Week 7

Transparency on the Internet is not for me. I think, first and foremost, it fosters an environment ripe for identity theft. The more information you supply about yourself, your family, and your everyday life, the easier it is for some to string together the pieces of what make you, you, and use it for negative gains. When I call places like my bank or cell phone company, they generally ask me to recite my full name, address, phone number, and date of birth. But this is all easily accessed information, without even having to search very hard for it. It’s actually somewhat frightening to see how easily my address can be found. Just because no one else seems to care that their personal information is readily displayed, does not mean that I’m okay with mine being out there. There should always be an opt-in option for such things, not an opt-out once information is noticed.

When our textbook was written, the Internet was widely used but not nearly as widely used as it is today. As such, libel and slander problems have only gotten worse. People are under the impression that anything can be said on the Internet with no consequences, and because their name isn’t attached they believe it is anonymous and no one will find out who actually posted false information. While ISP addresses can help determine if a home computer may have been used in more severe cases, if information was transferred to the Internet through library use, there would be almost no way of finding the perpetrator. I’m not sure if it’s like this in all libraries, but in mine, the sign-up sheet is shredded at the end of the day; laws regarding protection of anonymity in libraries make it almost impossible to gain any sort of information that could lead to finding the exact person who committed an Internet crime. Obviously, I think if someone commits a crime they should receive the just punishment that is due. However, there should not be a violation of any laws regarding privacy in libraries. So this is a confusing issue for me, and one that I will continue to think about. Why did we become a society that feels we can say anything if our name isn’t attached to it? Why do people make up lies and say hateful things, knowing that there is a good chance no one will ever find out who wrote it? Anonymity on the Internet can be a good quality; things like surveys about embarrassing, sensitive medical information are best kept anonymous. But society in general needs to hold themselves more accountable for their actions on the Internet; if you could not say it to the person’s face, then don’t say it online. How simple this advice is, and yet it seems to be, for some, more and more difficult to follow it.