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.