Ethical Issues in “Are We Puppets in A Wired World”
One of the ethical issues in the text is privacy and anonymity. People do not have the ability to determine what, when, and how to extend personal information that is shared with the others. The Naval Research and DAPRA were sifting through a multitude of information traded, trafficked, and stored over the Internet. The data, when put together, was to predict terrorist attacks, social unrest or any other events that may interest the military. The World Wide Web has enhanced data traffic with the advent of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. The charming appearance in these applications encourages users to load personal documents, such as video clips and photos, onto the Internet. YouTube that was launched in 2005 used the digitalized information by amateurs to illegally share music and videos (Halpen, 2013).
Selling of information through the Internet without authorization is on the rise. Publishing electronic books, journalism, electronic record-keeping for political protests, pornography and other events have consequences as there is a penetration of daily Internet. People celebrate, reward, routinize, and normalize the social Web providing disclosures that fund the economy with information. Many individuals do not recognize that they leave a trail on everything they do in cyberspace. It includes all the list of websites one has visited, which can provide much information regarding a particular person. For example, Google is capable of processing 24 petabytes of data each day, while Facebook members making comments are almost three billion every day. It means that people leave a digital trail that any company can data mine to learn the preferences of users (Halpen, 2013).
Calculate the cost of essay
The sharing adds up to incalculable dollars as the social Web is always supplying more personal information daily. Firms and the state can purchase the Internet user’s data for a cent, thus an average ecosystem for advertising is estimated to be $1,200 per year. The monetary value is not the issue here, but the costs to buy personal information. Facebook and Google are not worth the services they offer, but the data they gather and its value to potential advertisers. Internet companies provide convenience of sending e-mails, thus bait for people to provide information without knowing that it travels (Halpen, 2013). In summary, the Internet has kept on changing the way human beings think, things they value, and their interactions with each other. Online connectivity is a function around the world with crucial personal data resulting to a high surveillance system to be ever imagined. The web is an avenue that businesses and governments use as puppets. Personal information that flows freely over the Internet seems to serve other people better.
Solutions to Ethical Issues of Cyberspace
It is important for the suppliers of the context to consider if their operations are ethical. Web companies’ actions and decisions contribute to the structure and content of the Internet. Therefore, they should practice solidarity in serving for the common good. Globalization needs to have international cooperation with standards that establish mechanisms to protect and promote an international common good. Media technology calls for an international consensus on how to guarantee privacy on personal information. Additionally, they should not limit access to materials, but protect from intellectual property rights and copyrights. On the other hand, self-regulation on what one uploads to the Internet is the first solution to moral issues in cyberspace. Internet users are obliged to use the media in an informed and disciplined way. Most importantly is uploading data for morally good purposes (Halpen, 2013).
Limitations by the government or censorship may be needed to penalize special Internet crimes such as theft of personal information and distribution of computer viruses. The Internet cannot be exempted from reasonable laws as fraud, libel, hate speech, pornography, and other expenses. Criminal behavior in another situational context should be considered the same as in cyberspace crimes. As a right and duty, the civil authorities must enforce such laws using new regulations (Halpen, 2013).