Fall

08

Assignment 2 Michelle Angu

Law and Ethics LEG 500

Summer 2012 July 30, 2012

Strayer University

Introduction Privacy, a term that is reluctant in todays modernized society whos meaning is far from realistic. As the world congruently fosters a new way of living, through technology our lives as we know as our own is far from it. This paper will discuss the use of technology to research ones private information, the advantages and disadvantages of the public access of such information and the laws that promulgate such data. Due to the innovation and use of technology today, private information of an individual is easier to locate than in prior years. The use of technology daily has enabled neighbors, employers, law officials, investigators and any person whom inquires private information of another person. One use of technology that allows access to ones private information is through a computer program called database. Database is a computer program that organizes data and or information in digital format for research and storing purposes for either public or private use. Search engines such as Google, Bing and Ebscohost are frequently used databases that may be accessed by any persons; information generated from theses search engines is disclosed to the public with out individuals consent. Private institutions such as the government, universities, and hospitals have database capabilities where only certain persons are privy to its access. Information in theses private database may include various information such as birth date, genetic information, credit scores and other data that are more private. Other technologies utilized to research private information on a person is the use of surveillance devices. Devices such as cameras, microphones, computers, and more are used to monitor a person or a group. Surveillance devices are commonly operated in public areas, home, school and the work environment. In these facilities an individual is responsible of observing the private activities of a person such as their movement use of telephonic and network devices with out formal consent. The World Wide Web gives the public access to ones personal and private

information through social networks and email. Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace were utilized to connect students with one another, and promote up and coming musicians; these social media entities have evolved to networks for all persons to connect. Social networking has enabled people to do many things such as meet people that share similar interest, the reuniting of lost love ones, and keeping family and friends up to date with their ongoing lives. With the superb things social networks provide, it causes a detriment to ones privacy. For those users who utilize social networks to keep family, friends and acquaintance up to date with their personal life through blogging, video blogging, status updates, and or frequent posting of pictures one may can easily attempt to allocate personal information of someone. Vital information maybe obtained through electronic mail, email. Email works as the catalyst to all of our endeavors on the World Wide Web; from accessing our bank information online, school registration, shopping, to our social networks, ones email circulates the web. With ones email circulating from one website to another, so is an individuals personal information. With such technology utilized to gain information on a person the advantages and disadvantages varies by party; for the person being investigated and the person doing the investigation. The party being investigated is oblivious to what is being searched about them and to what degree of information is being presented. The investigated party is represented as a detriment; the person under investigation is ultimately unaware of what personal information and individual may access about them. Such technologies provides disclosed information about a persons past that they may not want to share such as medical history, credit report, previous names, date of birth, current location and etc. to the public. Oppose to the person being investigated, the investigator manipulates the benefits of such technology for the same reason a person would not appreciate personal data disclosed to the public, the investigator is able to

research data of an individual. Whether for personal, business or out of curiosity, the investigator is privy to locate information the individual may not be willing to share. The benefit of locating intimate data of a person through technology may sound marvelous, it can be complicated. In this era of innovation towards technology, one may find that information sought through certain technologies such as a database and the World Wide Web may not be current or adequate to their needs. Such reasonings as developed software may disable an investigator from collection specific data that satisfies their needs, as well as the epidemic of identity theft that will lead an investigator to false information of a person. Several orders that enables and protects an individuals private information from being disclosed is declared under The United States Constitution; The Fourth Amendment requires judicial authorization prior to the searching and seizing and individuals belongings, having probable cause. The Fifth Amendment protects an individual from responding to a question that will hinder, or incriminate them selves. The Ninth Amendment protects any persons from being restricted to certain rights by the government. According to Mount, The U.S. Constitution is designed to protect its citizens from both internal and external strife however it reluctantly protects its citizens private well being, such doctrines as the Privacy Act of 1974 and The Electronic Communications Privacy Act 1986 (ECPA) enables the public to private information to a certain degree (Mount, 2010). The Privacy Act of 1974 attempts to protect unauthorized access of personnel federal records by other parties such as the disclosure of ones social security number (Federal Trade Commission, 2010). According to the Federal Trade Commission, a citizen is authorized to obtain and review information retained by the federal government, and if necessary may request to revise data obtained (Federal Trade Commission, 2012). The act solely protects federal government data of a citizen, thus all other personal information such as credit

report; education history, medical history and more are not protected under this doctrine. The Electronic Communications Privacy act of 1986 attempts to protect non-governmental information from being disclosed haphazardly, the act protects other parties from retaining access of an individual without legal consent including emails and telephone conversations (U.S. Department of Justice, 2012). Although the ECPA protects data from being disclosed, the doctrine does enable other parties to legally scrutinize personal data. In sum, all personal information of an individual can be sought to a belittling degree. If a party wants to seek more information than what a person is willing to provide, they may legally request such information through the government. The doctrines that proclaim to protect citizens personnel data, seldom protect them. The doctrines seem to guide various ways for other parties to locate information on an individual more than protect information from being disclosed. As technology vastly evolves, society promotes digital living where hardcopy data of our lives is continuously transformed into digital form, thus providing public access to ones life and deteriorating our privacy.

References
U.S. Department of Justice. (2012, March 21). Privacy & Civil Liberties: Federal Statutes. Retrieved July 27, 2012, from Justice of Information Sharing: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs: http://www.it.ojp.gov/default.aspx? area=privacy&page=1285 United Stated Department of Justice. (2003, September 26). The Privacy Act of 1974. Retrieved July 27, 2012, from http://www.justice.gov/opcl/privstat.htm Federal Trade Commission. (2010, November 03). Privacy Act of 1974, as amended . Retrieved July 28, 2012, from Federal Trade Commission: http://www.ftc.gov/foia/privacy_act.shtm Federal Trade Commission. (2012, June 14). Statutes Enforced or Administered by the Commission. Retrieved July 28, 2012, from Federal Trade Commission: http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/stats.shtm Mount, S. (2010, April). US Constitution Explained. Retrieved July 27, 2012, from The U.S. Constitution: http://www.usconstitution.net/constquick.html Privacy & Civil Liberties. (2012, March 02). (D. f. Liberties, Producer) Retrieved July 27, 2012, from Justice of information sharing: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs: http://www.it.ojp.gov/default.aspx?area=privacy&page=1285