In everyday life we see people being too trustworthy of the internet. Most of the time, people lose sight of the fact that social networks are one of the easiest things to be broken into. Because people lose sight of this, they forget not to put their personal information onto the internet and this is one of the quickest ways for bad things to happen to people. These days, there is a location device on every smart phone. This device lets people on the social network know exactly where you are at all times. This is not safe at all. This is how stalkers get their motives to follow people around, because they now know exactly where you will be. This device can be turned off, so people with smart phones need to be aware and make sure it is turned off.
Too much of our lives these days are based on technology and social networks. Once you put something on the internet, it never comes off. It’s even getting to where interviewers and CEO’s of big companies are turning to the internet and social networks to see your life style, and to make sure they aren’t getting involved with a person that is not good for their company. People need to realize that putting pictures up of you getting drunk or tweets that aren’t protected of you getting wasted could potentially hurt your chances of getting a job. Things of this nature can be avoided by realizing people don’t need to know your every move of going out, or what you’re doing at that moment. This comes back to privacy settings also. Remember that every social network should have a privacy setting, and if it doesn’t, stay off of it! One other thing that really sticks in my mind about social networks is putting too much information on them such as your birthday, what town you live in, and where you work. This makes it so much easier for people seeking identity theft to steal your identity. All of these things come down to privacy. Keep what should be private, private. If you have to question it, it probably doesn’t need to be on there. Always remember that someone is always watching.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Job Seekers Beware!
In these bad economic times plus the addition of online job markets, everyone is in a frenzy to find the best paying job the quickest and beat out competition. But not all online employers are as they seem. Already being broke or in a bad situation we may not pay attention to all warning signs that the person contacting us is a fraudulent employer or they are representing the company without the said companies permission. Scams are commonly known for social networking sites and emails, but job correspondence has became a good place to make a buck or two for the thieves.
There are some basic things which every person gives when filling out an online application, such as Social Security number Name, address, date of birth, previous employers etc. but even these in the wrong hands can become an issue. The things which should alarm you or ring a bell should be when the perpetrator ask for your bank account number to direct deposit your check he/she may send in a $20 courtesy but later on may take out money as they please as they will certainly ask for a routing number and other such information needed.
You should avoid dealing with someone who asks for your social security number, asides from the application form , bank account numbers, personal ID, or a so called company which uses a hotmail or msn email address, most con-artist use real company names but then use small time email addresses which give away there scams so watch out for those ones who get around to something smarter.
But those who do get scammed should first off close out any bank accounts which are being leeched, contact the social security office and get in contact with a agent who will help stop credit fraud and other fraudulent activity being done on your name and will help clear any things which are linked to you but you are innocent of. If in case you don't do anything there is no telling what could pop into you mailbox demands for what kinds of payment your bank account being brought down to a nice round ZERO. Other minor steps should be took is to close out any email accounts and give the alias used to scam you to the local authorities.
We all try to stay the safest we can but in these hard economic times a golden opportunity can rob us of our judgement and digital eyesight, but in that case there are some steps we can take to get some temporary relief but in most cases once you get messed up like that chances are your name wont get cleared fully if ever or for a long time.
https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs25a-JobSeekerPriv2.htm
There are some basic things which every person gives when filling out an online application, such as Social Security number Name, address, date of birth, previous employers etc. but even these in the wrong hands can become an issue. The things which should alarm you or ring a bell should be when the perpetrator ask for your bank account number to direct deposit your check he/she may send in a $20 courtesy but later on may take out money as they please as they will certainly ask for a routing number and other such information needed.
You should avoid dealing with someone who asks for your social security number, asides from the application form , bank account numbers, personal ID, or a so called company which uses a hotmail or msn email address, most con-artist use real company names but then use small time email addresses which give away there scams so watch out for those ones who get around to something smarter.
But those who do get scammed should first off close out any bank accounts which are being leeched, contact the social security office and get in contact with a agent who will help stop credit fraud and other fraudulent activity being done on your name and will help clear any things which are linked to you but you are innocent of. If in case you don't do anything there is no telling what could pop into you mailbox demands for what kinds of payment your bank account being brought down to a nice round ZERO. Other minor steps should be took is to close out any email accounts and give the alias used to scam you to the local authorities.
We all try to stay the safest we can but in these hard economic times a golden opportunity can rob us of our judgement and digital eyesight, but in that case there are some steps we can take to get some temporary relief but in most cases once you get messed up like that chances are your name wont get cleared fully if ever or for a long time.
https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs25a-JobSeekerPriv2.htm
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Resources Available For Internet Privacy.
