Nowadays Internet is part of our everyday life. We use it every day without reflecting on how much it is changing our way of living. On the Internet we buy things with our credit cards, we keep in touch with friends through emails, we write blogs exchanging personal opinions and feelings with other people, we upload photos,… In short, every time we use the Internet we put a little part of us online! Indeed, our personal information is always required, for example when we want to create an email account or have access to a particular website.
I’ve always wondered where my personal data are stored and who can have access to them. I don’t really know what happens to them! They could be stolen and used by someone else with bad intentions. That’s why I usually try not to register on websites that seem to be unreliable. But sometimes it’s impossible to avoid the registration.
I don’t think people should avoid using the Internet because they’re afraid that their personal information can be spread without their consent. Internet is a very useful tool and everybody should have the possibility to take advantage of all the service it offers! I mean, why should I avoid using a social network like Facebook that, for example, allows me to stay in contact with friends who are abroad? Just because I don’t know what happens to the information I put on it? I believe these kinds of website have the duty to respect the privacy of users, who should have control over their personal data and for example be asked if they want to allow other people to have access to their information (as suggested on the article about Facebook and Privacy Rights).
There should be some more specific rules concerning personal data online. In the meanwhile, we can protect every little part of us we put online by attributing authorship to our writings, photos or videos and pay attention to the amount of personal data we share online by considering if it’s really necessary to make them public.
Ilaria
I’ve always wondered where my personal data are stored and who can have access to them. I don’t really know what happens to them! They could be stolen and used by someone else with bad intentions. That’s why I usually try not to register on websites that seem to be unreliable. But sometimes it’s impossible to avoid the registration.
I don’t think people should avoid using the Internet because they’re afraid that their personal information can be spread without their consent. Internet is a very useful tool and everybody should have the possibility to take advantage of all the service it offers! I mean, why should I avoid using a social network like Facebook that, for example, allows me to stay in contact with friends who are abroad? Just because I don’t know what happens to the information I put on it? I believe these kinds of website have the duty to respect the privacy of users, who should have control over their personal data and for example be asked if they want to allow other people to have access to their information (as suggested on the article about Facebook and Privacy Rights).
There should be some more specific rules concerning personal data online. In the meanwhile, we can protect every little part of us we put online by attributing authorship to our writings, photos or videos and pay attention to the amount of personal data we share online by considering if it’s really necessary to make them public.
Ilaria
Hello Ilaria!
RispondiEliminaI think we have more or less the same opinion on this subject and on Facebook in particular! I must admit that I was stricken by the NY Times’ article we read. Indeed, I always felt this kind of problems as very far from me and so I never though carefully about them.
Reading your post I think that:
• I’d avoid the repetition of the pronoun “we” in the first paragraph, I’d use it just once at the beginning.
• “to take advantage of all the services it offers” with "services" in the plural.
• I’m not sure that “these kinds of website” is right. Searching with Google I found a lot of entries where the plural form of the noun was used: “these kinds of websites”.
Bye!
Chiara
Dear Ilaria,
RispondiEliminait seems you are not so worried about softwares like Facebook. This is probably because you have a good command over these kind of tools. You made a comment on my blogpost and you said that one should be able to protect their personal data like cell number or whatever, but that was not what I was referring to. By personal information I meant confidential information. Does Facebook have the option to protect your confidential info? Because some time ago someone told it doesn't...
bye!