When a person is browsing on the Internet, that person may not realize how their privacy is being affected. One moment, a person will be looking at computers on Amazon, and the next second, he/she will discover an advertisement for a computer being sold on Amazon while browsing his/her Facebook feed. This is the act of their web privacy settings being taken advantage of through the use of personal information gathered from third-party sources on the web. Web privacy is being assaulted in the most popular spots on the network. First and foremost, social media sites including, but not limited to, Facebook and Twitter are Internet websites where privacy is most affected. When a person registers for Facebook, he/she may not be aware of how their
…show more content…
An IP address, or internet protocol address, identifies a person online by where they are in the world and more specifically, acts as that individual’s online identity (IP Address). However, these advertisements that companies show only reflect what a person has left traces of online. Examples of traces include, but are not limited to “forum registration, e-mails and attachments, uploading videos or digital images and any other form of transmission of information” (Digital Footprint). If they keep their online profile pretty shallow, than their privacy shouldn’t be affected as much as other users of the Internet. A person could do this in various ways. Examples include not completing the info in the settings of social media websites including Facebook and Twitter (Techlicious). Also, refrain from using your social security number anywhere on the web. Yet another step that can be taken to protect privacy is to use Two-Factor Authentication. “Two-factor authentication is a security process in which the user provides two means of identification, one of which is typically a physical token, such as a card, and the other of which is typically something memorized, such as a security code” (Rouse).
In conclusion, a user’s privacy is very low when it comes to browsing the web. Social media stores and lends out personal data, and the businesses and corporations that the data is transmitted to utilizes it to their advantage. The advantages are marketing strategies like targeted advertisements, or in the case of the government agencies, a log of individual online activities and identities. Websites like Facebook and Google should give a user to opt-in to tracking if they wish, rather than having a user opt-out of data
An IP address, or internet protocol address, identifies a person online by where they are in the world and more specifically, acts as that individual’s online identity (IP Address). However, these advertisements that companies show only reflect what a person has left traces of online. Examples of traces include, but are not limited to “forum registration, e-mails and attachments, uploading videos or digital images and any other form of transmission of information” (Digital Footprint). If they keep their online profile pretty shallow, than their privacy shouldn’t be affected as much as other users of the Internet. A person could do this in various ways. Examples include not completing the info in the settings of social media websites including Facebook and Twitter (Techlicious). Also, refrain from using your social security number anywhere on the web. Yet another step that can be taken to protect privacy is to use Two-Factor Authentication. “Two-factor authentication is a security process in which the user provides two means of identification, one of which is typically a physical token, such as a card, and the other of which is typically something memorized, such as a security code” (Rouse).
In conclusion, a user’s privacy is very low when it comes to browsing the web. Social media stores and lends out personal data, and the businesses and corporations that the data is transmitted to utilizes it to their advantage. The advantages are marketing strategies like targeted advertisements, or in the case of the government agencies, a log of individual online activities and identities. Websites like Facebook and Google should give a user to opt-in to tracking if they wish, rather than having a user opt-out of data