Hello again readers this post is to explore and examine what options are available to the user concerning his/her privacy on the internet. Recently through our blogs we have had users commenting and inquiring on how to be safe on the Internet. Unfortunately there is not one right answer or an exact way to do this. With that being disclaimed don't feel hopeless. I hope to offer so practical advice, and some paradigm outlooks regarding privacy.
One of the first things to be aware regarding internet privacy is not how much they know about you. More so the question is how much do you know? About what you "say" . An important aspect of privacy and safety has always been self awareness. One of the best ways to protect yourself is understand what type of environment you are in digitally and to understand how your privacy could be invaded. Knowledge of your surroundings is key here. One may not be able to necessarily stop the infringement of privacy on the Internet, but if you can understand how it can be compromised, you can better understand how to protect your self.
Unfortunately a good bit of the world wide web is still unsafe and unprotected. Many agencies and governments have worked together to come up with some type of protocols and rules. This has helped, but the web is still a fairly new place and is constantly evolving. Personal knowledge is one of the biggest ways of protecting yourself. for example, Amazon.com is known to sell your buying habits and other relevant information to third parties who find it valuable. Although they have done this legally and you may feel it is unethical, it is going to continue every time you buy. So can you stop them? No! But, at least you can be aware of what they are doing and decide if you will shop their or not by reading their terms of agreements.
There is other resources available to users to protect themselves on the web. Most community colleges offer computer courses for a reasonable price, if one feels incompetent on the computer and unsure of what they are doing they can always enroll in a course. Another way is to always read website agreement terms and disclaimers. This may seem cumbersome but, it pails in comparison to being secure. I will post this link, which is a good starting place for any person trying to sharpen their skill-set on internet. privacy.https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm
To the readers: if anyone has some useful resource tips available please feel free to share, or post comments and opinions with the others.
One of the first things to be aware regarding internet privacy is not how much they know about you. More so the question is how much do you know? About what you "say" . An important aspect of privacy and safety has always been self awareness. One of the best ways to protect yourself is understand what type of environment you are in digitally and to understand how your privacy could be invaded. Knowledge of your surroundings is key here. One may not be able to necessarily stop the infringement of privacy on the Internet, but if you can understand how it can be compromised, you can better understand how to protect your self.
Unfortunately a good bit of the world wide web is still unsafe and unprotected. Many agencies and governments have worked together to come up with some type of protocols and rules. This has helped, but the web is still a fairly new place and is constantly evolving. Personal knowledge is one of the biggest ways of protecting yourself. for example, Amazon.com is known to sell your buying habits and other relevant information to third parties who find it valuable. Although they have done this legally and you may feel it is unethical, it is going to continue every time you buy. So can you stop them? No! But, at least you can be aware of what they are doing and decide if you will shop their or not by reading their terms of agreements.
There is other resources available to users to protect themselves on the web. Most community colleges offer computer courses for a reasonable price, if one feels incompetent on the computer and unsure of what they are doing they can always enroll in a course. Another way is to always read website agreement terms and disclaimers. This may seem cumbersome but, it pails in comparison to being secure. I will post this link, which is a good starting place for any person trying to sharpen their skill-set on internet. privacy.https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm
To the readers: if anyone has some useful resource tips available please feel free to share, or post comments and opinions with the others.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Does Google Invade People's Internet Privacy
To begin with, here is a short video that explains that many watchdog groups and foreign governments believe that Google disregards its users' Internet privacy.
In the video, the debate over whether or not Google had infringed upon users' right to privacy on the Internet is becoming a major issue as they continue to gather information on individual users' behavior and viewing patterns. One of the major issues being dealt with is privacy rights and free speech issues. Google had two new products, Buzz and mapping devices, disclose more information than they should about the individual users. It is not just individual organizations and users being alarmed by this issue. The problem has brought government officials from Canada and New Zealand, along with several other countries to Washington, DC, to settle things out.
As users, we are beginning to see that as new technology is introduced, personal privacy on the Internet is becoming a thing of the past. Users' private information is being displayed by Google without their permission. This can even be seen for job applicants in the workplace. For example, business owners are able to go online and get information on applicants that the applicants had previously thought was private. This raises the ethical question of whether or not this type of action is completely ethical when trying to determine the correct person to hire for a job.
Like any major corporation, Google is out to make a profit. As an organization that has the ability to completely protect or invade a person's privacy, they have to make the decision of what they believe is more important. Do they achieve a goal of maximizing profit while infringing upon users' privacy, or do they sacrifice some of their profit in order to protect users' privacy? Many users would argue that Google is simply out to make money. If they had cared about people's privacy, then this issue would not be at the forefront of conversation.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Anti-Spam Laws NOT Enough?
