Will Internet Privacy Lose its Significance?

Abstract: 

The privacy of the Internet frequently refers to "the ability of people to monitor the flow of
data and access the data generated during the browsing session." However, not many people
can say exactly where their personal details are stored and who has access to them, whether
voluntarily or discreetly mined. At the time Facebook ran a secret experiment in 2012 which
changed the contents of the news media of 689,000 users without their agreement to how they
would change the mood of people, there was a major outcry at the republic profile case.
Whether it was ethical or legal, the issues had emerged. However, individuals today enjoy a
wide variety of social networks, online shops and leisure centres, without thinking a lot about
the quantity of personal information that is left online.

Meanwhile, governments and different policy institutes agree that the law breaks down and
we have to treat the issue of internet privacy very seriously. As a consequence, several rules
and frameworks, such as Privacy Shield and the right to forget about protecting the privacy of
people on the web. How efficient they are is the question? And are we monopolies going to
comply with new rules?

Does the Internet lose meaning and become an outmoded virtue of the past or is it a need for
future generations?

Presentation

Internet with a broad smartphone adaptation generated a fast-paced global communications

environment with 3.5 billion internet users and approximately 100% mobile network
coverage worldwide. The combination of two enables users to search, communicate via email
and social media, shop and look for entertainment with the ease of a few fingertips at any
time. Without doubt, the internet has revolutionised the way individuals compare to real life
in the online world. On the other hand, it imposes new values while destroying the old ones.
In one sense, internet provides people with freedom of expression and access to knowledge.
Privacy, especially in the Internet, is one of them, and the way it has been seen nowadays.

Consequently, the objective of this article is to examine the privacy and value of the internet
nowadays, considering the widespread use of the Internet in our daily lives. The study
examines why people should be concerned about the privacy of the Internet and what effects
society might suffer in the event of a problem being neglected. The authors will also consider
existing online privacy policies and policies and the steps web users are already doing to
preserve their privacy. The study concludes with a number of policy and individual
recommendations.

Privacy of the Internet

The privacy of the Internet refers to the ability of a person to control and access his or her
personal information online (T.R.X 2016). Personal information that identifies an individual
does not necessarily constitute a name or a number of a PPS (SSN), but everywhere from
search engine inquiries to the length of time spent on a certain online activity. Usually, every
single click that is produced online produces data and gives a digital image (figure 1), i.e. it
will remain for ever in the internet. Consequently, the amount of the internet traffic that never
stops is huge. In only one second there are 2,579,758 sent e-mail, 7,574 post tweets, 775
submitted Instagram photographs, 68, 827 viewed YouTube videos, 59, 715 searches done by
Google, and 43,616GB generated internet traffic (Internetlivestats.com). Clearly, it can be
very difficult for average Internet users to control and retrieve all the information that was
openly shared unintendedly online or 'left behind' and to follow their own online activities on
an undeniable level of consciousness.

In contrast, the number of data centres throughout the world is steadily increasing and 8.6
million will be established by 2017, according to 2014. The figure is hidden from the general
public. In it are kept and processed with clever calculations, termed data mining, all the data
crumbs that have remained on the Internet. Data mining transforms raw data into relevant
information generated by people's online activities. When information is meaningful it gains
monetary value and can be sold to a third-party company that normally uses this information
for the purpose of marketing and advertising.

Besides private businesses, which always want to find out more about their preferences and
likes so that their goal is to better customise ads and to sell items, there are others who
monitor people on the internet. These are cyber criminals and public bodies. Both seem to
diametrically represent opposed stakeholders, but still both are personally identifiable. With
global cybercrime annual costs expected to rise up to 6 trillion dollars by 2021 (Morgan,
2016), security professionals stress the urgency of protecting personal data online.

In 2013, Edward Snowden's revelations concerning the unparalleled supervisory practises of

the U.S. national security agency (NSA) shocked the world. He published more than 7,000
top secret documents in September 2016 and it seems that very few can escape the all-seeing
NSA. By accessing Microsoft servers, Yahoo, Goole, Facebook, Skype, YouTube and Apple,
and by tapping state authorities and intercepting the Internet throughout Europe and the
world, the Agent looked at regular individuals.

