5. 8 EXERCISES
(ebooks)
- Define security and privacy. Why are both important in the information age?
“In general, security can be considered a means to prevent unauthorized access, use, alteration, and theft or physical damage to property. Security involves these three elements:
1. Confidentiality: to prevent unauthorized disclosure of information to
third parties. This is important in a number of areas including the disclosure
of personal information such as medical, financial, academic,
and criminal records.
2. Integrity: to prevent unauthorized modification of files and maintain
the status quo. It includes system, information, and personnel integrity.
The alteration of information may be caused by a desire for personal
gain or a need for revenge.
3. Availability: to prevent unauthorized withholding of information from
those who need it when they need it.”
“According to Jerry Durlak, privacy is a human value consisting of four elements he calls rights. We put these rights into two categories. The first category includes three rights that an individual can use to fence off personal information seekers; the second category contains those rights an individual can use to control the amount and value of personal information given out.” (p.101-102).
- What is anonymity? Discuss two forms of anonymity.
The quality or state of being anonymous and one that is anonymous
“• Untraceable identity: One is not known by any name including pseudo
names.
• Anonymity with a pseudo address to receive and send correspondence with others. This technique is popular with people using anonymous remailers,
user groups, and news group” (p. 100-102).
- Discuss the importance of anonymity on the Internet.
“The nature of the Internet, with its lack of political, cultural, religious, and
judicial boundaries, has created a fertile ground for all faceless people to come out in the open. In particular, the Internet provides two channels through which anonymous acts can be carried out.”(p.101)
- Is total anonymity possible? Is it useful?
No, total anonymity can solved nowadays, in what technology that we have now, many solutions and inventions can be use.
- Develop two scenarios—one dealing with ethical issues involving security, and the other dealing with ethical issues involving privacy.
First scenario, the password of ones computer and someone knows his password.
Second scenario, the user who knows the password of the user copies all the documents saved in the user computer and prints it like he owned the documents.
- Is personal privacy dead? Discuss.
Yes, privacy is dead! There are any numbers of technologies, techniques and work-around you can employ, all in the effort to protect your privacy. But such a quest is like trying to dig a hole in middle of a fast flowing river. The rich and powerful gain some amount of privacy only because they can afford to grid their personal lives with a kind of digital body armor.
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3078854/)
- List and discuss the major threats to individual privacy.
There are numerous contributing factors or causes of violations.
“(i) Consumers willingly give up information about themselves when they
register at websites, shopping malls in order to win prizes, and in mailing
solicitations.
(ii) Consumers lack the knowledge of how what they consider a little bit
of information can turn into a big invasion of privacy.
(iii) Inadequate privacy policies.
(iv) Failure of companies and institutions to follow their own privacy
policies.
(v) Internet temptation, as discussed in Section 3.5.1.2, that enable businesses
to reach individuals in a very short time in the privacy of their
homes and offices.” (p.112)
- Identity theft is the fastest growing crime. Why?
“Identity theft is a crime committed when one misrepresents oneself, with or without success, as another person in order to get the victim’s information so that the perpetrator can receive goods and services in the fraud victim’s name. Identity theft is now one of the fastest growing crime in the United States and in a number of other countries as well. Although it is still not considered to be a crime in some countries, national legislatures are in full gear enacting laws
to criminize it”.(p.140)
- Why is it so easy to steal a person’s identity?
“(i) Advertising in newspapers and mostly on the Internet. The most common
technique now, pretext calling, is where people misrepresent
themselves as law enforcement agents, social workers, and potential
employers to obtain the private data of others from banks and other
financial institutions.
(ii) From readily available how-to books and discussion groups perpetrators
get foolproof methods of wangling financial information out of
bank employees.
(iii) Use of telemarketing scams to trick consumers into revealing personal
data.
(iv) Abundant authentic-looking fake IDs, including Social Security cards,
birth certificates, and driver’s licenses, are on sale online.
(v) Going through one’s trash for personal information
(vi) Using the post office to redirect one’s mail to a perpetrator’s box
number.
