Social networking sites are used by millions of people in today’s world. With reasons varying from connecting with a few old friends to sharing photos and videos, it is plain to say that social networks are a part of many individual’s lives. Sometimes the usage of social networks areusage of social networks is required for business and other times, it is just for leisure. With various individuals constantly sharing personal information or even photos from a wild party on the Internet, exactly whose hands does all of this end up in? Although many privacy rights exist for individuals on and off of social networking sites, networkers are not well aware that government agencies, police officers, and many decision makers legally have access to their online data.
The Fourth Amendment and the Electronics Communications Privacy Act
The Fourth Amendment
According to the Fourth Amendment, “unreasonable search and seizure is absolutely prohibited” (Sasso, 2013, para. 5). However, if an individual has committed a crime, the government is able to place their hands on all of the individual’s information all through social networks. As a result of this, many networkers information could be gathered without the individual even knowing.
Electronics Communications Privacy Act. In 1986, the existence of social networks were obsolete. This very same year was the year that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) was passed. This law protects the privacy of every individuals’ electronic usage. “Since 1986, technology has stretched and has made an incredible breakthrough. While technology continued to advance over many years, the electronic law has become outdated” (“Modernizing the (ECPA),” n.d., para.3). The ECPA allows the government to gain access and gather massive chunks of information about an individual such as where a person goes, who a person is with, and what a person does. All of this information is collected by cell phone companies such as AT&T and Verizon, search engines such as Google and Yahoo, and the biggest social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. With this being said, the Fourth Amendment and the Electronics Communications Privacy Act are very similar.
Data Collection and Mining
Digital security has become a major concern in today’s world. The United States and British intelligence agencies are officially finding a way around encrypted privacy and security settings offered online to prevent the collection individuals’ information known as data mining (Michael, 2013, para. 1).
The emergence of new and innovative technology can be used in many deceitful or secretive ways by law enforcement agencies to convict a suspect. The Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights has had a large influence in regulating the ways that law enforcement agencies may use technology against the everyday citizen. Technology can be used to obtain information on an individual without the individual being aware of the invasion of their privacy: e-mail accounts can be hacked, IP addresses can be traced, phones can be tapped and tracked, cars can be bugged.
“The standards of what we want to keep private and what we make public are constantly evolving. Over the course of Western history, we’ve developed a desire for more privacy, quite possibly as a status symbol…”(Singer) Technological change leads to new abuses, creating new challenges to security, but society adapts to those challenges. To meet the innate need for privacy, we learn what to reveal and where, and how to keep secret what we don't want to disclose. “Whether Facebook and similar sites are reflecting a change in social norms about privacy or are actually driving that change, that half a billion people are now on Facebook suggests that people believe the benefits of connecting with others, sharing information, networking, self-promoting, flirting, and bragging outweigh breaches of privacy that accompany such behaviours,”(Singer) This is obvious by the continuous and unceasing use of social media platforms, but what needs to be considered is that this information is being provided willingly. “More difficult questions arise when the loss of privacy is not in any sense a choice.”(Singer) When the choice to be anonymous it taken away through social media, the person loses the ability to keep their personal information
Communication surveillance has been a controversial issue in the US since the 1920's, when the Supreme Court deemed unwarranted wiretaps legitimate in the case of Olmstead v United States. Since telephone wires ran over public grounds, and the property of Olmstead was not physically violated, the wiretap was upheld as lawful. However, the Supreme Court overturned this ruling in 1967 in the landmark case of Katz v United States. On the basis of the fourth amendment, the court established that individuals have the right to privacy of communication, and that wiretapping is unconstitutional unless it is authorized by a search warrant. [Bowyer, 142-143] Since then, the right to communication privacy has become accepted as an integral facet of the American deontological code of ethics. The FBI has made an at least perfunctory effort to respect the public's demand for Internet privacy with its new Internet surveillance system, Carnivore. However, the current implementation of Carnivore unnecessarily jeopardizes the privacy of innocent individuals.
In the American constitution the fourth amendment reads as follows; The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. The fourth amendment protects personal privacy and every citizen’s right to be free from unreasonable government intrusion into their homes, businesses, and personal lives. However, when the fourth amendment was written by America’s founders, the world was a very different place with limited technology. The amendment does not specifically cover telephones or computers leaving the issue up to the courts. There have been recent articles about warrantless wiretapping in the name of national security against terrorism.
“Human beings are not meant to lose their anonymity and privacy,” Sarah Chalke. When using the web, web users’ information tend to be easily accessible to government officials or hackers. In Nicholas Carr’s “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty,” Jim Harpers’ “Web Users Get As Much As They Give,” and Lori Andrews “Facebook is Using You” the topic of internet tracking stirred up many mixed views; however, some form of compromise can be reached on this issue, laws that enforces companies to inform the public on what personal information is being taken, creating advisements on social media about how web users can be more cautious to what kind of information they give out online, enabling your privacy settings and programs, eliminating weblining,
“They may identify potential leads with respect to folks who might engage in terrorism, if these folks — if the intelligence community then actually wants to listen to a phone call, they’ve got to go back to a federal judge, just like they would in a criminal investigation.”(Obama’s remarks) President Obama said this in an interview regarding the NSA’s work on surveillance to protect the country while also following the Fourth amendment’s Guidelines. The fourth amendment can be beneficial to the government by allowing them to legally conduct search and seizures. The Fourth Amendment also allows law enforcement to access suspect’s phones and any electronic devices. It also allows law enforcement to access all suspects’ files. Even though, The Fourth Amendment can help Law Enforcement it can also invade privacy. Although some believe the Fourth Amendment promotes invasion of privacy, it is beneficial to the government because it helps protect citizens from illegal search and seizures, allows the IRS to access foreigners, and in some cases American’s emails/phones, and helps law enforcement access suspects’ files.
