No Privacy on the Net
by JEFREY ROTHFEDER
reviewed by
Trina Coates, University College of the Cariboo
November 1999
REVIEW:
The main idea in this piece is that while working is the safety of your own home on the Internet your life becomes and open book. This article tries to demonstrate "The danger of the Internet is the illusion of anonymity," while in actual fact at many sites you are highly visible to "would be snoops." It uses examples to prove to us the points that it is trying to make, and provides us with some tips as to how to possible avoid being watched.
One example the article uses is of a man, Kantzes, who found himself under such scrutiny. This particular person used discussion groups, and once he moved became suddenly aware of how much people could find out about him because of his Internet travels. "Using DejaNews, a Web site that lets you search Internet news groups by an individual's name, the newspaper produced a fairly complete dossier on Kantzes."It found his birthplace, where he went to school, where he worked before taking his current job, what he does for entertainment, his food likes and dislikes, and even where he as vacationed.
Next, the author goes on to explain to us why the Internet is such an easy place to acquire information about people. He attributes it to many problems on the net, one being the lack of rules, or at "least ones with teeth." He also explains that the world wide web is easy to hack into, with e-mail being one of the easiest places of all. Think you safe when your chatting? Banking? or many other such explorations are what this article explains are give away zones, you giving away your information that is. The article explains how various places attempt to protect there information by using fire walls, and then it goes on to explain how hackers can overcome these obstacles with somewhat ease.
This article seems to be one that raises some very valid points, and makes us want to be more aware of what we are saying about ourselves over the Internet. It goes on to explain to us why the Internet is such an easy place to acquire information about people. Overall the article was very thorough and the topic was well presented, as it demonstrated to us something that even Kantzes didn't want to hear, "[he] can't even hide behind his computer."The article concludes by reminding us again of our visibility on line.
Notes
p.1.
Ibid.
Ibid.
p.2.
p.1.