Internet and Privacy

By: Shabana Aqil   
 
BLUE BELL,PA--Media industries are using internet privacy as their opportunity to bring advertising money into their businesses. According to Joseph Turow, in our society we have become so interactive that it has become a major problem. We have the ability to access information like e-mails, Facebook, Twitter and our bank accounts on our portable devices. Having our information so readily available allows employers and the government access to personal information, gain more knowledge of who we are and learn more than we would like them to know.
 
     The concern about privacy became recognized in the 1970’s when companies like Experian, Equifax, Acxiom and Choice point began to sell personal information, allowing marketers to use their universal database to pursue potential customers. When the World Wide Web was put into mass use in the 1990’s, marketers immediately used the internet to their advantage, accelerating privacy concerns to a feverish pace. Marketers were now able to instantly access personally identifiable information to acquire names, postal addresses and other details that helped them find a specific person and target that person’s most personal desires.
 
     Joseph Turow states, “If there is no registered information available, marketers can display ads that peaks an individual’s interest.”  Through the information provided, this marketing tactic is then linked to internet cookie data. This data enables marketers to get personally identifiable information.
 
     As student media creators, we should have the right to know who has access our personally identifiable information and whether we want that or any information out for the public to use.
 
     Privacy advocates say that there are two ways to monitor your personal information. The first way is known as the opt-out approach.  By selecting this option, marketers are permitted to collect personal information from consumers as long as they inform them of what they are doing and give them the opportunity to refuse. Another way to keep your information safe is known as the opt-in approach.  By using this option, marketers cannot have the ability or right to collect information about you unless you explicitly indicate that it is all right for them to do so.
 
     We have the right to have privacy.  Don’t let anyone know more than they have the right to know.