Every morning when I wake up before class I turn on my computer. Amongst the many programs that load when the computer is turned on, Ad-Aware and Spybot are two programs that run. I never really realized what these two programs did, my sister had me install them on my computer. But I now have an understanding of what these programs do. An analogy of these programs is when I wake up every morning, I make sure that all my credit cards are my license and everything else is in my wallet. These programs make sure that before I connect to the Internet, my computer is safe. Safe from people who want to see what I am up to on the Internet. By why do other people care what I do on the Internet, I mean my life isn't that exciting. But maybe if I was putting out personal information, like credit card numbers, then people would be interested.
Merriam Webster's dictionary gives many definitions of the word privacy, but the one I like best is: freedom from unauthorized intrusion (Merriam Webster, http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=privacy). Wikipedia defines privacy as: the ability of an individual or group to keep their lives and personal affairs out of public view (Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Privacy&oldid=107743357). So what does this really mean? I like to think of privacy as your own business; something where the only people who know are the people you tell. So if I were to tell my friend a private story, s/he would not tell anybody else, and therefore nobody else would know about it.
So now that we have established some form of what privacy is, lets talk about Internet Privacy. Internet Privacy is basically having privacy on the Internet, the outside world shouldn't know what I am doing on the web. But we all know that there are people who intrude our privacy, especially over the Internet. So why did only 7 percent of people say that they changed their behavior on the web to secure their privacy in a study done by The Ponemon Institute (MSNBC, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/)? I know that I don't want anybody, whether it be Internet hackers, businesses, or even the government, to be able to see what I am doing over the Internet, and I believe I have the right to feel that way. For that reason, I do take precautions in what I do on the Internet. Its like constantly looking over my shoulder when I type in a URL. I don't enjoy doing it, but I do it regardless. In the MSNBC article, Bob Sullivan writes, "the 21st century equivalent of being caught naked", and I surely would not feel comfortable with that (MSNBC, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/).
This happened in a particular case to my mom. She was a victim of stolen identity, through a violation of her privacy and Internet privacy. My mom had purchased a pair of shoes off of a shoe company's website, she got the shoes in fine condition, but that was the only good part of the story. Because once the bill for her credit card had arrived days later, apparently she had bought more then just those shoes. My parents were surprised to see that they had been billed for thousands of dollars, for items like a new TV and stereo system. The confusion was that if they had purchased theses items, why were they in somebody else's house and not ours. Well actually, it ended up that we didn't really buy these items, somebody else did... with a credit card that was not theirs. But how did they get information to a credit card that wasn't theirs? Well lets see what else was on that bill... those pairs of shoes!
So what did my parents do in this case of stolen credit information? Well first they called the credit card company. After several minutes on hold, they finally got to the point and had their bill corrected. Next, they canceled their plan with this company. Next they shredded the card. And lastly, they stopped purchasing goods online. And looking ahead, they will not buy anything online again, and now use more caution when online or using a credit card.
So let this be a warning for all of you who use their credit cards online! BE CAREFUL SHOPPING ONLINE!. You may feel comfortable at your home computer, but you don't know who is out there, "behind the scenes" on the Internet, looking at what you are doing!
Citations
1. Merriam Webster On-line Search, http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?sourceid=Mozilla-search&va=privacy. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary copyright © 2005 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
2. Privacy. (2007, February 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:49, February 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Privacy&oldid=107743357
3. Sullivan, Bob. MSNBC, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/. © 2007 MSNBC Interactive.
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