answer is clear as day and yes we do as stated in the constitution. Another question answered is what our role is on the internet? The answer is that we are considered a thirs party. Which means we help move information around the web by having sites and similar things. Quotations: 1) Quotes: "Just as there is no explicit constitutional right to privacy, there is no general privacy statute which requires electronic records held by third parties to keep such records private. Rather, the protection of such electronic records may be found due to a particular set of facts. Two approaches to Fourth Amendment privacy protection are generally used. One approach equated unlawful requests for information with unlawful search and seizure".

Moral Absolutism Pros & Cons

Many people probably have not heard about moral absolutism. This is the principle where “… absolute standards against which moral questions can be judged—suggest that morals are not determined by societal or situational influences. According to moral absolutism, morals are inherent in the laws of the universe, the nature of humanity, or some other fundamental source”. There are many good ideas in this philosophy, starting with the well being of a person/human being. Most of the time this would help out and be on the side of the law. The law is always thought to be fair and on the side of humans. With the philosophy of Absolutism the law would always be protective and on the well being of individuals.

There is however a bad side to this philosophy and that is who decides what’s good for the individual? Some people that live in deserted areas don’t know about laws from other places. Which means that what they think is right can be wrong in so many ways. Some ideas like killing the daughter if she got raped might be thought of to be the best for a girl, but that is to the culture that the family lives in.

Moral Univeresalism Pros & Cons

Moral Universalism is kind of the same but also different than absolutism. This philosophy agrees with the ideas of James Rachels. In this philosophy things have to be looked at from the point of the culture itself. Meaning that only people from America can judge Americans and their actions. You can not really have a Middle Eastern person judge an Asian culture based person. This is because people are taught to think if something is right or wrong based on what they have experienced their whole life. This means that the law can and will protect wrong actions in a culture even though if this action is wrong to other cultures.

This philosophy can be wrong in one way really. This means that if an American person went to a middle eastern country they can have a hard time. This is because they would do what they know is normally right but in the middle east it is wrong. For example here in the united states it is okay for a man to hug a woman as a way for greeting. If this was done in the middle east this could cost a person their life depending on how strict the person is.