The Loss of Privacy Will Be a Major Consequence of the Computer Revolution

The term of “Computer Revolution” refers to the tremendous change computers have had in Society because of its tremendous development in the last decade. This so called Revolution had facilitated the way we live in the last couple of years. The computers of today make life a lot easier than it was before, you can do anything with a computer on this days, from making an online purchase of any kind of product, chatting with any person doesn’t matter the location you are, or checking your monthly bank statements. However the Revolution also gave some other consequences rather than positive like the “Loss of Privacy”.

The Loss of Privacy in the Computer Revolution refers to the gain of personal information about an individual a Company of any kind or other unknown individual has in possession acquired from a Computer. Computers make it a lot easier for any kind of Organization or Government to monitor the personal information of any person that purchased any kind of product from that organization resulting in the loss of privacy. According to Kerby Anderson President of Probe Ministries International one of the biggest challenges raised by the widespread use of computers is privacy and the confidentiality of computer records (Anderson, 2002).

An artificial intelligence can save a tremendous amount of data in its hard drive, and with the share of information from banking databases, and some other sources of information like health insurance or car insurance, the government or any kind of organization can now more personal information about an individual’s than they know about themselves.

The CIA that stands for Central Intelligence Agency is a good example of a company that has the power of having any kind of information about a person according to the law, and they have the ability to acquire this information thanks to the computers. Kristyna Gordniak a Professor of Philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University argued in her article about Computer Ethics that If the CIA does not need to respect an ethical code, who else is entitled to break the rules and on what grounds?

If one country can do it, what moral imperatives should stop other countries from doing the same? (Górniak-Kocikowska, 2007). This is an issue that has been debating since the Computer Revolution started in the last couple of years. If a company has the power to do this, other persons feel free to do the same. The Hackers is an example of an Individual that takes any kind of restricted information from the internet without the permission of the law.

Now most people have access to information because of increasing numbers of personal computers and increased access to information through the Internet (Anderson, 2002). Not just big Organizations like the CIA or the Hackers have the ability to gather information about someone. Because of the Social Networks of today like Facebook, twitter, or MySpace any person can have the access to personal information about someone else. One example is the biggest social network of today “Facebook”, If the Facebook page of an individual doesn’t have the right security, other Individuals can access to their main web page and gather any kind of information they have available.

The most common method of the violation of Privacy in the internet is by Cyber stalking. This term refers to stalking behavior in the context of cyberspace (Finn Jerry, 2000). Looking information in the internet about a person that doesn’t know you is considered Cyber stalking, and it happens very often, because all this social sites or organizations that gather information about someone and that is available for the public. Seeking and compiling information that an individual may have posted in any social page with the intent to locate personal information is considered Cyber stalking, and is the most common example of the loss of privacy since the Computer Revolution started.

Most of the people don’t see this issue like a big of a deal but the virtual Privacy loss can lead to any kind of situation from Cyber stalking to Kidnapping. In Mexico city there have been several cases in relation to Kidnapping where the Social Network play a big influence in the Kidnaper’s source.

Jim Willies a former reporter for The Oklahoman wrote an article about an 18 year old boy that committed suicide because of his loss of privacy in the internet. Tyler Clementi jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge shortly afterwards. Two students stand accused of secretly webcasting the sexual encounter involving Clementi and another man (Jim, 2010).

The Loss of Privacy is an issue that had lead to a lot of complicated and awkward situations, but also can lead to some positive consequences. Sometimes people don’t remember important information about them, and thanks to the Computer Databases of any kind of organization this person is related to, they can get any kind of personal information stored in those databases at any time. The Health Insurance companies, Car insurance, Bank accounts. Any of this types of Organizations are very helpful when a person doesn’t remember or is disoriented about some personal information they need to have knowledge about.

Loss of privacy half of the time happens because people are not careful with the information they provide and to who they provide it. It is very easy to make any kind of purchase in the internet. Some people don’t even pay attention to who are they giving their credit card information or health records. Or with whom they have a social connection in any kind of Network.

Loss of Privacy is something people of this century have to live with because of the great technological development of the decade. This Computer Revolution makes life a lot easier than it was before, but if people want to have an easier live and fully relay on computers, and smart phones as an everyday thing they must accept all the consequences this revolution brings with.

Works Cited

Anderson, K. (2002). Computers and The Information Revolution. Probe Ministries. Finn Jerry, B. M. (2000). Victimization Online: The Downside of Seeking Human Services for Women on the Internet. CyberPsychology &
Behavior, p785-796. Górniak-Kocikowska, K. (2007). The Computer Revolution and the Problem of Global Ethics. The Research Center on Computing & Society, 3. Jim, W. (2010). Loss of Privacy Turns Tragic. Media effects, sexting, social networks, Virtual reality, 1.