Internet Privacy

This week we're reading about Internet Privacy---quite frankly, I think this is quite the oxymoron. By its very definition, the Internet (a world wide network of computers) is not the place to be if you want privacy.
When I first discovered the Internet, I was afraid of it and what it could do. I didn't want my personal info out there for everyone to see or have access to in case someone wanted to steal my identity. But over time I got used to the scope of the world wide web, and while I'm still a little leery of it, I am much more comfortable using it, and try to keep my information as private as possible. I recently realized that the e-portfolio I did in my first semester of this program is posted on the Internet and if you Google my name, my address, phone number, and every job I've had for the past 15 yrs is there for all to see so I need to access the remote server where it's stored so I can remove it. That has been much easier said than done.

I would tell a colleague who believed the Internet is unsafe that even though the Internet is open, there are safeguards one can use to make sure that information stays secure. Students can still do research safely on the web by making sure that the sites they use for reference are legitimate, and just knowing that they shouldn't ever give out their personal information. On social networking sites, making sure their settings are set to "Private". Students have to be taught about Internet safety in order to take advantage of all the great information that's available on the world wide web---why limit them to only what's in books? And of course, there is such a thing as TOO MUCH INFORMATION (and I don't mean the kind you regret giving to strangers in the elevator)! Watch out for links that seem innocent but aren't.

I've read some of the articles on Julian Assange and watched the 60 Minutes interview he gave but I really don't know enough about what he did, or what his purpose is for continuing to do it, to say whether or not he deserves a Nobel Prize. What I DO know is that there are times when the PEOPLE have a right to know what our government is doing. That's not to say that I want people endangered by revealing certain documents or information, but simply that our government (and others) tend to believe the ends justifies the means and that's not always accurate. I think Assange truly believes he's providing a service to the people of this world simply because we have the right to know what our leaders are doing.