New Media and Privacy Issues
From Baruchnewmedia
What is Privacy?
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, privacy is 1) The the quality or state of being apart from company or observation, 2) Seclusion, freedom from unauthorized intrusion <one's right to privacy> and 3) The state of privacy is simply described as a place of seclusion. Upon reading this, the definition sounds clear and concise. Unfortunately though the traditional meaning of privacy is changing as we apply it to our use of new media. There appears to be no rigid definition of online privacy.
--Dianadover091 12:57, 10 May 2009 (CDT)
Understanding Privacy
Privacy pertaining to Social Networking Sites is defined in this context as personal information that an individual thinks is important and not accessible by the general population. Personal information includes a person’s name, address, e-mail address, online user name, telephone number, social security number, and any other background information with which that person could be identified. Privacy also involves the individual’s right to control the distribution of personal information. Having the power to control the sharing of information and how it will be used is an individual’s right to privacy.
Timm, Dianne M., and Carolyn J. Duven. "Privacy and social networking sites." New Directions for Student Services 124 (2008): 89-101. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2010.
Privacy in Social Networking
How can you have privacy in a virtual world?
Terms of Use, Notices and Revisions of LinkedIn: "LinkedIn may update this privacy policy at any time, with or without advance notice. In the event there are significant changes in the way we treat your personally identifiable information, we will display a notice on the LinkedIn website or send you an email, as provided for above. Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account. If you use the LinkedIn service after notice of changes have been sent to you or published on our site, you hereby provide your consent to the changed practices."
Terms of Use, Notices and Revisions of Facebook: "Your use of Facebook, and any disputes arising from it, is subject to this Privacy Policy as well as our Terms of Use and all of its dispute resolution provisions including arbitration, limitation on damages and choice of law. We reserve the right to change our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use at any time. Non-material changes and clarifications will take effect immediately, and material changes will take effect within 30 days of their posting on this site. If we make changes, we will post them and will indicate at the top of this page the policy's new effective date. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email, or through notice on our home page. We encourage you to refer to this policy on an ongoing basis so that you understand our current privacy policy. Unless stated otherwise, our current privacy policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account."
Privacy Rights of Ryze: "Notices to you may be made via posting on the RYZE website, email or regular mail. The Service may also provide notices of changes to the TOS or other matters by displaying notices or links to notices to you generally on the Service."
Users are responsible for maintaining the information that they provide on their user profiles. Upon reading the full term and agreement of each site, it is common to see that ...
--Dianadover091 12:57, 10 May 2009 (CDT)
"privacy." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 10 May 2009 [1]
People that post personal information on social networking sites can not expect for this information to stay private. When a user utilizes the privacy settings to prevent most users from viewing their personal information, photos or comments the user has an expectation that this information will remain private. What users should understand is anything posted online does not remain private, once posted it is public.
Timm, Dianne M., and Carolyn J. Duven. "Privacy and social networking sites." New Directions for Student Services 124 (2008): 89-101. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2010.
Can Information Revelation and Privacy Exist Together?
Main Article: Plaintiff's Postings on MySpace Negate Invasion of Privacy Claim
"People who live in glass houses should dress in the basement." -Jeff Neuburger
This quote is true in several facets of social networking sites. Many individuals have been exposing unnecessary information on their profile pages for others to see, such as their appalling photos, birth-dates, addresses, phone numbers, sibling names, and status updates (allowing others to easily track them down). At this present age, how else is privacy and confidentiality defined if personal information that many try to protect are disclosed to the public eye? How can individuals claim that their privacy is invaded if they do not even filter their own information on their profile pages? There are many questions that are spread throughout the web that address privacy issues in social networking sites. In fact, it is the individual's fault for publishing their own personal information for everyone to see, when there are privacy options in social networking sites as Myspace and Facebook to prevent others from seeing your feed or other information that you want to keep confidential. The use of social networking sites have opened a new era for many to get the opportunity to live in glass houses, where the general public can see through the barriers set to secure one's privacy. How can revealing information by one's own doing and privacy exist together? The answer is that they cannot! It is like living in a glasshouse, where everyone can see what a person is doing, while simultaneously trying to cover everything in order to protect and secure his or her privacy.
Sandler v. Calcagni
"Sandler v. Calcagni involves a dispute between high school students that escalated into petty criminal charges against one of the students, a retaliatory "tell-all" book written by that student's parents and printed by an online print-on-demand company, and a resulting lawsuit by the second student against the first student and her parents for defamation and privacy torts. The opinion is of interest for its ruling that the print-on-demand company is not liable for defamation as a publisher of the tell-all book, and that point, an important one for online print-on-demand companies, is addressed in the August edition of the New Media & Technology Law Newsletter. But another point in the opinion is interesting as well, that is, the court's ruling that the second student's invasion of privacy claim against the print-on-demand company, based on public disclosure of private facts, was negated by her own posting of the claimed private information on her publicly accessible MySpace page."
