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Internet Privacy

Student’s name

Course Name

Institutional Affiliation

Date of Submission
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Internet Privacy

Introduction/ Problem Statement

“The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow." This

quote by Bill Gates shows the increasing reliability and dependence of the internet. With the rise

of the internet age, users all over the world are increasingly relying on the web to conduct their

everyday business. Statistics from credible data sources show that about 68% of the world

population uses that internet to perform their daily activities such as transactions, shopping,

socializing, and other ventures such as online trading (Yang et al., 2017). Figure 1 shows the

global statistics of internet usage among different countries.

Fig 1: source-Internet World Statistics retrieved from www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

These statistics show that about 4,574, 150,134 people in the world have access to the

internet in the year 2020. The legislature is trying to consider questions regarding how best the

internet interests of citizens can be protected. Still, it is crucial to remember how far-reaching

and rapid the impact of the internet is in this digital age. According to former US president Bill

Clinton, when he became president, there were only 50 websites (Yang et al., 2017). However,
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there were over 350 million websites when he left office eight years later. In only 12 years, the

number of sites, together with the number of users, had increased exponentially.

Currently, the internet continues to drive the most significant stocks in the financial

market, shapes technological innovations, provides the platform for worldwide communication,

fosters advancements in healthcare, and makes entertainment and information more accessible

for billions of people around the globe (Losavio et al., 2018). However, the biggest challenge

occurs when there is little or no privacy on the internet. Most of the people using the internet are

required to enter their personal or private information without a guarantee that the data is

securely protected against theft and fraud by hackers or other people looking to conduct criminal

activities over the internet.

Private information of users is exposed online, making it easy for people to lose their

hard-earned money and their identity to fraudsters (Losavio et al., 2018). Most internet users

share data online without thinking twice about it. They provide their personal information to

companies while buying products, signing up for a site, and downloading an app, among others.

Unfortunately, the websites that users access often fail to protect their information, thus exposing

valuable information. This exposure often results in a violation of privacy laws, which in turn

leads to massive losses and diminished public trust.

Background Information

Fig 2: Source-Technews retrieved from http://thetechnews.com/2016/03/22/internet-of-things-

security-issues-and-solutions/

Privacy is a fundamental human right that underpins human respect and dignity as well as

other values such as freedom of speech and freedom of association. Privacy has become one of

the most vital human rights in the current world, which is recognized around the globe in diverse

cultures and regions (Poudel, 2016). In the US, privacy is protected under the International

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Declaration of Human Rights, and many other

regional and international human rights agreements.

At the least, these provisions include the secrecy of communication and home

inviolability. However, with the rise of the internet age, these rights are often ignored, thus

exposing internet users to a myriad of abuse online and infringement of personal privacy (Lin et

al., 2018). Just recently, an article from the New York Times reported that a popular video

conferencing platform called Zoom was mining relevant user data during conversations. The

article claimed that when an individual signed up for a meeting, the site would transmit their data

to a system that matched the data to the user's LinkedIn profile. When such data is leaked, it
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becomes easy for hackers and other criminals to use it for malicious activities at the detriment of

the users.

In 2010, a series titled ‘What They Know’ by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published

over a dozen articles about online data gathering. What the series found was rather unsettling.

According to WSJ, online data gathering is among the most robust and fastest-growing ventures

in the US. Its growth and pervasiveness are astounding (Poudel, 2016). The article states that that

"the nation's 50 top websites on average installed 64 pieces of tracking technology onto the

computers of visitors, usually with no warning" (Yang et al., 2017). The tracking technology

called cookies consists of tiny files that are downloaded onto a user's browser and can track

subsequent sites that the user visited. Although users may willingly disclose information to use

the visited websites, they often are unaware that most of the sites allow third parties to install

cookies on their computers as well. Cookies expose a significant paradox about the internet. It is

this practice of mining personal data without adequate oversight and controls inadvertently

subjects all users to the unwanted sharing of personal information, thus devaluing the traditional

and fundamental notion of privacy.

