...Internet privacy has become a major issue in today’s society, with technology advancing leaps and bounds faster than laws created by our government. Many companies are now creating policies that are seen as crossing the line. Google’s policies are becoming even more argued and discussed than any other. Many believe that Google is infringing on the rights of both individuals and countries as a whole. The interpretation of these policies, in the legal realm, is very misunderstood and seen as muddy water. Google says that collecting information from its customers, is necessary to better serve, both, it users and advertisers. A wide range of industries have the possibility of being affected with the privacy policy changes of Google, including healthcare, research, education and many more. Information collected by Google comes from nearly all of their services, including, Google Health, which is a service that allows health records to be shared amongst medical professionals and the patient. Google Health, takes the patients personal health record (PHR) and uploads it to a data base, which is easily accessed. This service can expedite health services, but is also seen as a privacy risk. According to Colin P. McCarthy of the William and Merry Law Review, “There is concern that PHR venders, such as Google and Microsoft, are not governed by the strict privacy and security rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA) and are held to no other...
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...Google and Internet Privacy In this exercise on ethics and privacy policy we focus our studies on an oft occurring situation in offices that have multiple employees sharing office resources that may lead to intrusive instances. The case refers to a couple of employee’s complaints of unwarranted pop-ups on their computers from unsolicited advertisers. In particular, the ads pertain to some sorts of HIV/AIDS medications that stimulate recovery from this fatal disease or at least help cope with it. The immediate suspicion goes toward targeted marketing carried out by many online advertisers today using pervious browsing history and other such tools available to them. The employees delve about the possibility of who these ads were targeted to without questioning their basic premise of whether these were targeted ads at all. They go on to narrow down the list of suspects to two individuals who also use the computer in question. In the discussion, they list out the personality traits of these individuals that they have been able to perceive based on their short interactions with them. (Since they work in different shifts the interactions would not have been detailed). These cursory definitions lead to them zeroing in on Charlie Patton as the culprit behind the pop-up ads. They suspect him of having AIDS and are now pondering on how to tackle the situation. However, the basic questions here aren’t being asked. They are, if it was indeed a problem, or just a marketing blitz with...
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...the company name] | Google and Privacy Issues | | | Google is the highest used internet search engine and is free for international use. Good and bad exists with everything and although Google provides people all over the world with tons of information, it is constantly being overlooked and controlled by the people who created it and who control it which can be seen as a huge downside for many individuals. There are many critisms of Google such as manipulation of search results, violating people’s privacy and censorship of search results such as page ranking. Although Google provides services that play a large part in many people’s lives for free, it does come at the price of an individual’s personal information and privacy. Google, Facebook and every browser ever created have always gathered data and used that data, but never have these companies created a compilation of personal information based on years of our trusting them. Google has been attempting and has begun to succeed in taking over all of our digital media, from the top used search engine as well as Gmail and Google news which have become the number one news source for many people. People are taking information that they want to hear and Google has been trapping society in a box by finding out our major interests and purely basing everything else off of that rather than incorporating new ideas. Google has the power to control us without us even realizing it and “because Google is so readily available...
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...systematically-gathered, street-level image collections, such as Google Street View, EveryScape, and Mapjack. In the process of gathering images of public spaces, these projects also capture license plates, faces, and other information considered sensitive from a privacy standpoint. In this work, we present a system that addresses the challenge of automatically detecting and blurring faces and license plates for the purpose of privacy protection in Google Street View. Though some in the field would claim face detection is “solved”, we show that state-of-the-art face detectors alone are not sufficient to achieve the recall desired for large-scale privacy protection. In this paper we present a system that combines a standard sliding-window detector tuned for a high recall, low-precision operating point with a fast post-processing stage that is able to remove additional false positives by incorporating domain-specific information not available to the sliding-window detector. Using a completely automatic system, we are able to sufficiently blur more than 89% of faces and 94 96% of license plates in evaluation sets sampled from Google Street View imagery. 1. Introduction In the last two years, there has been a rapid expansion of systematically-gathered street-level imagery available on the web. The largest and probably most well-known collection to date is Google Street View1 [13]. Street View launched as part of Google Maps in May 2007 and has expanded rapidly since, at...
