Security Breaches on the Internet

The article, "Surging Losses, but Few Victims in Data Breaches," discusses the latest hysteria on the internet, stolen identities. One of the most prominent cases was that of ChoicePoint in February 2005. After the scare of 150,000 consumers personal information being in the wrong hands, internet security has been a hot and a touchy topic.

The author believes there has not been an increase in personal information being stolen, but more attention has been focused and added when there are security breaches. More recently, 32 states have passed legislature "requiring companies to notify consumers when personal data has been lost or stolen." The most common form of data loss, according to surveys, is lost or stolen wallets, checkbooks, and credit cards. However, when there are data losses on the internet or stolen from companies, the media attention sparks the outcry from the public.

The correlation between stolen personal information and identity theft has been miniscule comparatively, says Chris Thom, the chief risk officer for MasterCard. Instead, credit card fraud has been the most common crime versus data information that was lost or stolen. Major credit card companies, such as VISA, MasterCard, and American Express, have responded to customers concerns by offering zero liability policies. Not to mention that the credit card companies technology is improving just as thefts become more savvy.

The future of the Internet, as we know, will continue to grow. More business and transactions will be conducted online which means there will need to be higher levels of security in place. As more commerce moves to the Internet, this means more headaches and ominous security problems are to come. The ideal scenario would be for companies and the government to develop countermeasures and law enforcement in order to protect the average Internet user going on with their day-to-day lives.

The Price of Security

The author of the article, “It’s easy to Complain about Web Privacy, a lot Harder to Act,” took the time to ensure his privacy was protected while surfing the internet for one week. He, David Kesmodel, used a program designed to allow an internet user to “fly below the radar”. The Anonymous Surfing program disguises his identity by cloaking his computer’s Internet Protocol Address. An IP address, according to Wikipedia, is a unique number that devices use in order to identify each other on a computer network. He describes the process as the program prevents web sites from seeing you IP address by “routing your traffic through other IP addresses”. So what are the consequences of the added security and privacy?
As we all know, everything in life has a tradeoff. When using the program, Kesmodel noticed some differences caused by Anonymous Surfing. He found web pages took longer to load and some sites gave him error messages. Without cookies on his computer, web sites cannot provide products and services that would appeal to a customer based on previous searches.
This article leads to the question for internet users…..How much is web privacy worth? To some waiting the extra time for web pages to load is better than the chance of jeopardizing their right to privacy. For me and others alike, the extra work just doesn’t out weigh keeping things how they are. I agree with the author that we like convenience. Having to retype usernames, website addresses, and information is more trouble than it’s worth. The means just don’t justify the end.

Facebook's Response to Member backlash

The article, Facebook Learns from It’s Fumble, ” has provided an update to college and high school students around the US regarding the recent Facebook “News Feed” feature. This added feature on September 5, 2006 caused a loud backlash from the social site’s members. Members spoke to the sites founder, Mark Zuckerberg, through feedback and a circulating petition, “Students Against Facebook News Feed.” One state even began to plan a one day boycott to make their voices heard. The biggest issue with existing members was privacy, or lack there of. The “News Feed and Mini-Feed” features invaded privacy by revealing too much information to others was the initial response. Zuckerberg’s response to the uproar is the feature was implemented to centralize existing information to one location.

Facebook since then has been working around the clock to update privacy protections. They listened to what the members wanted. Privacy settings have been put into place which allows a user to choose what items will be included in the “News Feeds”. However, the site has announced that they will not be pulling the newly adapted features. Instead, the site responds, “These are fundamental features in the next evolution of Facebook.” However, the whole experience was not done in vain. Facebook will now be sure to provide more information and testing before it decides to roll out new features.


What is the future of Facebook? Currently, Facebook is beginning to face more competition in the online community web space. Besides the big rival, MySpace.com, more web communities are popping up to offer a level of privacy for members such as CollegeHotList.com. This rival has gained momentum since the Facebook controversy showed itself. Will Facebook continue to provide members the level of privacy and convenience users want or will it be slowly diminished by rivals? Only time will be able to tell.

Article 1: Web Social Site Facebook Hit by Privacy Protests

The New York Times recently published the article "Web Social Site Facebook Hit by Privacy Protests." Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook, an online social community, in 2004. Since then, Facebook has grown and become a trend among colleges and recently to high school students. It differs from its competitor, MySpace.com because it restricts membership to certain groups, particularly college students with an .edu email address.

The article discusses a recent privacy issue members are having with an introduced feature. The feature is called a "news feed". It immediately notifies a user's friends when he or she has updated their site. This initially does not seem to be an outrageous idea, but to some members it is a privacy issue. One argument by students is that it seems to allow other to "stalk" a member of the community. The article mentions recent events with privacy issues, particularly credit card theft, which may be contributing to heightened security concern. Zuckerberg explains in his blog post that the new feature is not to allow others to stalk you, but rather to allow a friend to know what is going on in your lives.

Facebook continues to grow, allowing more members other than college students to join including high school students, some major companies, non-profit groups, and member of the military. The nature of the web site is more private than myspace.com. I believe that the feature is an added bonus for some and is simply a way to know what is going on in a friend's life. On the other hand, this new feature can be annoying and seem to reveal too much information. The question is at what point does this feature cross the line of revealing too much information. This feature has its advantages but can also be used inappropriately by some, but hopefully not by your facebook friends!

Introduction to Legal and Privacy Issues

This blog was created for my fall semester class BUAD477: Information Technology Applications in Marketing. Through the next few months, articles will be posted discussing legal and privacy issues on the internet. The purpose of this blog is to inform you, the reader, of these issues.