The scope of the Internet, technology in the 21st century and your right to privacy is currently being shaped. This unit only begins to touch on the legal and ethical issues facing society and the legal community. Currently there are more questions than answers.
There are many issues and concerns: What will be the total cost of privacy for the American public? Will the costs be measured by losses of keeping personal information private? Will the costs be measured by the dollars spent by big business? Will the cost of privacy be driven by a society who wishes for convenience more than for the protection of their privacy? Will an individual be able to voice their opinions and remain anonymous and uncensored?
At the present time your ability to keep information about yourself, what you do, and your preferences may no longer be possible. Your personal information is shared and sold by businesses and used on the Internet in many different ways. Privacy as we have come to know it and a reasonable expectation to it, seems to be waning.
Citizens must remember that just because a company or someone asks you for personal information, doesn’t mean you have to give it. Some Internet users, when asked for personal information give the name Ima Nonymous. Many adults over the age of 50 have been only 35 years old for a long time. I don’t encourage lying, but this might be a good rule of thumb to follow when companies ask for more information than they really need to know.
Recommendations have been made that the Internet be self-regulated. This means that people using the Internet would use their discretion when posting material, voicing their opinions and collecting data about people or other things. I believe many would agree that complete self-regulation on the Internet is nice in theory but unfortunately not pragmatic.
The legal system and society need to balance our 1st and 4th Amendment rights while still protecting our privacy. The legal system has a very difficult task in front of them.
To keep abreast of the developing Internet and legal issues there is a need to follow the latest news and legislation in the making. This will be an interesting way for students to learn about and to apply their knowledge of their 1st and 4th Amendment rights and to see how laws are made.