(vii) Criminals are increasingly using radio scanners to eavesdrop on personal
calls.” (p.140-141)
- Suggest steps necessary to protect personal identity.
“The following steps are considered
minimal but effective:
(i) Shred all credit-card receipts, cancelled checks, and other financial
documents.
(ii) Seek employer personal information protection plans.
(iii) We are leaking vessels of personal information. At every stop we
make, we involuntarily give out crucial personal information such as
sensitive financial data, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers,
and other vital personal data.
(iv) Where possible get all your payments deposited electronically in
your bank account.
(v) Periodically check your credit report. It is better still if you review
credit reports from all three credit bureaus for erroneous data on your
personal credit report. Once you get your credit report, look for
things such as who is using your information. Check and make sure
you know who requests for your information from these companies.
(vi) Shred all your credit card solicitations and all other mail that bears
personal identification.
(vii) If you become a victim, report the incident to law enforcement personnel.
(viii) Although not as effective so far, legislation is also important. The
U.S. Congress recently passed a law that makes it a federal crime,
punishable by up to five years in prison, for anyone to misrepresent
himself/herself to obtain someone’s private financial data.” (p.141)
- Governments are partners in the demise of personal privacy. Discuss
Demise of personal privacy, saying that privacy in today’s cyberspace life is dead and we should forget it and move on with our lives. Write an essay in support of or against the observation.
- Anonymity is a doubly edged sword. Discuss.
Online anonymity is a double edged sword. You can safely go online and surf the web, and remain unknown to people you may come into contact with. This, many people are finding out, is also a problem. It has come into light that the internet can be a very nasty place when no one knows who is behind the keyboard. It is rather easy for websites to track user’s locations, what browser they are using, and other information. What no one can tell you though, is who exactly is behind the keyboard. Psychologists confirmed that the mask of anonymity can eventually make anyone do something they wouldn’t normally do. (http://ezinearticles.com/?Online-Anonymity-A-Double-Edged-Sword?&id=500148)
- Are the steps given in Section 5.4.5 enough to prevent identity theft? Can you add more?
“Password security greatly depends on the password
owner observing all of these four “never” cardinal rules:
1. Never publicize a password.
2. Never write a password down anywhere.
3. Never choose a password that is easy to guess.
4. Never keep the same password for an extended period of time.”(p.104)
- What role do special relationships play in identity theft?
After being the victim of identity theft, it is extremely difficult to straighten
out one’s record, let alone recover the stolen personal attributes. The best
course of action is for individual defense.
- Modern day information mining is as good as gold! Why or why not?
Yes, because information now is not that hard to know or get, many references and good technologies are available just to get such information.
- How do consumers unknowingly contribute to their own privacy violations?
“(i) Consumers willingly give up information about themselves when they
register at websites, shopping malls in order to win prizes, and in mailing
solicitations.
(ii) Consumers lack the knowledge of how what they consider a little bit
of information can turn into a big invasion of privacy.
(iii) Inadequate privacy policies.
(iv) Failure of companies and institutions to follow their own privacy
policies.
(v) Internet temptation, as discussed in Section 3.5.1.2, that enable businesses
to reach individuals in a very short time in the privacy of their
homes and offices”.(p.112)
- How has the Financial Services Modernization Act helped companies in gathering personal information?
“The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act aimed to restrict
financial institutions such as banks and brokerages from sharing customers’
personal information with third parties, has allowed these same U.S. financial
institutions to merge and form what have been called financial supermarkets.
This one Act has opened a door for these companies to merge and consolidate
customer data from several sources.
Although the Financial Services Modernization Act has given financial institutions
an information bonanza, the Act also tries in some way to protect the
customer through three requirements that the institutions must disclose to us:
(i) Privacy Policy: through which the institution is bound to tell us the
types of information the institution collects and has about us and how
it uses that information.
(ii) Right to Opt-Out: through which the institution is bound to explain
our recourse to prevent the transfer of our data to third party beneficiaries.
(iii) Safeguards: through which the institution must put in place policies to
prevent fraudulent access to confidential financial information”.(p.111)
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