The Internet has been proclaimed to be the superhighway of the future. It is a convenience and also a necessity of the future. Many people have ambivalent feelings about this fast-growing technology that has endless possibilities but at the same time unforeseeable consequences. We are aware of computer crimes from hackers and other means, as well as problems like viruses, identity theft and pornography to name a few.
The Internet affects almost every aspect of our daily lives. We use it to shop, to apply for jobs, for artistic expression, business ventures, and for educational, medical, legal, and leisure purposes. It is a global infrastructure of communication networks, databases, computers and consumer electronics. With the capabilities of hardware, software, and communication networks continually increasing a nominal costs, information will be collected and used in ways that were previously impossible.1
Hence, information can now be acquired, processed, sent and stored easier, faster and cheaper. With continued advances in technology the collection, use and storage of information will become phenomenal.
The ease of collecting detailed personal information has made it possible for the collectors to share data between themselves for unrelated purposes. All of this in many cases is being done without the consent of the person whose information they are sharing.2
The convenience of using the Internet has seemingly made our lives easier, but at a major costthe lost of personal information privacy. The courts have recognized a basic right to privacy, a right to determine for ourselves how, when and to what extent our personal information is communicated to others. It is a basic, but not an absolute right. Of course, you have always had to supply personal information about yourself to get a bank account, driver’s license, medical care, credit card, mortgage, etc., and this information was not completely private. But in the past, your personal information was not as easily accessible as it is now by the click of the mouse. Everything about you is stored in various databases on the Internet. Some of the information can be accessed by using a password, a social security number, and/or typing in your name at a particular web site. Some sites will charge you a fee and some are free. In other words, it doesn’t take much for someone to have an extensive dossier about you.
You really had no control over offline information being placed on databases on the Internet, but they are now acquiring information for their databases from the information that you supply when you go on the Internet to communicate, order goods and services and obtain information. You are being trackedthis is called online profiling. A profile is being set up about your browsing activities. Tracking on the Internet can tell what web sites you visit, what you bought, who you communicated with, when and for how long. You are tracked across shopping sites, news sites, leisure sites, general information sites and sites that you may not want anyone to know about.
Why is this being done? Because businesses say they want to learn more about their customers, develop better products to meet the needs of their customers, enter new markets and compete better. How do they do this? They track your behavior using pieces of codes called “cookies.”