Technology and its Effects on Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Technology and its Effects on Privacy - Essay Example The Internet has played a major role in making this happen, since most people from different world regions will easily link up today by using the E-mail and other social network sites, including Facebook and MySpace. However, the use of information and information transmission through technology use has resulted in major problems regarding ethics and jurisdiction. These problems are mainly concerned with the right of privacy and the right of access to information, which are threatened by the current free flow of information, as well as the safeguarding of the financial interests of the owners of intellectual property. This essay mainly focuses on how people lose their privacy by putting all their information online, including in social network sites such as Facebook, and how this and similar technology influence people negatively, thus, endangering the human race. The present generation is known to be dependent on technology more than the past generations. Therefore, most of the vari ous problems that arise in the world today are based on technology. Unlike the past decades where technology was used in moderation, the present generation has informationalized most of its activities. According to Coughlan, this rampant use and increasing inventions in technology put the human race in danger. The overuse and misuse of technology by humans might lead to the extinction of the human race in future (n.pag.). Therefore, in regard to the privacy issue, various technologies today infringe people’s privacy, obtaining their personal information, which is highly sensitive. Additionally, different countries get the sensitive online information about other countries, which they consider their foes, through the Internet. Therefore, the party that retrieved the information online might use this information for different purposes. Nonetheless, a negative and malicious use of this information might result in negative effects for the individual or the country that was tracke d. Coughlan notes that today, computer technology can manipulate the real world, and, therefore, misguided intentions of computer use might be detrimental to the human race. With an increased advancement in technology, which might be lethal if misused, the humanity of this generation poses a threat to its own survival (Coughlan n.pag.). The issue of privacy has existed in the world since the development of information technology, computing, as well as the digital media. Today, social computing, email, mobile data, cookies, GPS, and networked video and audio capture among others are the examples of technologies, which have a negative impact on the users regarding their privacy (Lohr n.pag.). These technologies allow to mine the user’s information, as some of them monitor and keep surveillance of communication and data. In addition, the people using these technologies make it easier for their identity to be established, as they post their personal information and share it with other users. According to Lohr, most online activities a person is engaged in often lead to the diminishing of their level of privacy (n.pag.). For instance, Internet sites such as Facebook and Twitter require one to share most of their personal information such as birthday details with other friends. In this case, most people share their photos, photos of their families, gossipping at their work place and school, among other social and personal information. According to Lohr, when people engage in such self-revelation, it becomes easier for computers to assemble their information