Running Head: Internet and Privacy 1

Internet and Privacy

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Has Internet Destroyed Privacy?

Internet and technological advancements has made it possible for people to interact, share

information and send and receive messages. However, internet has resulted in to the intrusion and

the deprivation of the privacy of the individuals, humans and people who have become inevitable

to the usage of the internet. Internet, despite all the usefulness associated with it has resulted in to

the destruction of the privacy of individuals. Development of companies such as Facebook, Twitter

and Instagram has contributed to the highest rate of the violation and destruction of the privacy of

its users. Dependence on technology in most day to day logistics has made it vulnerable to lose

privacy as well as personal information. Internet usage revolves from the calls we make, the

messages we text via the mobile phones, the automated cards we use, pictures and information we

share in social networking and other notable things (Yin, Xi, Sun & Wang, 2018). Research has

shown that in the modern world people are vulnerable to losing sensitive information such as credit

card numbers, telephone numbers and licenses as well.

Rationale behind the losing of privacy is varied, as it has been evident and argued out by

different scholars. Nowadays, it has become possible for online companies such as marketing firms

like Amazon to track personal as well as sensitive information when one visits their website.

Despite the existence of the terms and policies giving guidelines to the users, in most cases we as

individuals tend to be lazy in reading them thus ending up clicking the agree button without the

knowledge of the consequences (Hu, Ning, Qiu, Song, Wang & Yao, 2017). With this, we end up

agreeing and signing something we are not even sure of, which in turn results in to the violation

of our privacy.
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Additionally, some people have argued that privacy in the current world has just become

an illusion. Existence and the development of social networking sites as well as social media

platforms has made it easy for individuals to share personal and sensitive information. As a result,

people tend to share information with people in the name of friends, not knowing that some people

are malicious and that they are after retrieving and gathering information or even trying to hack

their accounts. Such posts make it easy for hackers and malicious individuals have access to

personal and private information.

Surveillance as a result of the internet is another threat to the privacy of the individual’s

information. Due to the advancement of technology and the threats in attacks and issues of

terrorism, the surveillance techniques and strategies have been developed as a way of tracking and

collecting information from varied sources. Surveillance is aimed at identifying the tracks and the

plans of the attackers. In turn, despite its effectiveness and reliability, this technique ends up

collecting private, personal and sensitive information about individuals as well as firms

(Husamuddin & Qayyum, 2017, March). Actually, there should be establishment and the

incorporation of techniques for restricting the amount of information collected.

In conclusion, the internet has greatly destroyed the privacy of individuals as well as firms.

As well, people ought to be aware of their responsibilities in protecting their personal information

when social networking or even in platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Individuals ought to

view polices related to terms and conditions when visiting different websites. Nonetheless, firms

and companies should put security measures to avoid losing data to malicious people as well as

enhancement of security policies and regulations. Self-regulation should be adopted in online

companies and firms for protecting sensitive information of the consumers. Surveillance ought to
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be moderated in the amount of data collected. Moreover, internet was developed to ease life but

not to violate the privacy, therefore policies, rules, ethics and regulations should be strictly adhered

to and followed by the users.

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References

Yin, C., Xi, J., Sun, R., & Wang, J. (2018). Location privacy protection based on differential

privacy strategy for big data in industrial internet of things. IEEE Transactions on Industrial

Informatics, 14(8), 3628-3636.

Hu, P., Ning, H., Qiu, T., Song, H., Wang, Y., & Yao, X. (2017). Security and privacy preservation

scheme of face identification and resolution framework using fog computing in internet of

things. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 4(5), 1143-1155.

Husamuddin, M., & Qayyum, M. (2017, March). Internet of Things: A study on security and

privacy threats. In 2017 2nd International Conference on Anti-Cyber Crimes (ICACC) (pp. 93-

97). IEEE.