The widespread adoption of the internet has created a society where personal data is always being collected. Credit and debit cards have offered new flexibility for making payments, and have also been great demonstrators that personal data is not safe online in today's world. People generally believe that the protection of their personal data is important, yet they share anything from their birthday to current location on social networking sites. This site explores the different facets of online privacy, and why people choose to disclose what they do online.
The definition of privacy can be simplified to a person's freedom from intrusion into their private life. This definition can be described as an umbrella term, covering, in general, many different types of privacy. However, the internet has created a large difference between privacy online and offline. Researchers like Beldad, de Jong, and Steehoulder, (2011) have identified two types of privacy that specifically relate online. "Interception privacy" refers to a persons ability to communicate free from surveillance or monitoring by others. "Information privacy" is an individual's ability to selectively disclose information.
Online privacy is one of the biggest issues in using the internet today. You can do almost anything online including social networking sites, shopping, banking, paying bills to name a few. With all the freedom we have on the internet the more privacy becomes an issue for the user. Self disclosure can be described as the amount of personal information a user provides, without the user providing this information the audience wouldn't have known otherwise. (Houghton, Joison, 2012).
The definition of privacy can be simplified to a person's freedom from intrusion into their private life. This definition can be described as an umbrella term, covering, in general, many different types of privacy. However, the internet has created a large difference between privacy online and offline. Researchers like Beldad, de Jong, and Steehoulder, (2011) have identified two types of privacy that specifically relate online. "Interception privacy" refers to a persons ability to communicate free from surveillance or monitoring by others. "Information privacy" is an individual's ability to selectively disclose information.
Online privacy is one of the biggest issues in using the internet today. You can do almost anything online including social networking sites, shopping, banking, paying bills to name a few. With all the freedom we have on the internet the more privacy becomes an issue for the user. Self disclosure can be described as the amount of personal information a user provides, without the user providing this information the audience wouldn't have known otherwise. (Houghton, Joison, 2012).
Research has shown that people who use the internet have feelings that the privacy of their information is important. However, the same research has found that the people who hold these beliefs often to not act according to them online. When looking for factors that influence the sharing of personal information, trust has shown to have the most influence. Because people hold the conviction that privacy is important whether they disclose personal information or not, researchers have determined that the trust levels of a website are actually what determine what is shared.
In this video, people are clearly embarrassed that their pictures are being shared on national television. However, they were all posted on public Facebook profiles. This is a good demonstration showing people posting sensitive information on websites with high trust levels. |
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Social networking sites have a lot of room for a single user to self-disclose. The social networking sites provide room for the user to disclose any amount of information they would like from phone numbers to addresses. If the user isn't careful with how much they disclose the information could become available to someone not intended. Users needs to be aware that the information they share may become available to someone they didn't want it to. Many sites come with privacy setting the user can explore on their own and customize to their liking.
Children's privacy online is a popular topic in today's society. Many studies have been conducted to find out how safe children's websites really are. Findings from many studies have shown that the best way parent's can keep their children safe online is to warn them about the dangers on the internet as well as the need for websites to have warnings that their personal information could be jeopardized. Children's privacy online first became a concern when child pornography became popular. Laws and regulations were quickly put in place and parents finally felt like children were more safe online. Myspace and Facebook came along and quickly put the fear back into families all over the world. Today, Myspace and Facebook have better age and privacy policies to keep children's privacy safe online, but many other websites still compromise the safety of children.
Children's privacy online is a popular topic in today's society. Many studies have been conducted to find out how safe children's websites really are. Findings from many studies have shown that the best way parent's can keep their children safe online is to warn them about the dangers on the internet as well as the need for websites to have warnings that their personal information could be jeopardized. Children's privacy online first became a concern when child pornography became popular. Laws and regulations were quickly put in place and parents finally felt like children were more safe online. Myspace and Facebook came along and quickly put the fear back into families all over the world. Today, Myspace and Facebook have better age and privacy policies to keep children's privacy safe online, but many other websites still compromise the safety of children.