Essay on Internet Privacy - Invasion of Privacy on the Internet

Invasion of Privacy on the Internet       Invasion of privacy is a serious issue concerning the Internet, as e-mails can be read if not encrypted, and cookies can track a user and store personal information. Lack of privacy policies and employee monitoring threatens security also. Individuals should have the right to protect themselves as much as possible from privacy invasion and shouldn't have to give in to lowered standards of safety being pursued by the government.    Encryption is the best and most convenient way to ensure that e-mails and other files transferred via the Internet are kept private during transfer. The widespread use of strong encryption technology is essential to protect consumers and businesses against spies, fraud, and theft over the computer networks used in electronic commerce. The federal government has just announced a new policy that will maintain restrictions on the export of encryption stronger than 56 bits. Stronger encryption technology may be exported only to subsidiaries of U.S. companies in most countries, or to certain economic sectors in 42 countries (insurance, banking, or online merchants). Some law enforcement interests support legislation that would force U.S. citizens and residents to give the government access to the secret keys that read encryption. Government-mandated key recovery and controls over the strength of encryption are a grave danger to the privacy of law-abiding citizens and businesses, not only in the United States but all over the world. This compromises freedom and sacrifices basic privacy rights.    A new law, Senate bill 6027 (the E-Privacy Act), is trying to combat these sacrifices. This law would prohibit indirect controls or ties to encryption use... ...umers should demand that these stipulations be addressed and attended to. Invasion of privacy is happening more than many individuals realize, so staying aware and alert of exploitation is necessary. Privacy violation over the Internet is just as important as privacy in the home: it belongs to us and shouldn't be taken away by anyone. Sources Cited The E-Privacy Act--Analysis of the bill by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Key_escrow/1998/HTML/19980521_e-privacy_eff_analysis.html Privacy Invasion Links--Articles, organizations, and resources. http://www.larrysworld.com/privacy.html Personal Privacy--Steps to protect the consumer. http://www.larrysworld.com/articles/personalpriv.htm Internet Privacy Coalition--The latest news in Internet security through encryption. http://www.epic.org/crypto/