Unethical Nature of the Internet
Unethical Nature of the Internet – Private Information
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Unethical Nature of the Internet – Private Information
The internet has been widely embraced in the society today, as it has become an indispensable tool of managing communications, interactivity, and connectivity. The discovery of the internet has completely altered the way people live and work specifically in terms of entertainment, shopping and communication. The internet makes it possible for people to live inexpensively by making it possible for them to access news and information (Merkow & Breithaupt, 2002). However, with only a small amount of carelessness, individuals could misappropriate their private information and thereby compromising their security and privacy. This paper analyses the ethical aspects that have been brought about by the internet. First, there is an introduction to the concepts of privacy and ethics. Second, there is a discussion on the ethical issues that surround the internet in the form of privacy in areas of e-commerce, internet search engines, and social networking. Finally, measure to resolve the ethical issues are highlighted for use by the government, internet users and professionals.
Ethical issues on the internet
Ethical actions are those practices that may be termed as acceptable by the general public. One behavior that is regarded as ethical is that of ensuring that the privacy of others is observed (Carroll, 2006). Privacy is the right of doing own things without interference. With the rapid growth of the internet, the gathering, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of personal information has become more inexpensive and efficient. There have been issues that have been raised in regard to the accessibility, and manipulation of private information. If an individual’s private information in uncontrolled in terms of usage, circulation and release, then their privacy has been compromised. The public generally dislikes all actions that would lead to the misappropriation of information of private information. The presence of such possibilities on the internet raises the concerns of internet users with regard to the safety of their private information while they are online. During online shopping, using search engines and logging into social networking websites, private information may be leaked unknowingly.
E-Commerce Websites
In an attempt to offer more personalized services e-commerce websites have increasingly included more personalized features. This has served to create more steadfast relationships with customers. It has also increased online sales significantly on a per-customer basis. Survey data indicates a tendency of individuals to appreciate personalization. On the other hand, it has raised privacy concerns, which range from discomfort especially about search engines offering information about their most frequent purchases to concerns about who may get access to this information, with more specific fears of identity thieves, co-workers and government (Merkow & Breithaupt, 2002). Users are also required to offer their personal data at a website if they need to get personalized services. This raises concerns about the information. Sometimes users may turn down such offers on the basis of their privacy. There are various forms of personalization in e-commerce that are regarded a threat to the privacy of individuals.
Implicit and explicit data collection
Implicit data collection refers to that data, which is inferred based on the user’s habits on the internet (Merkow & Breithaupt, 2002). It is collected based on the queries placed by a user on the internet, browsing history and purchase history and may be used to offer further information to the user.
Explicit data collection, on the other hand, is based on the information that is obtained directly from the user (Merkow & Breithaupt, 2002). The user provides information about his demographics, ratings and preferences. Recommender personalization involves the user by requiring them to rate certain items in the order in which they interest them. Other sites require users to customize their pages according to their personal preferences.
Duration
Session or task focused personalization – This method places adverts on sites that relate to them. Adverts may also be provided based on previous actions. If a user buys items that relate to tennis, more items in the tennis category are presented.
Profile-based personalization – Some personalization systems create user profiles and continually add information that is provided either explicitly or inferentially every time the user visits the website (Merkow & Breithaupt, 2002). Cookies or login details may be used to access the website and to recognize returning users.
User involvement
User initiated-some websites require visitors to select customizations in the form of weather forecasts for their region, stock tickers, or news of interest. Users may also provide information about page layout that best suits them or the bandwidth constraints and require that their web pages are accordingly optimized.
System initiated-Every user has their content customized according to the information they provide either explicitly or inferentially. Users may be allowed to opt out of such customizations (Riedl, 2001).
Reliance on predictions
Prediction based – User’s inferred or explicit ratings may be used by the websites to generate interest based on the profiles of other users. Once the system discovers users with similar profiles, such information may be used to offer recommendation to both users interchangeably (Riedl, 2001). While not all recommendations end up as sales, they make the user get the feeling of being understood.
Content based – If a user expresses interest in one item or makes a request, they may get further recommendations based on such requests (Scassa, 2014). The request is used as a basis for determining other related likes so that the retailer attempts to satisfy them.
Privacy Risks
Some sites use a variety of these methods to maximize user experience. A good example of such sites is Amazon. There are various ways that e-commerce poses risk to user privacy (Carroll, 2006).
First, there is unsolicited marketing on the internet. While unsolicited market may be one of the less severe risks on the internet, it is still among one of the most mentioned risks on the internet (Fritsch, 2013). The risk therefore amounts to a sufficient concern for users who do not want unwarranted marketing. It has even led to the decision by some users not to engage in e-commerce. Users are also concerned that the information provided by them during purchases may be used to make targeted communication or may be made to other companies to make use of on targeted marketing campaigns. Furthermore, users fear that as a company gets access to more of their private information, it may get more interested in advertising to them.
Individuals are also uncomfortable about the automated nature of customization on the internet. Sometimes as websites try to figure out the needs of their users, they figure out needs that are completely uninformed (Levmore & Nussbaum, 2010). In some cases, individuals are not comfortable with the possibility of the information of such advertisements getting into the wrong hands and drawing wrong conclusions. Regardless of whether the company makes such wrong inferences, some people are simply uncomfortable with the possibility of being ‘watched’.
Secondly, price discrimination is another problem that arises from information given online. While there are possibilities that both the company and the consumer benefit from price discrimination, the response of consumers to price discrimination is more often negative (Jakubiak, 2010). Consumers are often concerned about both the aspect of being treated differently from other people and that of being charged more highly. Price discrimination also involves the diversion of more private information.