The USA's Federal Anti-Spam Law states exactly this, ""Nothing in this Act shall be construed to have any effect on the lawfulness or unlawfulness, under any other provision of law, of the adoption, implementation, or enforcement by a provider of Internet access service of a policy of declining to transmit, route, relay, handle, or store certain types of electronic mail messages."
By saying this, they are indirectly reliveing therselves from any legal obligations regarding spam. Spam has always been uncsolicited email that we were never interested in, but all at times when you give your email out and they send you to a subscriber list. there are a few ways to take yourself off these lists but sometimes still doesnt work.
When surveys were taken, here is how people responded about spam:
Return Path asked 1,695 consumers "How do you typically act when you no longer want to receive email from a company?"
By saying this, they are indirectly reliveing therselves from any legal obligations regarding spam. Spam has always been uncsolicited email that we were never interested in, but all at times when you give your email out and they send you to a subscriber list. there are a few ways to take yourself off these lists but sometimes still doesnt work.
When surveys were taken, here is how people responded about spam:
Return Path asked 1,695 consumers "How do you typically act when you no longer want to receive email from a company?"
Epsilon surveyed 119 individuals who had used the "report spam" button:
65% equated it with unsubscribing from a sender's emails.
Silverpop asked 400 consumers what they thought spam meant in relation to email:
- 40% said "email I don't want to receive."
- 35% said "email from any commercial entity"
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Net Marketing Towards Children
For years now the internet has been a tool for business, correspondence and government information but has slowly been rolled to the younger generations who have made it the dynamic place it is. The newest group to enter onto the internet is the absolute youngsters kids younger than 13 years of age. I myself have a cousin she is 5 but has been using the internet since the age of 3. My friend who is a
Computer Programmer, he works day and night on computers his daughter is 3, she has an Ipad and knows how to fully function it, to many adults amazement she also downloads apps and updates them or if she comes to a wall she will come ask for help. But this is our future we hear stories about children as young as 11 creating amazing things but also many young children getting kidnapped and as we previously covered many getting sexually assaulted due to their parents negligence or other questionable reasons finding themselves on chat rooms with people of evil intent or interacting with people who conceal their identity to take advantage of children.
The Biggest thing going on right now is the marketing for children, when they see something which a peer is playing with it looks cool enough they want it. Go on any children's website the games are sponsored by food company's toy company's etc. Children are also asked to fill out information on these game website's, but many websites aren't the most reliable or children safe which could be an issue unto its own. But many websites may claim to offer prizes or cash based on the childrens interest in a particular game or food in which the child will be tempted may go to a unknowing parent and acquire information from them which could particularly put the child and his family at risk of identity theft of the child or the parent if the wrong information is given away.
Many websites collect data of visitation and usage, cookies are often placed on the target computer at which children are targeted with the proper toy or message at which many times children will take a parents credit card and purchase things. As it is an ever growing phenomena kids under 13 are finding it cool to be on Facebook and other sites which they arent supposed to be approaching. Congress in 1998 passed the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) which was placed in effect in 2000, this act covers the sites aimed specifically at children and collect their information, but also sites which can make information collected on children public. They have given some guidelines or requirements to children which cater to the under 13 group which have been compiled on a privacy rights website
These are just a few Marketing privacy concerns which specifically deal with children, such as my cousins or nieces and nephews playing games online or even researching for their homework they are being targeted and pried away from their purpose for companies pursuits which deal with marketing and product creation and testing. So people need to pay attention to their children's net usage website visits up until the parents believe the child is mature or safe enough to navigate themselves.
Computer Programmer, he works day and night on computers his daughter is 3, she has an Ipad and knows how to fully function it, to many adults amazement she also downloads apps and updates them or if she comes to a wall she will come ask for help. But this is our future we hear stories about children as young as 11 creating amazing things but also many young children getting kidnapped and as we previously covered many getting sexually assaulted due to their parents negligence or other questionable reasons finding themselves on chat rooms with people of evil intent or interacting with people who conceal their identity to take advantage of children.
The Biggest thing going on right now is the marketing for children, when they see something which a peer is playing with it looks cool enough they want it. Go on any children's website the games are sponsored by food company's toy company's etc. Children are also asked to fill out information on these game website's, but many websites aren't the most reliable or children safe which could be an issue unto its own. But many websites may claim to offer prizes or cash based on the childrens interest in a particular game or food in which the child will be tempted may go to a unknowing parent and acquire information from them which could particularly put the child and his family at risk of identity theft of the child or the parent if the wrong information is given away.
