Copyright

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Online Privacy

       Throughout this whole web publishing class, we have discussed the issue of online safety. The importance of online safety and privacy is increasing with more of our information being on the Internet. Options such as PayPal that hold our credit card information and addresses are an easy way for someone access your bank account or other personal data.

       Currently it is under discussion whether pre-tweens should be able to have an online account before the age of 13.  An online article about Facebook claims how the maker Mark Zuckerberg, believes that there are educational benefits from being on a social network so early on. Numerous kids across America believe that having a social network account will lead to better jobs, better social and interactive skills. This proposes a problem with online privacy. New questions are proposed such as how can we as parents protect our children on the web?

Nowadays kids can put a false age on their accounts allowing them to have a Facebook account. However; Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act or COPPA, prevent sites that collect personal user information to the younger generation. This act went into effectiveness on April 21, 2000. The new rules on COPPA spell out what a Web site operator must include in a privacy policy, when and how to seek verifiable consent from a parent and what responsibilities an operator has to look after children's privacy and safety online.

       According to the Federal Trade Commission staff they prepared a guide that would help users to agree with the new requirements for protecting children and their privacy along with the privacy of their families. Certain under age children must put in their parents consent when working online. This can then be dangerous for the protection of the parent’s information. Zuckerberg does not want this act to go into play because it will lead his younger groups of kids from joining the Facebook family.
In addition to this I believe that the reaction of the parents to this act would agree. Most parents these days are not aware of what their children are doing so now they actually have control since this act passed, it will be that much more difficult for their kids to be online. When online it could be a dangerous environment for kids before the age of 13 because the maturity level is still not there. Being online is a privilege before the age of 13. There is no need to risk the safety and privacy of those who are not old enough to be online.

Conflict in the Digital Age

While in class we discussed conflict in the digital age and ways that we can smarten up on our online accounts. During class we all learned a bit more about passwords and the thought that goes into them. According to an online article written by Tony Bradley, PCWorld; on Lockheed- Martin, a global security company that employs numerous people worldwide and involved with research, design, manufactures services and products mainly for U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. federal government agencies. Lockheed currently was attacked; someone was using counterfeit electronic keys.

       Another way that someone can easily break into your online accounts. It was a sneaky way to hack into the online world at Lockheed-Martin. Lockheed being such a high paid respected company can be subject to online espionage as well just like a current online user in today’s world. It is easy to show that no matter how high tech the online software may be, any hacker can stay keen to their job. It is shown that 75% of companies cited employees as a likely source of hacking attacks. While, 45% of businesses had reported unauthorized access by insiders.

If you leave items laying around and open to the public can you really expect it to be there when you get back? When someone wants to steal it is easy for them to do so if given the opportunity. When you use stupidity with leaving your house or car unlocked it is allowing and making it that much easier for someone to take what is not theirs. With Lockheed-Martin their situation was a bit different; they were avoiding a targeted attack. Someone dedicated to getting their job done will eventually get what they want if they care enough to work at it. They have numerous target attacks because they have numerous items that other countries would want and head competitors. Just like your online passwords we must change up each account password to make it that much harder for a hacker to get your online information.

      Thankfully Lockheed- Martin caught their attack right off the bat. They were able to stop the hacking going on and make sure they kept their business safe. A spokesperson for Lockheed- Martin Reports that no program, customer or even employee data was compromised from this attack. They do not expect something like this to happen again, just like every other person who has been hacked before. Changing the passwords occasionally is a good way to keep your safety.

Digital Divide

The digital divide addresses the major gap in today’s society between households, and the single device users. Different socio-economic groups relate to the use of this technology for access to the internet. The demographics show the breakdown by ethnic groups for those  that use and do not use their smart devices. Typically gender, race and income are the determining factors for this digital divide.

An article written by the University of Michigan shows how low income teens use their smart phones for online internet.  This study showed that 27 percent of teens used mobile devices to get on the internet. This number jumps to 41 percent among teens living in households that earn less than $30,000 per year. Addressing the lower income of teens, 70 percent do have computers at home while 92 percent of those families earn more than 30,000 a year. The demographics of social classes seem to determine the internet plans on our phones today.

The focused study totaled nine different groups. It  included all ethnicities and their income. What we learned in class relating back to Net Neutrality mirrors the same data. Income truly predicts the kind of access to the internet we will have. Certain cell phone plans that include internet access are expensive and often slower than a computer internet service. Some would argue whether they should stick to the smart phones or invest in a computer.  Mobile Internet access is higher among white teens who also have a computer at home while 44 percent of African American teens and 35 percent of Hispanic teens using their phones also have a home computer.

Throughout the social classes, there is always a struggle to afford the newest and fastest technology. I know that my classmates and I use my smart phone device for the quick Internet access.  Less affluent people who are willing to pay for Internet access contradict the idea that net access is just a nice leisure but it is rather  viewed as a necessity. To teenagers it is seen to be a necessity to text.  Most would agree that  now it is said to be a necessity to have Internet access .  The main reason  the Internet is now viewed as a necessity is because  the smart phones can do anything on the web without restrictions such as viewing any accounts and accessing  the world wide web. To most social classes this does not apply because of the lack of affordability. Recently, more and more phone companies are making Internet access less expensive for customers and  creating package deals with text and internet access. 

Net Neutrality Opinion

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Online Identity

In class this past week we have discussed numerous things about online accounts, identities and attitudes that can be portrayed online. According to startribune.com there was an interesting article that showed the online world being a place to meet and interact while gaming in another world the game was “ World of Warcraft”. Acting through an avatar being anyone that you can possibly want to be. In class we learned about reflexive identity which is who we think we are. In this case this avatar was a girl who wanted the bigger bust and crazy hair style that she so desired to be portrayed as. She felt herself online as someone that could be social and interactive unlike herself in real life.
Ascribed identity is how someone else thinks of us. In the article it shows the girl’s avatar to be someone that is easy to talk to and someone who was really good at the online game it appealed to a male avatar and made him want to know more about the player. Eventually both of the players became familiar friends online and furthered this online friendship to a real life friendship.
Class discussions we learned that outside forces can affect our sense of self and what others think of us. The online gaming world can give the online identities to allow us to be anyone we want to be, look like, speak like etc. When gaming you can have the physical interactions that you cannot have with someone say on the phone. The online identity of the gaming world is the most online identity you can have, besides something such as a facebook or myspace.
When online gaming you are dealing with virtual identity, how you present yourself online. Gamers find it neat to see what “ideal” body type the player wants to be, it hardly is ever the same as the actual gamer. World of Warcraft is the most popular of the online identity games. Match.com an online account has 2 million users and they too can make their own online identities. Many choose to play and interact with World of Warcraft because of the physical interaction that gamers can show their true feelings in while playing. In the online world you can have any identity you desire, you can be totally anonymous and have no privacy all at once. All it takes is you at the click of a button.