"The plaintiff's MySpace postings also figured in the court's ruling on the student's claim that statements in the book concerning her receipt of "professional help" were private facts. The court ruled that because the plaintiff had admitted on MySpace that she had sought psychological help in college, that fact not only was not private, but her admission of it on MySpace demonstrated that "she did not believe that the disclosure of this fact to be highly offensive.""
Based on the case of Sandler vs. Calgagni, another good question to tackle is: Do social networking sites really protect one's privacy or does an individual bring the consequences of allowing others to access their personal information upon themselves? Of course both are at fault, but this inquiry can be answered in a multitude of ways. Opinions vary and are plentiful, as they can be expressed very differently, and more than one answer may be correct.
--Ktorres 11:14, 10 Nov 2009 (CDT)
"Plaintiff's Postings on MySpace Negate Invasion of Privacy Claim". New Media & Technology Law Blog. 2008. Proskauer. 17 Aug 2008 [2]
Social networking and privacy are on a collision course. Users tend to want the best of both world where their privacy is protected while they're allowed to view as much information about other users as possible. For social networking to work people must be able to give up their information in exchange for services. In "Google's Orwell Moment" by Daniel Lyons, he discusses how our information has formed into a type of currency for social networks to use and where it's leading.
Lyons writes, "What's happening is that our privacy has become a kind of currency...Google charges nothing for Gmail; instead, it reads your e-mail and sends you advertisements based on keywords in your private messages. The real holy grail is you list of friends. With that information, marketers can start sending more targeted messages. If you like a certain movie, or album, or mountain bike, your friends will probably like those too. It's not pinpoint accuracy. But the data helps marketers 'narrowcast' their advertising." The very fact that social networks are able to obtain, store and sort users personal information allows them great insight into individuals interests and likes which provides a gateway to selective advertising companies have never been able to access before. "The genius of Google, Facebook and others is that they've created services that are so useful or entertaining that people will give up privacy in order to use them. Now the trick is to get people to give up more- in effect, to keep raising the price of the services," said Lyons.
"Google's Orwell Moment". Newsweek, 155(9), 20. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. 2010. 17 Feb 2010 [3]
by Jennifer Chan
New Media and Privacy Issues from Different Perspectives
Social networking among other technologies not only has a positive impact on society but a negative or dark side as well. One of the main issues is the invasion of user's privacy. According to “Why Web 2.0 will end your privacy,” Will Harris emphasizes the reason why social networks and sites such as MySpace, are worth the price they are in the market are because of data or information. More specifically it is our data and information from all of the social networking sites’ users.
Sociological Perspective
- Social networking definitely has a powerful influence over our lives. The Scientific American Mind study shows many benefits of social networking ranging from additional resilience to greater life satisfaction to reducing the risk of health problems. And according to “Flocking behavior lands on social networking sites” by Sharon Jayson, other studies in the past two years found that feeling part of a larger group helps in stroke recovery and memory retention and boosts overall well-being. Social networks influence our behavior and management of finances and the way we vote. However, social networks are not there to bring us friends but rather to make money by data mining and by selling virtual ads.
- The younger generation is exposed to the hype of social networks but is not warned respectfully. According to Robert Kraut, a professor of human-computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, those who used the Internet to meet people online more than to communicate with friends and family increased their depression and feelings of isolation. To the extreme, this influences suicidal attempts. For instance, an incident within the past year with Megan Meier greatly disturbed society. In the article “Jury to deliberate in MySpace suicide case” by Alex Dobuzinskis: Lori Drew posed as a teen boy on the MySpace social networking site to tease and humiliate 13 year old Megan Meier because she called her daughter ugly.
- As social networking and new media are enhancing, it is shifting our social values. The usage of online credit cards is raising as convenience is important in society. But at the same time, we face the loss of personal privacy which may include medical and financial details. According to Intelligence Factory observers, true anonymity is no longer possible. With today’s society moving in a faster pace than ever, features such as same day delivery and instant meals will only cause future generations to expect faster and better service.
Technological Perspective
- Usage of new media technologies is an enhancement towards society. However, it brings upon the issue of privacy as well. This is a critical issue as when such information can deal with personal information. Outsourcing is being utilized as we speak and seems to maintain a steady place in the market as companies search for prospects. Important factors in outsourcing that are considered are quality maintenance, and legal differences. And it may be difficult for the company to gain total control over the passage of corporate data. Within the next few years, the impact of social networking on organizations will be further influenced. As CEO John Chambers recently noted, Cisco's seen an exponential explosion in the use of collaborative technology in the past six months. Interesting information from “Don't be pooh-poohing social networking” by Johna Till Johnson shows blogging doubled in usage in four months; the number of wiki pages increased sevenfold in six months, and the number of video blogging files increased fourfold in the space of six months, while users grew eightfold. As social networks and new media have grown tremendously, they are expected to continue its growth in the near future. As it benefits the larger organizations, influence on individual performance and communication is a positive effect as well.
