Digital Privacy

DIGITAL PRIVACY

Since technology has been advancing over the past few years, the issue of digital privacy has become increasingly important. First of all, a lot of people think that there is no such thing as digital privacy, and that there shouldn't be, and that the government should always be able to check anyone's computer or other device. Some people could disagree with this assertion and argue that everyone has the right to privacy on digital gadgets. They might also contend that the government shouldn't have unlimited access to digital devices. Americans who care about their digital liberties should also be challenging the government's ability to access their gadgets. The issue of digital privacy still exists today and should be resolved constitutionally, according to several cases.

                                 

The Fourth Amendment, which guarantees citizens' protection against arbitrary search and seizure, incorporates privacy rights. However, the Patriot Act, which was established in the wake of 9/11, permits the FBI to obtain credit, banking, and communications records devoid of a court order. Furthermore, when U.S. private and public corporations accede to improper government surveillance requests, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 2008 shields them from customer lawsuits. Acts of this nature have resulted in legislation that either protect or do not protect citizens' privacy on their own digital devices.

As information and data published on social media have continued to become more and more valuable commodities, interest in digital privacy has grown. Social media users are now seen as unpaid "digital labourers," as one pays for "free" e-services by sacrificing their privacy. For instance, between 2005 and 2011, the levels of transparency for various profile elements on Facebook changed, indicating that people's need for privacy increased with time. But over the course of seven years, Facebook made a profit of $100 billion by gathering and selling user data to outside advertisers.

                              

  

 

The more information a user exposes on social media, the more privacy is compromised. Each piece of data and information that is shared is linked to groups of related data. The user's words and expression are no longer exclusive to them or their social circle as they continue to share them and they are matched with the appropriate cluster when they do so. This can be considered a result of connecting social capital. Data becomes linked as users link in new and varied ways on social networks. Until bundling emerges, privacy is being reduced.

A lawsuit over a breach of online privacy may be filed under certain laws. For instance, a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of all Facebook users in 2007 forced Facebook to shut down its "Beacon" advertising system, and in a related complaint filed in 2010, users again accused Facebook of disclosing personal user data to advertisers through their gaming application. Laws are based on the agreement of the public and presuppose that the public is already capable of determining what is in their own best interests. People have therefore been concentrating on self-management of digital privacy through informed and logical decision-making for the past few years.