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...countries. Thus, they considered Google Street View as an intrusion into their personal lives, since it could record anything that was happening on a particular road. It caused quite a fuss in Germany and people took up the issue with the court. In a monumental decision in 2010, the Berlin Supreme Court ruled that Street View was legal. People also came up with a term “Verpixelungsrecht”, which means the right to be pixelated. The people asked Google to blur out their faces from the pictures and also blur out the license plates of vehicles and other information like that. Thus, we can see that, overall the German people did not provide a positive response to Google Street View; since they believed it would invade their private lives inside their homes by roaming the streets and taking pictures. Part B Jeff Jarvis tried to convince the German people that Google Street View was not actually invading their privacy, but it was taking pictures of historical sites and national monuments, which were publicly owned. Occasionally, it would include people in its pictures. But these would still be legal as the Google cameras were not focusing on specific individuals. Jeff Jarvis also compared the Google Street View with the European tabloid “Bild”, which also invaded people’s privacy. He tried to convince the people that the Google cameras would not be invading their privacy inside their homes. He also claimed that Germans were selective in their privacy policies because they took pictures...
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...Introduction On a broader perspective, privacy can be defined as the state of being away of public attention. However, this meaning can be altered according to specific situation. The difference in the definition arises due to wide range of topics existing in connection with privacy. Some of these topics encompass physical, informational, organizational, spiritual, intellectual matters, etc. Due to the increasing awareness of the people with regards to this concept of privacy, importance was given in preserving as well as protecting the rights of the public. Some laws are enacted to address this concern, but the privacy laws differ in many countries in terms of the scopes and limitation caused by the variations in interpretations. The culture differences and norms among countries, which greatly influence the public’s perception, significantly affect the interpretation of privacy. It is evident, nowadays, that advancement in technology is faster than what was expected. It can also be observed that the technologies invented have contributed substantial improvements in the society as this made the lives of the people easier and better. However, it cannot be denied that it has a negative side that outweighs some of its benefits. In relation to the privacy issue mentioned above, these technological advancements create threats, specifically to the preservation of its users’ privacy. The rapid increase in the number of users can be associated with the increase of information flow...
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...Google Street View Invasion of Privacy Gustavo Barraza Google Street View Invasion of Privacy The enthusiasm was evident in social networks by the entry of Google Street View. For many of us was practical for others this development can mean a violation of privacy. The pictures of house numbers, which are taken from doors and fences on its Street View mapping service, appear on Google’s websites. According to the article of Consumer Affairs Editor (Hall, 2012), campaign groups said that the use of pictures of real house numbers presents “serious” security issues, and accused the internet company of being “underhand and crude”. Earlier this year, a Frenchman shown urinating in his front yard on Google Street View sued the company already facing criticism over privacy policy changes, PC World reported. Other embarrassing moments captured by the cars' cameras include men entering adult-entertainment stores and a naked man emerging from the trunk of a car. In 2010, Google's cars also collected Wi-Fi data in several countries, prompting independent investigations, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Information gathered included email passwords and content and device and network IDs related to private wireless networks (Poulnot, 2012). Not formal legal action against Google's street imagery has been filed yet. Hence, privacy law attorneys say taking pictures of public places is legal. "The law allows you to take a picture of anything you can see as long...
