The Value of Digital Privacy in Information



The Value of Digital Privacy in Information

List and describe at least three (3) technologies that allow an individual to research citizen's private data.

Intelius.com is a technology that helps people find family members, friends, classmates, military buddies and almost anyone living in the United States. It sells background information to anyone or anybody regardless of who you are. DateCheck is a site hosted by Intelius which stores reports including names, addresses, birth dates, court records, and cell phone numbers. People can access personal records by name, social security number or phone number through Intelius.

A person can buy an “app” for a small amount of money. Apps are games, quizzes and sharing services. These “apps” are gathering volumes of personal information. Information shared is emails, current locations, sexual preferences of “app” users and their friends. Yahoo and Skype seek information of photos and birthdays of its users and friends. Although Facebook is a free service, users provide a lot of personal information such as details about their lives, friendships, interests and activities. Facebook then takes that information to attract advertisers, app makers and other business opportunities.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of public access to this information, both for the researchers and those who are being “investigated”.

The advantages are the speed and accessibility to information using the websites. It is more convenient to pay your bills online, shop online or request information online. Citizens do not have to stand in line to pay bills or drive to shop for products. This can be done sitting in front of a computer. Web chats are available with representatives online to speak with regarding your questions. Digital information can move instantly from one person to another. Processing and retrieving data does not have to be held up because ...