Penina Kraus Professor Thurm

Privacy
The phrase you can run, but you can't hide, has taken on a new meaning in this generation.
Especiay, with the recent uncovering of the tracking device on appe's wireess devices. !ast month it
was discovered that smart"phones coected ocation based data. #esearchers found that the $%& '
ocation information was being kept in an unprotected manner, obtainabe by anyone who happened
upon your iphone, ipad, or the computer that your ios was synched. This created a ma(or concern who
is that anyone who woud ook at this data woud be abe to track a specific user's ocation.
)
*ppe
caimed the the software had coected data for more then a year due to a programming error, saying
that there was no reason for the information to be stored more then seven days. *fter the information
became pubic *ppe promised to come out with a software update to fi+ the probem with the
foowing weeks.
,

The technoogy of today can be both comforting but even more so frightening. The word has
become a much smaer pace as technoogy has progressed. #eaching peope in different time -ones,
and haf"way across the word has become a cinch. .owever, the technoogy that gives us the abiity to
reach warm and oving famiy and friends around the word, is aso the technoogy that gives our
government the abiity to do some very powerfu things. $n any case, how far are we wiing to go and
how much of our privacy are we wiing to sacrifice for faster internet and /P& devices0 The 1uestion
reay is, how much of it is worth it0
%n 2ednesday, *pri ,3
th
*ppe, on their site carified for the pubic e+acty how they used a
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fie to find a person's, or rather their iphone's ocation. The information coected was not actuay their
e+act ocations but that of the surrounding wifi hot spots, and ce phone towers which coud very ikey
be more then )66 mies in either direction away from the phone. *ppe stated that it used the ocator to
be abe to figure out the devices e+act ocation, which made it work 1uicker than /P& sateites. *ppe
aso said the the user of the phone was encrypted and it coud in no way identify who the device
beonged to.
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%n 2ednesday ;ay '
th
it made it's promised software update avaiabe to the pubic.
'
&ome woud say, who cares if you have nothing to hide0 Even if it's not something you woud
hide from the government, everyone has something to hide from someone. That doesn't mean that
everyone is a iar, (ust that each person in their own ives shoud have the right and abiity to reserve
some information for some peope and not for others or not for anyone at a. Though perhaps some
woud say government has the streets covered trying to keep us safe, the word of the web can be (ust
as dangerous, if not more. Predators urk on every website, every ur and in every /ooge search and
the governments sow eap to make these types of criminas accountabe is putting us in danger.
The atest and greatest socia media, face book, has had been accused numerous times of
privacy breaches yet peope sti fock to this site. Either they are seriousy uninformed, or they are
actuay wiing to put their privacy on the ine, in e+change for keeping their sma fan"base updated as
to their whereabouts, and activities as often as possibe. <o one wants to be out of the oop, and
everyone wants to be a part of the group. &ocia networks ike face book make that possibe but they
aso make it possibe for you to be a part of groups you have no idea you beong too.
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Cindings discovered in %ctober of the year ,6)6 reveaed that Cace book had a significant
amount of appications that aowed advertisers and internet tracking companies to gain access to
peopeDs names and, their friendsD names.
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Cace book's response to the issue was not very
encouraging. &imiar many of the other companies that have been found with privacy gitches in their
system or a security breach. <othing, however, seems to have been done about it. %ther than of course
the company fi+ing their mistake and going on their merry way. These occurrences now seem to be
happening amost weeky if not daiy. Eet no one can prosecute these money bags because the aws of
the web have not been carified. %n *pri ,6
th
,6)) &ony removed the pay station network and a week
ater said that it was possibe that 33 miion of their member's information had been compromised.
:

Then on Tuesday ;ay 8rd ,6)), &ony reported that another ,' and a haf miion user's security was at
risk due to a breach in &ony's onine entertainment division systems. Fue to this &ony, has for the time
being, stopped a onine muti"payer games unti they coud verify their security.
3
These types of cases have been piing of the past coupe of years and been increasing in past
coupe of months. The responses of theses companies have been deayed. They have informed their
consumers we after the fact. They have been a unprofessiona and unreiabe a around. Gut there is
no one around who has the right to give them a good, and we deserved spanking. !ike ;s. /agnier,
a awyer, speciai-ing in privacy and copyright aw said The new privacy egisation doesnDt go far
enough, faiing to focus on ocation or onine privacy issues.
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9 http455bits.bogs.nytimes.com5,6)65)65)75facebook"admits"to"privacy"issue"and"makes"fi+es50scp>)?s1>facebook
H,6privacyH,6issues?st>&earch
: http455www.pcmag.com5artice,56,,7)3,,87'A)6,66.asp
3 http455www.informationweek.com5news5security5attacks5,,A'6,:9:
7 http455bits.bogs.nytimes.com5,6))56'5,35shoud"companies"be"accountabe"for"privacy"breaches5I