Click. It’s all there – your name, your age, your birthday, your address, phone number and bank account all in one click. If you have used the internet, rest assured that somewhere in cyberspace, your information is there waiting to be found by someone who needs it.  You cannot guarantee that even with secure logins and passwords that you can hide everything. Once you are on the internet, you have to assume that your information is up for grabs for anyone who needs it.

Anonymity Gone.

Back in the day, we used to value our anonymity online. When we first learned about the Internet, everyone was so keen on using screen names to hide our identities.  We put value in concealing our identities and private information. But now, in the world of Facebook, Social Networking, Online Banking, screen names are passé. Your full identity is laid out in cyberspace, in full view of everyone. If anyone needs to know more about you, they do not even need to go to hire a Private Detective all they have to do is Google you and they can find you. It is that easy.

We used to think that putting information in the internet is dangerous and many of us refuse to put our information online. However, with the recent developments in the use of the internet, especially in Banking and Business, it has become necessary to put our full accurate information online. Gone are the days where we can hide behind a screen name. All we can hope for now is that the privacy controls in the websites where have put our information is encrypted and safe and far from the evil clutches of Identity Thieves.

The Net Generation

In this day and age, we have a generation of young people who grew up on the internet or what we most commonly call Generation Y, the Net Generation. They grew up at the time of the rise of instant communication technology.  This evolution of the internet has allowed this generation to feed their need for instant communication with each other through e-mail, texting and instant messaging. This generation also grew up at the peak of the rise of YouTube and Social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Friendster as well as blog sites (Blogger and WordPress) and micro blogs such as Twitter, Tumblr and Plurk. These are the tools they use so they could easily share and exchange information that used to be so hard to get with one click of their mouse. They even socialize online through Chats and create worlds together through Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. This generation feeds on free information on the cyberspace. They are dependent on it. It is because of this that they assume that everything is free for all and that there is transparency in cyberspace. They expect to find everything they want to know about something or someone on the internet with just a few clicks and find it odd if there is none.

Online Privacy for Business.

For Online Entrepreneurs and businessmen, this issue of online privacy is very sensitive. They understand that the disclosure of information is needed so that they would appear transparent to their clients and to the public eye. They have to put it out there instead of hiding to build credibility in the marketplace. However, moderation and intense screening of information to be shared is needed to be sure that the company is not sharing more than what they need to protect our own brand. Though they could be protected through copyrights and patents, this is not a hundred percent sure fire way that they are protected. They have to keep on innovating and find ways to be constantly protected from Internet Pirates and Copyright thieves.

Is there really Privacy online?

The answer seems to be that there is no privacy online.  This raises concerns about our personal safety and the safety of our cyber identity. How can we make sure that we are protected and that our information is safe? How can we protect ourselves from identity thieves? How can we make sure that our information and work is safe? Can we really trust websites where it is necessary to put in our information?

We have to accept the fact that it is necessary for us to have a cyber identity. In order to protect this part of us, we have to control the information that we share online. We have that power to choose the things that we share online. We have to realize that the cyberspace could be very unforgiving and that information we share could potentially be detrimental to us. We have to make sure not to share too information on the web and if we are sharing them that it is through an encrypted or a trusted website. We can never be truly private online but if we can sift through the information that we are sharing before sharing them, then maybe we could keep our privacy a little.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.