The issues of privacy and
confidentiality are extremely controversial when considering the characteristics
of new media. With the use of new media technologies, users place large amounts
of personal information, and data, onto the social networking websites, and
applications, that they routinely use. In most cases, this information, and
data, can be seen and accessed by other users with relative ease. By placing such
personal information online, users become susceptible to possible, future
consequences. In the process of job recruitment and college admissions,
recruiters tends to review applicants' online presence to further learn about
the candidates and a negative online presence may lead to dismissal. The sense
of anonymity that the internet allows for also means that users are generally
more susceptible to illegal misuse of data, such as through identity theft and fraud.
In addition, many technology companies collect such data to determine trends
and to sell such information for profits, and some argue that such practices
are intrusive and wrong. Many believe that privacy is an essential human right
and with the popularity of new media technologies, users should remain informed
about such issues of privacy and confidentiality.
Great point about job recruiters and college admissions using new media to look into the lives of their applicants. Interestingly, it's also started to work the other way around. Sites like RateMyProfessor and Glassdoor also allow employees and students to publicize things that happen in the classroom or office. Before the proliferation of these sites, those were private spaces accessible only to the students or workers, but now the general public can have insight into what goes on in them.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that now first of all many apps ask for access to a lot of our information including our credit card information sometimes which is very scary because hackers can easily steal that information. In todays world companies have to be more respective of our personal information and make their IT department much stronger so they can keep out hackers and safeguard our personal information. We have to understand that their are benefits of that like you said about finding jobs and for recruitment purposes, but I think as a user we have to see if the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
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