Assignment 12: Internet Privacy Concerns

1. Research “Google Latitude”

Google Latitude allows you to share your location with friends and view their locations on a map. Latitude is completely opt-in, so you must enable it before you can start sharing location and can disable it at any time. Google Latitude is a new feature for Google Maps on your mobile device. It’s also an iGoogle gadget on the computer. Once you’ve opted in to Latitude, you can see the approximate location of your friends and family who have decided to share their location with you. And with Latitude, not only can you see your friends’ locations on a map, but you can also be in touch directly via SMS, Google Talk, Gmail, or by updating your status message; you can even upload a new profile photo on the fly. To use Google Latitude and accept location sharing requests, you must sign into Latitude using a Google Account. Google Accounts include Gmail usernames, Google Accounts you’ve created for other email addresses, and Google Apps accounts*.

2. Possible Privacy concerns

Google Latitude notifies the user of the device that it is sharing the location of the device. The service allows the user to decide how much information to submit, who to, and also allows the user not to share any information at all.
All this sounds fine, but, although it allows the user to control their privacy settings when they are running Google Latitude, what if the user doesn’t know they are running it? One example of this would be a company providing its employees with phones, which come with Google Latitude pre-installed, and all setup to share user information with the employer. This is the concern that Privacy International has been raising. As the program doesn’t notify the user that it is running, depending on the situation, the user could be completely oblivious to the fact that their location was being broadcasted to whoever the employer set it up to broadcast to.

3. Possible implications of Facebook privacy concerns

Things such as, photos, images, wall-to-wall’s can be publically placed on the news feed, where strangers are able to creep. Secondly, if you don’t put the privacy “lock” on your facebook (like me) random strangers are able to look through your profile, wall, images, etc. as if they were your “friend.” Secondly, your bosses at work are able to see what you’re up to, and they may even judge you from what they see on your facebook. Also, when facebook asks you to put your email, or mobile number, or your work place, or birth date and current school, it is very easy to be tracked down.

4. Concerns of my image being added into social networking sites

Strangers are able to see you, and even send that picture to even more of his creeper friends…It can get around, blogs can be made about you. They will start researching you. It is a very scary thing…

5.  Do you think that employers could and/or should use the internet to research possible new hires or current employees?

I do not think that employers should use the internet to research possible new hires or current employees of they are going to use it against them or to judge them. Firstly, there is that whole story Mr. Cabralda shared that if a women was almost pregnant and the employer saw it on her facebook status or wherever and chooses not to hire her, that would be discrimination and that is unfair. Secondly, if you’re having a good time at some sort of club, or getting drunk, and your employer sees that and decides to fire you, it is not fair because what you do on your own time is your own business. Just because one parties and has fun, does not mean they can not perform their job well. (unless they came to work drunk, but assuming they don’t).