| Introduction
Setting the Stage: Questions to Think About
- Should corporations such as Google be allowed to collect information on visitors who use their search engines and sell the data to others for marketing purposes?
- Is it appropriate for a company such as Google to leave a “cookie” on your computer that allows it to collect data about you?
- Should the government have access to data collected by search engines and other internet sites that helps them monitor the internet activity of citizens and/or foreigners?
Introduction
The widespread use of information and communication technologies such as the internet has significantly changed our daily lives in many respects. Banking, shopping, and many other on-line interactions have made a large amount of personal and sensitive information available on the web. Even when we are not completing any transactions, but only browsing the web, the mouse-clicking of the web browsers and consumer information obtained from the integration of multiple merchant databases on their customers allow other parties to easily develop profiles on us.
Educational Objectives
The educational objectives of this module are to provide the students with:
- a better understanding of the ethical issues concerned with the growing use of the internet;
- a better understanding of an individual’s rights and duties regarding his/her privacy on the internet; and
- a better understanding of some ways to prevent the violation of personal privacy.
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