technoculture314-09

Privacy in the digital age; is this even possible in today’s technological circumstances? The potential loss of our privacy is one that concerns many citizens. When thinking about privacy in the digital world, we think about our ability to control who has access to our social networking profiles, emails, online banking, to purchasing goods online. There is a level of trust that we has citizens have to give. Thinking back to when online banking first began, it was a simple username and password system. When I was on the Bank of America website the other day to transfer some funds, it first asked me for my username, then said because the site was not familiar with the computer I was using (because I was at my friends house using her computer at the time), it asked me two security questions, then it brought me to this ‘site key’ page where I then re-verified my password. This is similar with Bank of New Zealand. When you set up your online banking, they give you a ‘netguard’ card where there is a grid with letters and numbers. Once you are on the Bank of New Zealand website, they ask you for your access number and to verify some of the numbers on that grid. The process can definitely make you feel impatient, but at the end of the day, I feel safer and a sense of security; especially when it concerns my money. But when looking at social networks and YouTube, invasion of privacy has become a global concern. With phone camera’s, people are able to record anything and then upload it to a website. This raises the question of, who is actually watching us?

Sun MicroSystems CEO Scott McNealy simply quoted, ‘privacy is dead, deal with it’ (MSNBC). It adds that, ‘poll after poll confirms that the American public relishes its privacy. The potential loss of privacy ranks as a major concern among an overwhelming majority of the citizenry’ (MSNBC). In this article, it was interesting to read about these ‘bonus’ cards that these grocery stores are issuing discounts for customers. To apply for this, you must provide your name, telephone number, and address. But what the customers fail to realize is that every time they swipe their ‘bonus’ cards. The database will collect all the information of the shopper’s life determined by what they purchase, and the store will have the rights to that information. This is also makes consumers more aware that when they think they are getting a good deal, they are actually exposing their identity.

References:

Meeks, B.N. (2000). ‘Is Privacy Possible in the digital Age’? MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3078854/