Internet privacy sparks debate Privacy please Show it all

CHRISTINEERNEST A&EEDITOR CME722@CABRINI EDU

Just one year ago Google CEO Eric Schmidt said, “We are moving to a Google that knows more about you.” One year later, Google knows way more about everyone and has made it easier for everyone to know more about me.

With Google Maps, anyone could type in my address and see my house and see my street and know the layout of my block. This means anyone in the world can get directions and view my house. I just don’t see the benefit of this tool. If I needed directions, there are sites like MapQuest that refrain from showing an aerial view of my house. I think this tool is only benefiting the government whom often demands private information from Google to learn what users are searching. What’s next, can they see me undressing through my bedroom window? Maybe they’ll call it Google Peeping Tom.

It has been claimed that Google infringes the privacy of visitors by uniquely identifying them using cookies, which are used to track Web users’search history. The cookies possess notably distant expiration dates, and it is claimed that users’ searches are recorded without permission for advertising purposes. In response, Google claims cookies are necessary to maintain user preferences between sessions and offer other search features. The use of cookies with such distant expiration dates is common.

I am no technology buff, but I know I would never eat a moldy, stale cookie, so why is Google using expired cookies to find out dirt on their users? The government claims to only do this to track terrorist activity but I don’t buy into that bag of cookies. It’s an advertisers dream come true; by seeing what sites we shop and magazines we read online, advertisers can better target online users with the help and exchange of private information that Google holds in their cookie jar.

Some users believe the processing of email message content by Google’s Gmail service goes beyond proper use. The point is often made that people without Gmail accounts, who have not agreed to the Gmail terms of service, but send email to Gmail users have their correspondence analyzed without permission. Google claims that mail sent to or from Gmail is never read by a human being beyond the account holder and is only used to improve relevance of advertisements. Chris Hoofnagle, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C., warned that “As courts become more frequent integrators of electronic records, there is a greater risk of Google becoming a serious privacy threat.”

I thought Gmail was an e-mail dream come true, enough space to save and archive every e-mail for the rest of my life, a whole gig! But now I wonder who is reading my archived e-mails? I feel violated that Google can offer keywords from my e-mails to advertisers for a profit. Google is profiting from my privacy, or lack thereof.

Call me old fashioned, but the rapid advancement of technology that Google offers can be quite scary, and I feel down right violated. Call me crazy, but maybe the old pen and paper and snail-mail service wasn’t so bad after all. I’m not about to cancel my Gmail service, but I will think twice about deleting some pri-

With more and more people using the Internet, eyebrows have been raised as to whether or not our government is taking advantage of our privacy rights a la “Big Brother.”

First, it was the USAPatriot Act and now five years since the Act was passed, there is once again something threatening my privacy.

Apparently, the government now wants companies like Yahoo, AOL, Google and Microsoft to hand over what I’ve been searching. All but Google have handed over your search inquiries and mine to the Department of Justice.

Kurt Opsahl, an Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney, said, “Search is a window into people’s personalities. They should be able to take advantage of the Internet without worrying about Big Brother looking over their shoulders.” Big Brother can almost be viewed as an understatement nowadays. It seems like having Big Brother around would be a nice alternative considering the new Internet features, such as Google Maps and cookies and Web beacons.

Yes, it’s unfair that Google installs all these cookies when I log into my Gmail, which I still swear is slowing down my computer, and it’sdefinitely crossing the line for the government to view what I’ve should mind in the least about their privacy rights when they are posting intimate details on the Internet.

You know exactly what people I’m referring to because I know you have cringed every now and then when you see what they are voluntarily posting online, and if you really can’t fathom whom I’m referring to then let me refresh your memory.

I’m talking about the girls who decided it would be cute to post a half naked picture of them as their default picture on Facebook.com. I know I cannot be the only one who gets embarrassed when they pop up on my screen. One of these days I know I’m going to have to tell someone, “No really, I’m not viewing an X-Rated site. That’s the girl that sits next to me in biology class.” don’tsee how people can complain about their privacy rights, when they turn around and tell all on the Internet. Ironically, it is often these people who share the most intimate details of their life online that plead for greater Internet privacy. Although it may seem like an appealing idea to share everything online, just remember that it may not be only the government watching you.

I’m referring to those people that use sites like Myspace.com to host what happened at last night’s party. No one is interested in seeing you make a fool of yourself while you were intoxicated.

First of all, you’re probably not even near legal drinking age and secondly, you don’t look classy by doing that. You look trashy.

Furthermore, you could be endangering yourself by doing that. Now there aren’tonly perverts out there trolling the Internet for people to prey on, institutions like the police are watching you. For example, three teenagers in Boston were just arrested for alleged vandalism ges after the police saw pictures of vandalized buildings on one of the teenagers’ Myspace accounts.