Internet Privacy and its Importance

The internet has become part of our daily lives. The internet has improved the way people live and facilitate the daily activities that people do. Some of the internet provides services include social networking, emails, twitter, facebook and many other social media platforms. the use of social media has helped in many ways including the improvement of the information systems, creating awareness, creating a platform for socializing with others, advertisement and business promotions (Chamberlain). Many people majorly the youths enjoy the use of internet especially the social media platform. With the freedom that existed initially in the internet usage, some people began to misuse the internet by posting information the infringe the rights of other people and as a result of that, the government came up with some regulations to control the use of internet including the access of one's personal accounts. Equally some big corporation were also allowed to access the personal account of some individuals. The action that was taken by the government has really imposed a huge threat to the privacy of internet The issue of internet privacy has become a matter of concern over recent years, and it is becoming a matter of international dispute. People are becoming more concerned with the manner in which their daily live details are being searched, monitored and recorded. The users of the internet are becoming worried about the privacy breach threat that they are exposed to while online (R.). Some of the greatest internet privacy threats come from the government agents and from the construction of e-commerce that is structured on the trade of intimate personal information. There are some technologies that are coming into place to control the issue of internet privacy. These are privacy-enhancing technologies that are capable of limiting or eliminating the personally identifiable information. As a result of this growing issue my thesis and solution to this states that specific laws should be imposed and regulated to make it illegal for the big corporations and the government to have access to peoples personal accounts, because of the effect it can have on the people's future when you want to apply for any job or other personal necessities. In my opinion, I support my thesis statement for this research paper. The government and corporation's access to personal accounts greatly affects the privacy of internet users. Most of the information that is circulated through the internet is personal and deserve privacy and inaccessibility by others. I think that when the government views some of the information that is shared online they interfere with one's personal life. Internet usage like Facebook and emails are so personal and specific, and any information shared through this platform really deserve to reach the intended recipient without any interference. There are social media platforms that are also used by different organizations to pass confidential information to various stakeholders accessing such information government may leak very confidential information to the competitors thus affecting the operations of the business. I, therefore, I support my thesis because the regulations will help in protecting the rights of internet users. The issue of internet privacy has attracted the attention of various internet stakeholders and some authors across the globe. Some authors have written about technological development, how the use of internet came into existence and how it developed over time until it reaches a point that requires protection. Some authors have also discussed the laws that have been put in place to regulate the use of internet usage and to protect the privacy of internet users. Loius Mendand , An American Critic, claims that the laws that are being made should incorporate technological innovations in order to protect the internet user's personal information. Menand uses some references to build on the argument that people are inconsistent about the kind of exposure that they will tolerate. Mendand reinforces his argument by providing his readers with different kind of real-life court cases that have involved the invasion of privacy. Mendand uses books on this topic to support his argument that laws have to adapt to technological innovations and changes with the aim of protecting the internet user's personal information. I believe that Menand's views and my views correlate. This is because he describes the importance of making new regulations and keeping them up to date in line with the emerging issues that relating to internet privacy. Mendand uses the example of court cases and situations where the government has been accused of invading the internet privacy of its citizens thus making me his argument stronger and useful in satisfaction of my thesis (Mendand). Joanne Deschenaux, a senior legal editor, elaborates on the different laws that have been passed in countries like Mexico which prevent employers from accessing the social media accounts of job applicants. He also talks about the laws that had been adopted in places like California and Maryland in which protect its people from the invasion of their privacy. Relating to my argument Ducheneaux's article also supports my thesis because it provides examples of laws that have been put in place in certain states to protect the employees against the invasion of their personal accounts by some employees as well protection of their right to privacy. Deschenauxs' use of the laws that have already passed strengthens the usefulness of the issue on internet privacy and its usefulness towards my thesis. (Deschenaux) Another author by the name of Eadicicco Lisa talks about the controversial report firm Cambridge Analytica on the US presidential elections where the firm obtained data from over 50 million accounts from social network platforms, Eadicicco wonders how people could trust the people they knew so little about, talking about Facebook. Even though Eudicicco claims does not fully support my thesis, it supports the part of my thesis in which it states that it is wrong for big corporations to have access to people's personal accounts, therefore violating their privacy. In her own words, Eadicicco states no single obvious answer for preventing future data abuse, but one lesson evident. Facebook needs to need to be more transparent with its users when their data is being exploited, and users themselves should be much more vigilant about the personal details they are willing to share I side with Eadicicco's idea that we should have the right to know whether the sites we are using is sharing and wrongfully using our personal information. However, I disagree with her part argument stating that we should limit what we share on the internet because that should not matter so long as our personal details are protected and have no worries about their security. Another writer by the name of Cooper Robert provides a very substantial argument in respect to the issue of employers respecting the privacy of their employees' social media accounts (Cooper). He provides two courts cases that are relevant to his argument. One case is where the employer is in the wrong while the other the employee is in the wrong. Cooper's first court case (Piertrylo v. Hillstone Restaurant Group) where the employer is fully at fault because the employer threatened the employee, and the employee felt she'd get in trouble if she did not provide the employer with access to the account, therefore, supporting my thesis statement that employers should have no access to the employees' social media accounts. In the second court case, the employee was not at fault. Therefore, not supporting my thesis. The government would prefer to access people's personal account on the simple fact that it would help the government access any possible threat that might be discussed between the individuals and thus preventing activities like a terrorist attack. An opposing argument would support the government's view because they might feel that some people misuse the privacy in the internet platform to organize activities that might affect other people in the long run. On the other hand, I strongly oppose the argument because I feel that everyone should have the right to privacy and nobody should get access to people's personal information. Big corporations might also like to have access to the personal accounts of their employees with a claim that, by accessing such accounts they are able to know workers who have an ill motive about the organization or the employees who may be planning activities like a strike and act before it is too late. An opposing argument can agree with this view because they might feel that through these accounts' employees can discuss things that might impact the organization negatively. As a person who would not agree with the view previously presented, I don't support that argument because I feel that employees too have the right to privacy, just as the employer does and any threat against their right to privacy is unjust and negligent to the employee's freedom. In conclusion, I fully support my thesis that we should impose and regulate specific laws that make it illegal for big corporations and the government to have access to peoples personal account, because of the effect it can have on peoples' future when wanting to apply for any job or other personal necessities because everyone should have right to privacy. When one's privacy right is breached either by the government or a big corporation, it may affect somebody's personal life because the people will have no freedom of sharing among themselves having in mind that somebody is viewing anything and everything they share.

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