Fig 3: Pic by Alex Perekalin retrieved from https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/privacy-ten-tips-

2018/23022/

Popular organizations like Google make money by selling space for an advertisement

based on the user profiles or allowing third parties to install cookies on the users' browsers. Some

services, such as Google maps, are very costly to maintain and develop, yet these services are

offered for free (Lin et al., 2018). Without the revenue generated from advertising using user

tracking services, Google and other companies would need to charge a fee, or they would fall flat

on their tummies. As such, popular internet companies are exposing their users' information to

their advantage without thinking of the long term impacts that this has on customers. In the past,

criminals and other internet hackers have used user information to conduct illegal activities

(Poudel, 2016). Some of the activities include hacking passwords and usernames, stealing

people’s money and opening bank accounts and credit cards in the users' names, ruining credit,

requesting new PINS and making illegal purchases, obtaining cash advances, abusing people's

Social Security Numbers, and selling people's information to other parties who may use them for

illegal purposes (Yang et al., 2017).

Current Solutions

Apple v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County's decision in February 2020 highlighted

the need for the privacy law to be amended and updated from the traditional system to an online

world. This move would reflect the new e-commerce business frameworks that enhance

innovation while at the same time providing access to services and content for free (Yang et al.,

2017). Lawmakers are now striving to determine the best way to establish a balance between

innovative and robust internet and one that protects privacy and retains customer trust. Although

this may not be an easy task, it is an essential one if the world has to maintain the rights to
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privacy as required by the constitution (Poudel, 2016). Journalists, legal scholars, and other

stakeholders are drawing the attention of policymakers to how new business and technology

measures are posing threats to people's privacy and taking advantage of the consumers' lack of

knowledge about how their data is collected.

Currently, companies are using different methods to protect their users’ information on

the internet (Poudel, 2016). First, most companies are using HTTPS. This technique encrypts the

connection between the user's connection and the website using either SSL or TLS protocols.

Previously, this technique was used for sensitive information, such as bank information or

account logins. However, HTTPS has become easier to use, and Google is even rewarding sites

that use technology (Lin et al., 2018). This advancement has resulted in wide adoption of the

technique.

Another technique that companies are using to protect their users' privacy is the Virtual

Private Network (VPN). This technology creates a secure connection between the device and the

destination, whether it is a website, another computer, or a network storage device (Lin et al.,

2018). It allows users to have a private network similar to the one inside the office while using

public networks such as the internet. While HTTPS is only applicable to some specific websites

on computers configured to use it, VPN covers the entirety of a user's internet traffic, including

IoT devices, mobile devices, and any internet traffic such as conference calls (Lin et al., 2018).

Other techniques that companies use include the use of Tor and changing ISPs.

Recommendations

Although companies go above and beyond to protect their users' information, one cannot

always be sure about whether or not a specific website is adequately designed to protect private

information. As such, users should also take personal measures to ensure their protection (Kumar
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et al., 2016). They can do this by limiting the amount of information that they provide online and

only providing necessary information. They can also browse incognito or using the private mode

so that their data is not made public. Users can also use different search engines and avoid using

a single one at all times. This method helps to reduce tracking for advertisement purposes(Kumar

et al., 2016). Another measure users can take is by being careful about their clicks. Hackers often

compromise online privacy through phishing attempts. They trick users into providing valuable

information by sending fake emails that are from credits providers and other financial institutions

(Kumar et al., 2016). Users should avoid clicking any pop-ups or sites that they do not need.

References

Kumar, S. A., Vealey, T., & Srivastava, H. (2016, January). Security in the internet of things:

Challenges, solutions, and future directions. In 2016 49th Hawaii International

Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) (pp. 5772-5781). IEEE.

Lin, C., He, D., Kumar, N., Choo, K. K. R., Vinel, A., & Huang, X. (2018). Security and privacy

for the internet of drones: Challenges and solutions. IEEE Communications

Magazine, 56(1), 64-69.
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Losavio, M. M., Chow, K. P., Koltay, A., & James, J. (2018). The Internet of Things and the

Smart City: Legal challenges with digital forensics, privacy, and security. Security and

privacy, 1(3), e23.

Poudel, S. (2016). Internet of Things: underlying technologies, interoperability, and threats to

privacy and security. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 31(2), 997-1022.

Yang, Y., Wu, L., Yin, G., Li, L., & Zhao, H. (2017). A survey on security and privacy issues in

Internet-of-Things. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 4(5), 1250-1258.