Fact The Protection Of Personal Internet Privacy example essay topic

The Privacy of the individual is the most important right. It supports human dignity and other values such as freedom of association and freedom of speech. It has become one of the most important human rights of the modern age. Privacy is recognized around the world in various regions and cultures.

Almost every country in the world includes a right of privacy in its constitution. Without privacy, the democratic system that we know would not exist. According to the Australian Privacy Charter "A free and democratic society requires respect for the autonomy of individuals, and limits on the power of both state and private organizations to intrude on that autonomy. The government we have today maintains and organizes our society.

The elements of control are often viewed as violations of privacy. These elements are meant to protect us from irresponsible people and from hurting themselves. The laws that are in place still give privacy without invading personal lives or maybe they do invade in our lives? For some people violating into their personal life doesn't mean anything but for other people it's a huge problem". Privacy is only violated when people feel they are being violated" "If people feel comfortable in their environment then privacy is not a worry " Privacy in the workplace is also becoming a problem.

In American, more and more employers are monitoring their workers at job. In fact, according to the American Management Association, nearly tree quarters of U.S. companies now electronically monitor employees in several ways. Your employer can monitor your Internet usage, what sites you visit, how often, and for how long, as with e-mail. Telephone can also be a threat. If you are on the phone at work, your boss can listen in; your voice mail is also subject to monitoring. Employers own the phone system, so they can generally monitor it as they see well.

Your boss can keep a record of the numbers you dial and how long you talk, and can listen to your voice mail messages, although there are some laws preventing companies from listening to employees personal calls. Furthermore Privacy can be divided into the following separate but related concepts: First of all we have the information Privacy or Data protection, which involves the establishment of rules governing the collection and handling of personal data such as credit information, and medical and government records. The second one is the Bodily privacy, which concerns the protection of people's physical selves against invasive procedures such as genetic tests, drug testing and cavity searches. The third one is the Territorial privacy, which concerns the setting of limits on invasion into the domestic and other environments such as the workplace or public space.

This includes searches, video observation and ID checks. Last of all is the Privacy of communications, which covers the security and privacy of mail, telephones, e-mail and other forms of communication Technologies of Privacy With the recent development of commercially available technology-based systems, privacy protection has also moved into the hands of individual users. Users of the Internet and of some physical applications can employ a range of programs and systems that provide varying degrees of privacy and security of communications. These include encryption, anonymous re mailers, proxy servers and digital cash. Users should be aware that not all tools effectively protect privacy. Some are poorly designed while others may be designed to facilitate law enforcement access.

Surely there are many ways to protect your privacy on for individual, and there are also many kinds of software to use to protect your privacy, but in fact the protection of personal internet privacy, most of the effort should come from government and law, because the violation of personal privacy is a social problem. What I believe in general, is that we are watched by a camera all day long. Luckily in Cyprus the problem isn't so big as in America but we are reaching it day by day. When we enter a store we are watched by cameras, the same when we are eating in a restaurant, entering the supermarket, in our office, in the streets, even in our car. What else can I say about the Internet? It is impossible for Net users to expect privacy online, because online privacy doesn't exist.

So it would be fair to say that at present, not enough is being done to protect personal privacy on the Net. To even start to think about improving privacy, a realistic approach must be taken. Protective action must start with the ISP, where it should there guarantee about 50% privacy protection at least. Then the Government should step in to guarantee a further percentage of privacy protection, by using its role of power in the country. Finally the individual must be sensible in what he / she does to assure no privacy is invaded, and that their personal details are not publicly displayed on the Net. By the time it has come to be the individual users responsibility, the lack of safety should be reduced and general security must be increased".

The government is not "invading" our privacy in effort to control the nation; it is an effort to promote our own safety. The private sector isn't gathering information on us to control our minds, but to provide our own needs " This is what American government saying to its people. Some of them believe that, but most of them don't. I am sure that this was their first aim but since they didn't manage to complete it, people now don't have privacy except from their house. Government must find another way of "Protecting us". There must be some other ways of protecting us instead of putting everywhere a recording machine..