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...Ethical issue The issue is whether it is ethical for Google to collect payload data using its Street View vehicles through unencrypted Wi-Fi network. Google's street view project was intended to capture images and also Wi-Fi data which are then used to map businesses and landmarks. However Google was found to be collecting 'payload' data which was unnecessary for its location database project. Numerous investigations ensued, questioning the ethicality of the Street View debacle. Theoretical Perspectives This section will look at 3 schools of ethical theories. From a virtue ethics point of view, though Google's s slogan "Don't Be Evil" and its Google Code of Conduct established a baseline for honest decision-making, it is more action-based rather than character based. Being an Internet service provider that handles an immense amount of data, Google should aspire to be an organisation that is honest and truthful. Therefore a virtue ethicist will say that Google's data sniffing debacle is unethical since it is against what a virtuous organisation ought to do. Consequentialist theories can be classified based on the type of consequences, the primary beneficiary of the action and if it is agent-centered or agent neutral (Frost). Using the theory of ethical egoism, the consequences for the agent are taken to matter more than any other result. In the design document of the Street View Project, it was stated that Wi-Fi data Google gathered would "be analyzed offline for use in other...
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...Question A What are privacy policies and what are privacy protection features? “A statement that declares a firm’s or website’s policy on collecting and releasing information about a visitor. It usually declares what specific information is collected and whether it is kept confidential or shared with or sold to other firms, researchers or sellers”. (Business directory, 23rd of May) Electronic commerce websites must ensure that they have a strict set of privacy protection policies implemented to maintain consumer trust. For example, one of the most important features of privacy protection is giving the consumer the choice of whether their information can be collected by the e-commerce website. In addition to this, if information is collected by the website they have ensure that it’s protected and that all usage of that information has to be communicated to the...
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...Privacy has been a part of society for a very long time but it is not surprising that issues of honesty, deception and fraud all circulate personal privacy on a constant basis. Due to the acceleration of the Internet phenomena, people are finding out more evasive information then they thought existed regarding their private life. Due to the two different approaches to privacy, the aspect of consumer protection and free market privacy has now become a norm for most of society. There are many events out there regarding privacy and the rate at which technology is increasing, is making it just that much harder for us to control the issue. I have decided to elaborate on two current privacy issues that most probably affect everybody in this day and age in one way or the other. The two current event topics I thought would enlighten the reader incorporate the social network phenomena, Facebook and the privacy concerns over the new Google Street View Project. Both these examples involve the consumer protection and the free market. The social network phenomenon, Face book, is a free service that is the go-to place for people to share their likes, and dislikes, photos and dating status. However, Facebook has yet again been put on the chopping block regarding their privacy issues. Facebook has several features that have a significant impact on privacy and security of personal information. These features have raised issues of collecting, distributing, controlling and retaining information...
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...Contemporary Privacy Issues Report Introduction Privacy is one of the fundamental human rights, every individual should have full control over their personal information. However due to the continuous evolution of society and technology, the importance of a person's right to privacy has been eroded. This report discusses the contemporary privacy issues on different levels and areas, with specific focus on credit reporting, protection of customer’s private information by businesses, health records, internet data and government intelligence access to information. Sections of the current Privacy Act 1988, the new Australian Privacy Principles 2014, and legislations related to the topic areas mentioned above will also be discussed in detail, and the effectiveness of these laws will be analysed. A person's credit history contains a vast amount of personally sensitive information which have a high commercial value, therefore it is extremely important to ensure businesses adhere to the privacy act to prevent the unauthorised use of these information. Any misuse of information can cause great personal and financial harm to the victim. Privacy of health information is fundamental principle in health care. Lack of privacy information might result in people not seeking the health care they need which might be very risky to their own health and the health of others. The rate of technological development is accelerating too quickly and current laws are becoming irrelevant...