Many websites collect data of visitation and usage, cookies are often placed on the target computer at which children are targeted with the proper toy or message at which many times children will take a parents credit card and purchase things. As it is an ever growing phenomena kids under 13 are finding it cool to be on Facebook and other sites which they arent supposed to be approaching. Congress in 1998 passed the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) which was placed in effect in 2000, this act covers the sites aimed specifically at children and collect their information, but also sites which can make information collected on children public. They have given some guidelines or requirements to children which cater to the under 13 group which have been compiled on a privacy rights website
COPPA requires that web sites and online services directed to children under age 13 must:
- Post a clearly written privacy policy with links to the notice provided on the home page and at each area where the site or online service collects personal information from children.
- Describe the kinds of information collected from children, for example, name, address, e-mail address, hobbies, and age. (Note: This requirement applies to all information, not just “personal information.”)
- Explain how the information is collected – whether directly from the child and/or behind the scenes through ”cookies.” (explained below)
- Explain how the web site operator uses the personal information, such as marketing to the child or notifying contest participants, and whether it is disclosed to third parties.
- Provide parents with contact information – address, phone number, and e-mail address – for all operators collecting or maintaining children’s personal information.
- Obtain parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information about a child.
- Provide parents with the ability to review, correct, and delete information about their children collected by such services.
- Maintain reasonable procedures “to protect the confidentiality, security, and integrity of personal information collected from children.”
These are just a few Marketing privacy concerns which specifically deal with children, such as my cousins or nieces and nephews playing games online or even researching for their homework they are being targeted and pried away from their purpose for companies pursuits which deal with marketing and product creation and testing. So people need to pay attention to their children's net usage website visits up until the parents believe the child is mature or safe enough to navigate themselves.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Thrid Party Sharing, Cookies and Internet Martketing, Oh My!
Hello readers, in this post we are going to talk about the internet marketing, cookies and having your information shared with another party. Most of us would know that the internet has become a useful tool that most of us take advantage of every day. In the mid nineties to present we saw the dot com boom and the exponential growth of the internet. Now more than ever e-commerce has really began to shape the way we buy products, sites such amazon sell us goods at a much lower price by eliminating much of the retail infrastructure. We all really enjoy this, but at the same time it is not a perfect model. Much of your buying habits and information is tracked to: up-sell, cross-sell, and market new products towards you. With your information being shared is it very fair? A thought I would like to add is the possibility of having an option to share information voluntarily. And if shared possibly receive a compensation (i.e. discounts, percentage of information shared, etc...) Feel free to share if you would do so.
How about cookies? Ah yes, we all love cookies, especially chocolate chip! No, not those cookies. Cookies are small file added onto your computer to monitor your spending habits, sites you visit, and other pertinent information relevant to the businesses. They tend to sometimes have a negative connotation, but they are not solely bad. Like anything thing else they can be abused and misused, on the other hand they can be very helpful. One helpful use is that they, help make the website personal to your own tastes and preferences. So how does it pertain to privacy? When a cookie is place on your computer your are free to delete them, but there is never any permission asked when they are place on your computer, once again is that crossing boundaries?
Last I want to talk about Internet marketing. With most the world switching to computers, it is important for businesses to reach the people in way that is beneficial, because most traditional forms are fading. Is Internet marketing turning into to too much spam? I read an article that deals with the ethics of spam and cookies. The article goes into the discussion about what are some ethical issues being crossed via spam and cookies. The writers doesn't so argue one side or the other, but mearly raises deeper questions. How do the readers feel about spam, or pop-ups that will not go away unless the computer is shut down feel free to share.
Works Cited
How about cookies? Ah yes, we all love cookies, especially chocolate chip! No, not those cookies. Cookies are small file added onto your computer to monitor your spending habits, sites you visit, and other pertinent information relevant to the businesses. They tend to sometimes have a negative connotation, but they are not solely bad. Like anything thing else they can be abused and misused, on the other hand they can be very helpful. One helpful use is that they, help make the website personal to your own tastes and preferences. So how does it pertain to privacy? When a cookie is place on your computer your are free to delete them, but there is never any permission asked when they are place on your computer, once again is that crossing boundaries?
Last I want to talk about Internet marketing. With most the world switching to computers, it is important for businesses to reach the people in way that is beneficial, because most traditional forms are fading. Is Internet marketing turning into to too much spam? I read an article that deals with the ethics of spam and cookies. The article goes into the discussion about what are some ethical issues being crossed via spam and cookies. The writers doesn't so argue one side or the other, but mearly raises deeper questions. How do the readers feel about spam, or pop-ups that will not go away unless the computer is shut down feel free to share.
Works Cited
- Palmer, Daniel E. "Pop-Ups, Cookies, And Spam: Toward A Deeper Analysis Of The Ethical Significance Of Internet Marketing Practices." Journal Of Business Ethics 58.1 (2005): 271-280. JSTOR Arts & Sciences VI. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.
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