Blog 4 COM 305

Online Privacy:

One important thing to keep in mind about online privacy is that it is NOT a right given to you. Anyone is able to view information they want to see if they are good enough at using the technology, or willing to pay for someone else to get it to you via internet. This is a scary thought when you think about everything we do online. Think of all the personal information put on social networking pages such as Faecbook and MySpace, banking, business, and so much more. When sites such as Facebook say that they have “Privacy Settings” so that those besides yourself and friends can’t see your information, it is very easy to go around that. One of friends from high-school was able to somehow hack into peoples’ Facebook pages and view their information and even acquire their passwords. If someone in high-school fooling around can do it, imagine what a hacker who is beyond high-school is able to do.
A key thing to look at when deciding whether or not to trust a sites privacy settings to see whether it begins with “HTTP” or “HTTPS”. HTTPS has much more security, and is primarily used for banking, business, ect. Most of not all social media, however, are simply http, and therefore very easy to hack. This shows, as said in class, that you should have a variety of different passwords that you use for banking and for pleasure. This will make life much easier for you in case someone is trying to hack into your information.
The main question is should there be more privacy and security on the web? Answer= you are as private as you choose to be. NOONE is forcing you to put pictures or information on your facebook. It is something that you have chosen to put on a medium that is accessible to anyone. And there is nothing wrong with that except for the fact that most people don’t realize it. Although the internet may feel like a little neighborhood of your friends, it isnt. There is a reason of why it is called the WORLD WIDE WEB. As long as you take simple precautions, the internet can be a safe and enjoyable place – It truly is a remarkable source of information and to talk to your friends, but you must know that there are dangers that you must abide by and prepare for.