Reading Report #5

Daniel Soloves article “The End of Privacy” focuses on privacy, the lack there of, and the internet. It is becoming more and more like second nature for people to have their interests, thoughts, pictures, amongst other little details of their lives, posted on the internet; knowing that this information in cyber space can reach people around the World. As more and more information is getting shoveled onto the internet, people are finally posing the question, how can we maintain our privacy in a cyber-world that was designed to be available to everyone? Likewise, how much privacy can people actually expect to have while using the internet? It is unfortunate that a teenager’s capricious use of the internet can hinder their chances at getting a job after graduating college because of stuff that they had on their Facebook page from years previous; but it happens, employers just like the rest of the general public can find ways into the so-called “personal” information on these social networking sites. Past, personal information posted on the internet about someone, or by someone doesn’t go away; there isn’t a trial period for being on the internet, once something is on there is will be on there forever. As Solove mentions in his article, this inhibits people from having the chance to “start over.” As people move from one phase of their lives to the next, there could be things in the past that the person would like to overcome, even forget but the internet won’t allow for that; it’s like a Pandora’s Box full of dirty little secrets. As technology continues to expand exponentially, it is our right and duty as citizens and technological users to protect ourselves! Human kind has proven itself smart enough to invent countless gizmos and gadgets that help make our day to day lives easier; the next step is to develop new ways to protect ourselves from the very new gizmos and gadgets that we have adopted into our culture.

I think that Solove’s article is great; he asks the kinds of questions that more citizens of the U.S. need to be asking. Such as, why is the closest U.S. privacy law for citizens an appropriation tort that is ineffective in being used for cyber-space? The world is changing, digitizing, our law makers and politicians have got to realize that they cannot continue doing their jobs the same ways it has always been done, and they have got to mold the laws to fit in a digital world.