Therefore, the Internet satisfies all those interest groups since they are often less careful
online and exhibit too much personal information, which would not be done in real life. In
view of its virtual character Even while intangible, Internet fraud and identity theft, spyware
and online surveillance are real and can-do considerable harm to people. Nevertheless, email,
search engines by Google, websites for social networking and online commerce are the most
frequently used Internet services that track and collect users (Statista, 2016). Will it mean that
the benefits people obtain from utilising these services exceed their privacy issues, or are they
considered to be safe among Internet users?

Activities online

The convenience of the Internet and the ubiquitous usage of intelligent technologies plainly
overwhelm worries about privacy that can arise at any time. One day begins to reach out to an
intelligent phone to check how much time it takes, possibly soon to see for today's weather
prediction, e-mails and the deletion of obnoxious ad newsletters from online retailers some
time ago. Then go through news on a social network that is favourite, leave 'like' under the
few posts and eventually you are set to start the day. In just a few minutes this is a lot of
knowledge. The data created by such rapid interaction is, nevertheless, quite striking. What
mobile apps did you use, how long the day lasted, what was written in a search box, what was
'liked,' all that gives users information and shows their interests and preferences. This
example shows that though the specified interaction could have been experienced in the
private setting, the web activities were recorded and so de facto not private. The author feels
that people should be more aware of the Internet's privacy problem, and he want to emphasise
how it can be undermined by the most used internet utilities, e-mail, search engines, social
networks and online shopping.

3.1. The All-Know Googling

According to Statista (2016), the most common online activity with viewing sites is email
which provides immediately afterwards information from personal interest. And when one
thinks about these two activities, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Google.
Synonymous with 'search on the internet' and with around 60% of the market share of search
engines, Google is now a big step forward - one of the world's major brands and providers of
Internet services. Google has Chrome, Android, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Translate,
Google Docs, Google Drive, to name only a few, aside from the inbox and search engine.
These are the services that most people know and often use.

Google delivers its services free of charge, but the price of Google is collected by the users in
the form of personal data. The privacy policy of Google makes explicit what information it
gathers about how it will be used. In addition to the information users provide, they also
collect information from the use of Google services such as their name, telephone number, e-
mail address and the 'device information, data utilisation and preference information, Gmail
messages, photographs, videos, history of navigations, maps, search, docs and other Google
content' In the end, Google keeps track of it all and reads our emails. How do you use the
data? Again, Google's Privacy Policy, which is by the way exceedingly easy to use, explains
all technical jargon in plain English, and improves user experience and provides personalised
services based on shared information (read, "tracked." As can be seen, Google is quite open
to its user information practises. Another major critique he faces constantly is his view of the
privacy of the user. The internet and technology industries are continually developing, as is
the privacy policy of Google.

The most recent amendment in the privacy policy, which must be known for users, is that
Google 'may now use one service with information, [...] from other services of Google.' It
means that Google can exchange data with its affiliates, which is remarkable for
DoubleClick. It has tracked the online behaviour of users and how they have clicked on the
web adverts without identifying a user in person without being in a position to do this.
DoubleClick is an online advertising business. DoubleClick has been purchased by Google in
2007, however, Google pledged that data bases would not be combined, at the time with
Google's first priority being privacy. Nearly ten years later the opposite happened - now, with
the help of Google and everything it knows about its users, DoubleClick is able to identify
users personally and target their adverts accordingly.

3.2 Sites of social networking

SNS (Social Networking Sites) are described as online platforms which allow users to create
a public profile and communication on the website with other users. The development of
SNSs, such as Facebook, has led to a dramatic change in the cultural standards of society and
has played an important role in seeing and valuing people's online privacy. The new culture
of broadcasting life events, big and little, reacting to current news articles and expressing
opinions has risen fast. Alessandro Acquits, Professor of Information Technology and
Competency Economics at Carnegie University in Pittsburgh, reminds out that socialising
and sharing information is only natural in people. In addition, self-disclosure has a number of
advantages, such as the creation of social capital and its self-confidence, the 'capacity to share
ideas and feelings with others' being the feature of social networks, which people appreciate
much.

Similarly, SNSs are the best setting for displaying and many users create their profiles
meticulously to convey a certain impression. Therefore, when self-promotion is the main
cause for the usage of an SNS, users can discard the concept of privacy more likely because
the other way around – advertising – is wanted, the better. On the other hand, those who use
SNSs for humble objectives, such as being able to contact their family and friends, tend to be
more careful about their personal content and to be seen by the general public and try to
block access to it by using privacy settings.