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...The power of Google should be limited before it becomes too much of a monopoly in the world especially with its deepening relationship with several of United States Government programs such as the CIA and NSA. With these governmental aids, who knows what is Google’s true potential. Who knows what privacy issues will occur in future. Even with Google’s mission statement “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” pretty much says in itself that Google doesn’t care about anyone’s privacy. Google’s mantra “Don’t be evil” is its reassurance that the information obtained by Google will not be used in a bad sense, but what is evil in Google’s eye. Didn’t you ever wonder how Google can supply free tools online such as g-mail and its toolbar? The answer is easy, Google provides these tools for free because there is an unrecognized agreement by many when you sign up for the usage of these tools and it is that Google can scan anything too collect data. For example, in your g-mail, Google scans all emails in g-mail that are being sent and received. Let alone whatever Google scans, they store. So that private love affair that you think is so private on that g-mail account, think again, because Google knows. So why does it matter that Google scans all of this information, what makes it so bad. Well going back to Google’s partnership with our government. Google can supply our government with so much more information then is imaginable. Some see this...
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...Unit V Case Study: “Google: Don’t Be Evil Unless…. By: Fasoro Adepitan, Columbia Southern University, USA MBA 6301, Business Ethics Assessment. The article focus on the evolution of Google from starting operations in a garage in Silicon Valley in 1998 to become one of the most powerful technology-driven companies in the world. Google’s philosophy is to offer everyone in the world free access to all information around the world; however, various ethical issues were raised from different quarters against Google’s operations. The first issue raised is the privacy of Gmail provided by Google. Customers complained of Google searching the contents of e-mails and design “customized” ads based on the contents. Another concern is the legal use of keeping information that is sent through Gmail without user being protected by the right given by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.(Stanwick, P.A. & Stanwick S.D. 2014). The Privacy of Individuals, is the second issue raised against Google, a reporter from CNETNews.com in just 30 minutes obtained and published as much relevant background information on Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt and leads to Google sanctioning CNET for a year, this reaction contradict the goal of Google to organize information in the World. Google and the Chinese government is another major issue raised, where Google censored internet search results in China to suit the Communist government in China , by filtered out and restricted Chinese populace from having access...
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...Cundotra, introduced the company’s latest social network project called Google Plus. The revealing of Google+ has been called a direct challenge to Facebook and with the more controlled privacy settings and enchanting features it much actually succeed in becoming the most popular social network site on the web. Google+ Versus Facebook Features The main concern between these two social networks is privacy. Facebook’s privacy settings have been criticized as confusing and hard to manipulate. In order to compete with Facebook “Google has to make the permission and privacy settings more tractable and easier to manipulate” (Beer) Says Senior Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff. Google is definitely succeeding in making this possible with its shorter privacy settings at only 1,000 words compared to Facebook’s 6,000 and with easier wording and terms the average person is able to understand it without having to be a computer genius. Another advantage of Google+ is that it does not take “your interests” from your profile and create ads all over the page. Sources say that eventually there will be ads but as of now there are none. Facebook does take your interests from your profile and create ads that are targeted to them on the sides of the page. Some people might see this as an invasion of privacy and thus switch to Google+ because of it. Another feature of Google+ that helps with privacy is this feature called “Circles” this element allows a person to put their...
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...Theology Final Paper – Online Privacy One of the most fascinating things in the twenty first century has to be the internet. We rely heavily on to for our news, entertainment, gaming, research, school work, shopping and pretty much anything that you can think of can be found on the internet. It has had such a large impact on our lives, but at what cost has this come to the user. What is really going on in the background of websites, are we being followed and tracked to just be sold off as a product to a marketing company. Many companies such a Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Twitter, and Apple all participate in the data collection. This data can be found as a cookie, a post, tweet, search, or an account that you may have with any of these particular companies. Each of these companies states their reasoning for tracking and it always comes down to providing a better experience. I believe that it is ok for companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Twitter, and Apple to track our searches and compile data about us as long as they keep the advertising online. Once they invade our home life such as phone calls and direct mailing, then I believe that they have gone too far. Nothing is ever truly free these companies are in it to make money and they make considerable amount of revenue from using our information to advertise to use. For now I will enjoy the free services that Google, Facebook and many other sites have to offer. Google the world’s largest search giant...
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