The End of Privacy

Daniel Trejo English 1301 Threatening Privacy Nowadays is hard or practically impossible for someone to keep something secret that you just do not want people to know because it is something personal. Anybody can access most or almost all of your information by simply searching it on the internet. It may not be something important to a lot of people because they do not really think deep about it but it is something that people should be concern about. Is it really “The End of Privacy? ”? Or is there something we can do about it and stop the spread of our private information.

Due to more people having technology like cell phone cameras, audio recorders, and other recording technologies it is easier for them to record private details about themselves. These people may later regret about doing such thing because what they recorded may end up on the internet for the whole world to see. Like what happened to the “Star Wars Kid,” who “videotaped himself waving around a golf-ball retriever while pretending it was a light stabber” (385). Insignificant things like this can destroy your reputation even your entire life.

People suggest that if you find yourself in a situation like this there is pretty much nothing you can do about it. It would be better if people just would not record themselves doing such things to avoid the same thing happening to you. Social-networking sites and blogs also threat our privacy with people not even knowing that these web sites keep and spread their private information with others. Daniel J. Solove calls the people growing up today “Generation Google,” because all of their personal and private information will reside on the internet forever (386).

Nowadays most people have their own web sites such as Facebook and Twitter making it easier for others to see and know more about your personal information. Web sites like these spread your personal information with other web sites without people even knowing it, thinking that their personal information is secure and only people they want may see it. I agree with what Solve thinks because anything that you post on the internet will stay there forever, having this in mind people should be very careful with what they post and do on the internet. On the other hand there is also the government that compromises privacy.

For example, the National Security Agency “listens and examines the records of millions of telephone conversations every year” (386). There are also other government entities that keep records of personal information like births, marriages, employment, property ownership and more. These things are accessible to anyone by one simple search. Some would argue that the government has no right to do this, that they are violating personal information. You cannot even call someone and have a “private conversation” with them because you have these people listening to your conversation, which I find a little bit creepy.

Is there something we can do to prevent future spread of personal information? Some technologists and scholars say no. As Scott McNealy once said, “You already have zero privacy. Get over it” (387). Some suggest that nowadays it is practically impossible for someone to “start over,” reinvent their lives because everything is stored on the internet and you cannot simply delete it. There are some privacy laws that had been passed to try and protect people privacy but they do not really work. Due to privacy threats now cropping up, these laws have developed in a way that is often ineffective against these threats.

But there are some things that people can do to prevent the spread of all of their private information but the most important thing is to know what you are posting on the internet. Once your information is on the internet anything can happen. People should be careful on what they put online because it can ruin your reputation. People nowadays based on your reputation can decide whether to make friends with you or businesses etc. Some suggest that this is the” death of privacy,” and that in the future it will grow into something bigger. You decide, is it really “The End of Privacy? ”? Some will argue that.