Synthesis Essay On Online Privacy

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Recommended: Government regulating the internet

"The NSA is currently tracking the online activity of many individuals in the US. Most citizens view this largely unchecked monitoring as an intrusion into their privacy, a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution. While it is important to monitor online content, this should be done by the people instead of the government. The federal, state and local governments should look to existing online communities as examples: when an individual discovers inappropriate content, he or she has a duty to report it. The authorities then investigate the content and punish the parties involved according to the severity of the infraction. However, there should be exceptions to online privacy rules, such as for citizens who had previously committed crimes. The citizen’s duty to report inappropriate content and call for an investigation would provide necessary checks and balances to the federal government when it comes to individuals’ …show more content…

While it is true that some individuals may think that reporting the content is not worth their time, there are enough visitors to any given site that the chances of enough users reporting to make a positive impact are high. Over time, reporting negative or out-of-place internet content would become a part of normal online behavior. Another potential critique of this system would be the issue of illegally obtained content. This content would have to be reported to be removed, and therefore at least one person would have seen the information. Therefore, it is essential to create a new government agency whose goal is to track hacking and illegally obtained information. While working with the NSA, which would be responsible for signaling hacked content, this new agency should be free of other influence from the NSA or other branches of government, thus maintaining the privacy of

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