Running Head: ONLINE PRIVACY

People of the US May Not Have Online Privacy

Carlos Barajas

ENG 102

Professor Kardell

February 11, 2019

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People of the US May Not Have Online Privacy

“The Land of the Free” is what the United States is constantly referred to. This is because

its citizens are protected by the US Constitution, which means that they can act, dress, and speak

in any form they want if it’s within boundary of the laws. However, that may not be the case

when its citizens are supposed to be protected by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution,

which is the right to privacy. The people of the United States may not have privacy while

browsing the internet because of the issues involving online trackers and identity theft, but there

are many ways to combat it and not becoming victim to their ploys.

People on the internet may not be well informed about the monitoring system

organizations have. Websites can have a monitoring tool, like a data broker, to collect

information about you. A data broker is a business that can collect various forms of information

such as names, addresses, income, and even where you go on the Internet (Naylor, 2016) One

famously known and trusted search engine, Google, will collect data to create a personalized user

experience (Internet Privacy Issues: Tracking, Hacking, Trading). This is negative because Jeff

Chester, a privacy advocate and director of the Center for Digital Democracy, states that

“because there are no online privacy laws in the United States, there’s no stop sign” (Naylor,

2016) In other words, there is no limit on how much and personal a data broker can collect on a

person. With the information collected, the data broker can sell it to advertisers (Identity Theft

Statistics: Online Shopping & Cyber-Intrusion). There are also other organizations that monitor

for public safety means, and that would be the United States government. The specific

governmental organization that deals with online activity is the National Security Agency
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(NSA). During President Bush’s presidential term, he signed a bill that allowed United State

intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on its citizens without a warrant (Tran, 2007). They also were

involved in another controversy were Edward Snowden, an NSA whistleblower, revealed to the

world that the US had planted monitoring devices in two EU embassies and had gained access to

their internal computer networks (Malkin, 2013). This reveals to us that the US has the power

and resources access personal data, even of allies. People on the internet must be cautious with

their activities on the internet or not the information collected can be used against them.

In addition to collecting data, there are people who collect personal data for illegal means

and the effects can be negative. According to Tony Bradley’s survey, about 52% have revealed

that they aren’t informed on methods to secure connected devices and apps (2018). This can lead

them to be more vulnerable while browsing unsecured websites. Alison G. Johansen states that

identity theft affects millions of Americans every year, and this occurs when a fraudster steals

your personal information. One of the methods for stealing personal information is by tricking

the person to downloading malicious software, which can reveal your personally identifiable

information (PII). The PII can reveal a driver’s license and back account numbers, with any

sensitive information, it can be used to distinguish your identity (Johansen). With this

information, they can get access to your bank account, emails, and many more. If the online

community is taught about the risks, they can be cautious of what they post and make sure that

the website is safe to use. After acquiring such sensitive data, the identity thieves can negatively

alter someone’s life. Again, but stated by Fiona Marcus, there are “many criminals out there that

seek to exploit our life by accessing out data for their own, illegal means” (2019). These online

thieves can do what they want, and it will be under someone else’s name and possibly bank

account. For example, they can out employment forms and even file for tax refund, which will
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all in the victim’s name (Johansen). These types of harmful actions may lead to financial distress

and a ruined reputation. The identity thieves are possibly attempting to acquire items they may

not be able to afford or altering lives negatively for fun.

However, there are methods to prevent identity theft or invasion of privacy. It was found

that people are clearly dissatisfied with the limits of internet privacy, but they feel uninspired to

do anything to prevent it (Byer 2018). Having this attitude makes one more vulnerable and they

are more likely to neglect their safety while browsing on the internet. When on a website, the

first thing to do is to look at the site information. There one will be able to regulate notifications,

camera and microphone use, location, and many other things. Another method to stay protected

is to deny access to activity trackers and by reading policies carefully (Internet Privacy Issues:

Tracking, Hacking, Trading). This prevents the site from seeing what one searches or adds to the

cart, and by reading the policies, one can see if the website is collecting data for means that

disagreeable. One effective method for protecting your personal information from online thieves

is to use a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN allows one to connect to the internet through

another server, making it difficult for online attackers to obtain personal data (Marcus, 2019).

Additionally, online thieves will not know where your location and what browser you’re

currently using. There are many more ways to stay protected while online and keeping your

personal information private.

Internet users may not have the same type of privacy that people have in the real world

and are more likely to fall victim. There are various of websites that can monitor and create

profiles of people. They can either use it for improving their websites or sell information to

advertisers. Others do it for illegal means and can negatively impact someone’s life. However,

there are many methods like changing a temporary password or deactivating the auto fill option.
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Knowing that there are many options to stay safe and passing that information may prevent lives

from being victims to their ploys. There also may be new laws being established in the future

that add more privacy, so the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution is true to its name. We are

seeing signs of this when California passed a law last year, which takes effect in January 2020,

consumers will have the right to know what personal information companies are collecting and

why, and to direct companies to delete their information and not to sell it (Guynn, 2018).
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References

Bradley, T. (2018). Top 5 Concerns to Focus On For Data Privacy Day. Forbes. Retrieved

January 24, 2019 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybradley/2018/01/27/top-5-

concerns-to-focus-on-for-data-privacy-day/#747ebaec4f3c

Byer, B. (2018). Internet Users Worry About Online Privacy but Feel Powerless to Do Much

About It. Entrepreneur. Retrieved January 24, 2019 from

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/314524

Guynn, J. (2018). California passes nation’s toughest online privacy law. USA Today. Retrieved

January 24, 2019 from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2018/06/28/california-

lawmakers-pass-tough-new-online-privacy-rules-could-model-other-states/743397002/

Johansen, A. G. (n.d.). Online Identity Theft: What It Is and How It Happens. Life Lock.

Retrieved January 24, 2019 from https://www.lifelock.com/learn-identity-theft-resources-

online-identity-theft-what-it-is-how-it-happens.html

Malkin, B. & Reuters. (2013). NSA surveillance: US ‘bugged EU offices.’ The Telegraph.

Retrieved January 24, 2019 from

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/10150905/NSA-surveillance-

US-bugged-EU-offices.html

Marcus, F. (2019). 13 tips to protect internet privacy. Secure Thoughts. Retrieved January 24,

2019 from https://securethoughts.com/11-tips-to-protect-internet-privacy/

Mineo, L. (2017). On internet privacy, be very afraid. Harvard Law Today. Retrieved January

24, 2019 from https://today.law.harvard.edu/internet-privacy-afraid/

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Naylor, B. (2016). Firms Are Buying, Sharing Your Online Info. What Can You Do About It?

National Public Radio. Retrieved January 24, 2019 from

https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/07/11/485571291/firms-are-buying-

sharing-your-online-info-what-can-you-do-about-it

Tran, M (2007). Bush signs controversial surveillance bill. The Guardian. Retrieved January 24,

2019 from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/06/usa.marktran1

(n.d.) Identity Theft Statistics: Online Shopping & Cyber-Intrusion. Sileo. Retrieved January 24,

2019 from https://sileo.com/identity-theft-statistics-online-shopping-cyber-intrusion/

(n.d.) Internet Privacy Issues: Tracking, Hacking, Trading. Secure Swiss Data. Retrieved January

24, 2019 from https://secureswissdata.com/internet-privacy-issues/