Right to Privacy

It used to be the only way you could invade someone's privacy was by doing this. Things are a little easier today. I remember when I was young people would joke that if you said “bomb” and “president” on the same phone call, the NSA, FBI, CIA, or whatever other government organization would immediately be listening in on your phone call. Thanks to the 2001 Patriot Act, this might actually be a reality. Except, instead of suddenly tuning in to your conversation, the NSA has simply “borrowed” your conversations from your cell phone company and has machines meticulously search for any hint of a threat, often without a warrant. And the federal government’s powers are only getting stronger.

The Homeland Security Act practically extended the Patriot act to the Internet, allowing officials to “track and locate users who pose an intimate threat to national security interests” (LaRose 443) and who may inflict harm upon government computers. More importantly, it protected companies from being sued for giving their user databases to the government, significantly hindering the ability of those being monitored to stop it. Furthermore, the FBI can use Carnivore, a system that monitor file downloads, chat rooms, and e-mail for illegal activity, though the G-Men actually need a court order before they do that.

Businesses are using new technology to amass information about people too. For example, cookies that websites leave on your web browser can track transactions and personal preferences and then match your personal information across different websites. This doesn’t implicitly affect your privacy, at first. But as time goes on, companies sell their databases to other companies, meaning your information gets into more and more hands (LaRose 441). According to Garfinkel, even if some online companies do have privacy policies, they don't necessarily follow them.

And now, if Big Businesses and Big Brother isn’t watching, your little brother is. With so many social networking sites around, it’s easy for friends, family, employers, stalkers, nemeses or whoever can access the personal information that people put on the Internet. Your boss can find video of you drinking last weekend online, your girlfriend can find pictures of you dancing with that girl at Yianni’s (this one, not this one).

And the problem is, even if users set their page to “super double secret privacy,” the Internet is still public domain, if that information is found, it’s still usable. Ad agencies are even getting wise to this, as we can see from when Virgin Mobile pulled a girl’s picture off of Flickr, taking advantage of Flickr’s Creative Commons policy, and put the girl on a billboard. And, while we’re on the subject, since the Internet is public domain, companies are putting text trackers on their computers, so everything you e-mail and type can be seen by someone in HR. Thought that video you watched on YouTube called “Bro Rape” was funny and harmless? You might not when someone comes asking you why you’re searching for something involving “rape” on line.

Is this stuff legal, scary, obliterating our right to privacy? Unfortunately, the answer to all three are “yes.”