Goal: The goal of this forum is to discuss contemporary privacy and security issues.

Course Objective(s): CO2: Demonstrate knowledge of ethical, legal, privacy and security issues related to the use of digitally mediated information.

Description:

In the news we are constantly hearing about security breaches, invasion of personal privacy, and the increasing prevalence of our digital footprint. The increased availability of digital information presents concerns and challenges of privacy, accuracy, intellectual property rights, security, and censorship. As a global citizen, you need to be aware of these issues and how they impact your life.

Your instructor will set-up two (2) conversation groups this week in which you will select one topic to discuss which interests you.

• Conversation Group: Security
  • Security, as it relates to social media, video surveillance, drones, digital footprint or other topics as they relate to digital privacy.
  • How does the electronic environment impact one’s personal security?

  Minimum 250 Words Answer

Using the Richard G. Trefry Library or another credible source, locate and read a quality article regarding digital privacy or security. Be sure to provide attribution for your source in the forum. As you are formulating your initial post consider the following questions:

• What is the issue? Tell us about it as if we know nothing on the topic.
• What are the pros and cons of the issue?
• Why is the issue important?
• How might the issue impact your life?

You are required to participate in one group, and are welcome to participate in the other. Once the conversation is flowing, participate substantively with your peers to teach from one another.

Classmate #1:

In today’s society where almost everyone is online socializing, Facebook has implemented security concerns for the upcoming election in 2020. In 2016, four networks had been closed and terminated from using the social media site. The reason was because it had been determined that these four networks were tied to Russia and had a negative impact on the 2016 presidential election. So for precautionary measures, Facebook has released some new security features just in time for the upcoming election to make sure that the citizens of the United States made the genuine decision on electing the next president instead of any foreign entities playing apart in making that decision. One feature in particular is that a grey screen will appear in front of fact checked photos and videos which will display a message of whether the information being presented is fact checked and deemed as false information which is a great rollout plan because some users do not fact check their information that they view. Social media users can then make their own decision about who they want to vote for in the election based off of that information that they received that they did not fact check. This feature alone can help minimize election interfering from other countries that sways voters to vote for the other candidate instead of the one they was going to vote for. In conclusion, I am glad that the security concerns form the 2016 election made Facebook roll out some sort of plan that can detect and thwarts these types of interferences.

Reference

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/21/facebook-announces-new-election-security-features-removes-fake-accounts.html

Classmate #2:

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization that was created in the 60s to help “promote economic growth, prosperity, and sustainable development.” (What is the OECD). OECD has created a set of recommendations on the protection of children online. This recommendation highlights risks across three categories “Internet technology risks, (i.e. when the Internet is the medium through which the child is exposed to content or where an interaction takes place) consumer-related risks to children online, (i.e. the child is targeted as a consumer online), and information privacy and security risks (i.e. risks every Internet user faces but for which children form a particularly vulnerable user group. ” (The Protection of Children Online). And while the actual threats the children face are disturbingly far too numerous to highlight here, the document provides a detailed overview including reputable statistics or each threat.

Not only does the article highlight many potential threats to our children online it also shows existing policies that are in place to protect our children. One thing that was highlighted was that because this threat is so relatively new that “[i]t is not at present possible to compare the effectiveness of high-level policies owing to a lack of comparable evidence to make a case for best practices.” (The Protection of Children Online). This document recommends was that at the international level governing institutions take a multidimensional approach to drafting policy. There needs to be coherence, consistency, and coordination across institutional and managerial systems in order to protect our children online.

What is the OECD? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://usoecd.usmission.gov/our-relationship/about-the-oecd/what-is-the-oecd/.

The Protection of Children Online. (2012). Retrieved November 11, 2019, from https://www.oecd.org/internet/ieconomy/childrenonline_with_cover.pdf.
Minimum 100 Words Answer to Each.