The government gives each American citizen a set of unalienable rights that protect them from the government’s power. These rights cannot be broken, yet the government violates the Fourth Amendment daily to find ways to spy on the American public under the guise of protecting against terrorism. In 2007 President Obama said the American administration “acts like violating civil liberties is the way to enhance our securities – it is not.” Americans need to understand that their privacy is worth the fight. The people need to tell their neighbors, their congressmen, and their senators that they will not allow their internet privacy to be violated by needless spying. American citizens deserve the rights given to them and need to fight for the right to keep them by changing privacy laws to include Internet privacy.
[5] J.S. Fulda. Data Mining and Privacy. In R. Spinello and H. Trvani, editors, Readings in CyberEthics, pages 413-417. Jones and Barlett, Sudbury MA, 2001.
The 21st century has brought a lot of modern ideas, innovations, and technology. One of these is social media. The invention of Facebook has completely changed the way we communicate with one another. Instant messaging, photo sharing, and joining online groups have created a way for families and friends to connect. Some argue that Facebook is the greatest invention however, while it is seemingly harmless, Facebook has created an invasion of privacy. The accessibility of Facebook and its widespread use has created privacy problems for users, teens, and interviewees by allowing easy control to viewers.
However, government agencies, especially in America, continue to lobby for increased surveillance capabilities, particularly as technologies change and move in the direction of social media. Communications surveillance has extended to Internet and digital communications. law enforcement agencies, like the NSA, have required internet providers and telecommunications companies to monitor users’ traffic. Many of these activities are performed under ambiguous legal basis and remain unknown to the general public, although the media’s recent preoccupation with these surveillance and privacy issues is a setting a trending agenda.
Many people use social networks everyday as a way to share their personal lives with their friends or followers. Many people are culprits of oversharing personal information on social networks. Oversharing is when one reveals an unacceptable amount of information which may or may not be inappropriate. Also what most seem to fail to remember is that whatever is posted online, stays online forever. The main social networks that are victims of oversharing include Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. “Communities are outraged by the personal information posted by young people online and colleges keep track of student activities on and off campus. The posting of personal information by teens and students has consequences” (Barnes 1). While oversharing
The growing popularity of information technologies has significantly altered our world, and in particular, the way people interact. Social networking websites are becoming one of the primary forms of communication used by people of all ages and backgrounds. No doubt, we have seen numerous benefits from the impact of social media communication: We can easily meet and stay in touch with people, promote ourselves, and readily find information. However, these changes prompt us to consider how our moral and political values can be threatened. One common fear among users is that their privacy will be violated on the web. In her book, Privacy in Context, Helen Nissenbaum suggests a framework for understanding privacy concerns online. She focuses particularly on monitoring and tracking, and how four “pivotal transformations” caused by technology can endanger the privacy of our personal information. One website that may pose such a threat is Facebook.
The first aspect being addressed is the problem with social network sites exposing information. Social networking has created an environment where it is nearly a duty to expose oneself. Profiles on these social websites are updated everyday with personal information such as locations, status, and future plans. Anyone can search another’s name and find information about their history, pictures, and activity. With the help of social networking sites...
Social medias have become a big part of our society now, they are being used in all aspects of our life. We are connected twenty-four hours a day, at work, school, home, shopping etc. There is a necessity, a need to be connected to these social media’s, to feel like you are a part of society. With these growing numbers in being connected to social media’s on the web, there comes a growing desire for privacy and safety. In this paper I will discuss and analyze the social media’s themselves, the dangers that arise from them, and how all these correlate to privacy.
Technology has advanced tremendously over the past decade, and appears to be advancing at a rapid pace each and every day. The social media is growing just as rapidly. Social media is an interaction between individuals that want to exchange information, photographs, and ideas in different types of networks. Social media users include people of all ages. These people have various experiences, have different cultures, and have various technical skills. (Brandtzaeg 1008) The social media depend on net-based technologies to generate the network for users to share. Social media includes everything that has to do with the Internet. By using the Internet, users can communicate with people locally and worldwide. People are no longer required to travel across the world to experience another culture. This can be done with social networking. The types of social media today come with many different types of communication such as social blogs, wall-postings, songs, photographs, and podcasts. The communication between users is informational, interactive, and also educational. However, unfortunately, most social networking sites keep track of all the interactions that take place, and this is a concern about Internet privacy for Facebook, Twitter, Google, and other social media users. Not only do they keep track of all interactions by the users, they also own all the content, including pictures that the users upload. The social network keeps this information on the user, even if the user deactivates their account with that particular site. Most users do not have any idea that the operator of the networking service keeps this information, and has access to all pictures and tags. By not having adequate security...