Thirdly, there is risk that user information is accessed by other users on the same computer (Riedl, 2001). Once a computer user accesses a website using login details, the computer is able to keep the private information in the form of cookies such that other users may be use the computer to access the website unheeded.
There is also the risk of the information in the phone being used against them in a court of law. Internet records are increasingly being used as evidence in a wide variety of cases. In cases where the character of the user is questionable, the information in user profiles, the content of their posts and their purchases may be used against them.
Information Privacy in Social Networking
Social networking is another great invention that is associated with the internet. Social networking sites allow individuals to create personal profiles and share such information publicly (Levmore & Nussbaum, 2010). While considering putting such information online, the user must consider the level of privacy that the user is diverging. If the individual fails to utilize the privacy settings when posting such information, their privacy is compromised. In such cases, any internet user is able to access their information without restrictions. The user is however able to use the privacy settings to limit the number of people who have access to every part of their profiles.
The real concern starts when individuals allow strangers or people who would not be trusted with their private information to access it (Levmore & Nussbaum, 2010). If there is no proper control of private information, there may be unethical attempts to use it. The risks may include blackmailing, price discrimination, embarrassment, physical stalking, and identity theft (Solove, 2007).
As noted above, one of the risks associated with social networking is stalking. A social networking profile contains information about the home location as well as the location of individual posts (Jakubiak, 2010). Users may also opt to share their location and hence expose themselves to burglary, robbery or even harassment. The possibilities that such information may be used to the advantage of criminals makes social media an ethical issue.
Information Privacy in Search Engines
Social networking sites are required to provide users with links to websites that contain information that is relevant to them. The topics vary with the interests of the user in regard to what information they need (Jakubiak, 2010). Search engines also make it possible for one to access private information that is placed on any platform online. People however are uninformed that their private information is contained on the database. Even in situations where the user is aware of such information being available on the database, their privacy is compromised when their information is obtained for unethical reasons.
The use of search engines further gets complicated as it even makes available some information whose privacy is limited. Such information includes membership of certain groups on social media even in cases where membership is limited (Levmore & Nussbaum, 2010). If the user was unwilling to share that information, then their information is compromised. Furthermore, such information may be used against them in different scenarios.
Measures to counter the ethical implications on the internet
As shown above, the internet has many ethical implications. While it may be used to do activities that are valuable to individuals and to the society at large, it also comes with a variety of challenges in information privacy (Levmore & Nussbaum, 2010). There are three major parties that must get involved in the process of controlling the problem of information privacy on the internet.
First, the government should create legislations intended for the management of various aspects of the internet. Governments should create legislations that limit the manner in which private information may be obtained and shared without their permission (Levmore & Nussbaum, 2010). Legislations will also aid to mend the damage done by carelessness at personal levels. If a global privacy policy is generated (probably with the assistance of the UN) the public will stand better protected from information privacy issues.
Self-protection by users
Users cannot rely solely on government legislations to deal with the issue of information privacy. It is also important that users participate in the process of self-protection by taking a variety of measures:
- Private information should only be provided consciously to websites. Users should explore the purpose for which their information is required on a website and whether such information will be shared with other entities.
- It is important that users use privacy settings to limit the accessibility of their private information. Furthermore, users should limit the information shared on these websites to limit their vulnerability on the internet.
- Apply complex and varied passwords to protect personal information on websites on the internet. This will limit access of personal profile information and associated elements. It will also limit the number of profiles a hacker is able to hack.
- Enhance security measures by using firewalls and browsers to limit accessibility of privacy information.
Professionals
Professionals can also aid in minimizing the impact of information privacy on the internet. They should minimize the amount of information provided as well as the ways in which they use the personal information so obtained (Jakubiak, 2010). They should ensure that they do not get into the middle of privacy conflicts, as this is capable of limiting the deliverability and even removal from their job positions for being either unethical or controversial.
Professionals should also practice various measures to ensure that user information is secured:
- Enable collection of specific information that is important for them
- Ensure that information is updated by users every once in a while to eliminate to ensure that the information in their possession is accurate
- Ensure proper communication about the use of the collected information and then only ensure that information is only used for the intended intentions.
In conclusion, the internet is an important tool in our everyday lives. It should, therefore, be managed and controlled to ensure that it will be in use for a long time. The information presented by internet users should also be managed to ensure that user data is always fully secured. The internet has become a threat to information privacy. This has become an ethical issue in that some private information may be misappropriated. Various platforms pose a risk to privacy on the internet. These include e-commerce, search engines and social media. To resolve the issue, various parties should be involved. The government should create regulations to govern the internet and the way the information is collected and shared online. Individuals should increase their awareness of internet risks so as to avoid them. Finally, professionals should promote ethical practice to avoid conflict with their employers, the law and the public.
References
Carroll, J. (2006). Privacy. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Fritsch, L. (2013). The Clean Privacy Ecosystem of the Future Internet. Future Internet, 5(1), 34-45. doi:10.3390/fi5010034
Jakubiak, D. (2010). A smart kid’s guide to Internet privacy. New York, NY: PowerKids Press.
Levmore, S., & Nussbaum, M. (2010). The offensive Internet. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Merkow, M., & Breithaupt, J. (2002). The E-Privacy imperative. New York: AMACOM.
Nazario, J., & Kristoff, J. (2012). Internet Infrastructure Security. IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, 10(4), 24-25. doi:10.1109/msp.2012.99
Riedl, J. (2001). Personalization and privacy. IEEE Internet Comput., 5(6), 29-31. doi:10.1109/4236.968828
Scassa, T. (2014). Privacy and Open Government. Future Internet, 6(2), 397-413. doi:10.3390/fi6020397
Solove, D. (2007). The future of reputation. New Haven: Yale University Press.
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