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.