Educational Perspective
- In the past, Facebook made changes to its policy and features. For instance, in “Facebook privacy changes raise student ire; Some complain new features of social-networking site have stripped users of their privacy” by Alex Standard. As a majority of social networks consist of students, their opinions are taken seriously. With the addition of news feed and mini-feed, any changes the user made either to their personal information, photos or videos, etc. were sent by feeds or notification to all of their friends or connections. This caused students to feel deprived of privacy and without an option to opt-out of such feature was inefficient. The reason users prefer Facebook over MySpace is because of its privacy settings. For instance, to join a certain network on Facebook requires the user to have a registered email for that network. Social networks such as MySpace have set settings where the user 18 or older who wants to friend someone 16 and under would need to know the person’s full name and/or email address. But these changes are the effect of several arrests of people who used the site to prey on minors.
Moral Perspective
- People may refer to social networking as a gray area because it can confuse them. People need to use their own judgment and take personal responsibility to apply professional ethics in and out of the workplace. Social networking is all about how we use it. Within the past two months, Facebook initiated a ‘memorialize’ function for members who have died. By request, activation of this mode for the dead will remove any sensitive information and contact information on that account. And will only allow access to those that are friends before the tragedy. According to “Social networking for the dead” by Alan Wilson, people may turn to Facebook during tragic times. For instance, a friend of Wilson’s daughter died and hundreds of her friends turned to Facebook. As they shared their experiences and feelings toward the dead, they came together as a community united in grief. There are people who may use social networks in good terms, while there are those who have negative intentions and attempt to deprive others of their information.
Economic Perspective
- Today’s technology trends should be analyzed deeply. They are transforming many of our markets and businesses. New media and technologies now allow workers to work outside corporate boundaries. It gives companies and its employees more options in terms of convenience. Companies by outsourcing are able to reduce its costs and expenses. Through social networks they are able to work more efficiently. However, the threat of social media is the acknowledgment that communities can no longer control their marketing messages. More than half of US companies do not allow employees to visit social network sites such as Facebook, MySpace or Twitter while at work.
- Social networks can help elevate the economy by influencing the job market by creating new opportunities, however, companies may still believe they are more intended for only personal use. Social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn are popular sites that professionals use for recruitment purposes. It is a convenient way to find or let information out and through the million applicants; recruiters could call up the specific person.
□ Alexa Stanard. "Facebook privacy changes raise student ire :Some complain new features of social-networking site have stripped users of their privacy.. " Detroit News,ProQuest. Web.
□ Dobuzinskis, Alex. "Jury to deliberate in MySpace suicide case | Technology." Reuters.com. N.p., n.d. Web. [4]
□ Harris, Will. "Why Web 2.0 will end your privacy." bit-tech.net. N.p., n.d. Web. [5]
□ Jayson, Sharon. "'Flocking' behavior lands on social networking sites." USATODAY. N.p., n.d. Web. [6]
□ Wilson, Alan. "Social networking for the dead." guardian.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. [7]
Social Networking Do Care
Social Networking Sites provide the means for the processing of user data and provide all the 'basic' services related to user management (e.g. registration and deletion of accounts). Just because content is produced and posted by users, this does not allow these sites to escape their legal obligations to users.
Most social networking sites always try to secure your private information from others but recently, Facebook is having problems with phishers, which is one great example of a problem in our privacy. Another example includes spams.
Social Networking and Privacy
Social networking among other technologies of new media not only have a positive impact on society but a negative or dark side as well. One of the main issues is the user's privacy. According to “Why Web 2.0 will end your privacy,” Will Harris emphasizes the reason why social networks and sites such as MySpace are worth the price they are in the market are because of data or information. More specifically it is our data and information from all of the social networking sites’ users. Everything we have ever uploaded and details about us are with them as well. This type of information is useful for the market as companies would be interested in statistically, what we are interested in and target specific locations, age groups or networks.
Sangita Tamang: In one hand we are benefited from the social networking sites as we are able to keep in touch with our family and friends. On the another hand we need to be very careful when we use this sites because we are risking our privacy. Almost all sites that offer free services, online networking or shopping, keep records of our activities and amalgamates it with data from online tracking sources and sell it to someone. Most likely they sell our information to the companies who need our information for advertisement of their products. There are no U.S. Federal statues that protects online privacy. There are no effective control over the use of personal information by online surveillance.
As social networking and new media are enhancing, it shifts our social values. The usage of online credit cards are raising as convenience is important in society. But the same time, we face the loss of personal privacy which may include medical and financial details. According to Intelligence Factory observers, true anonymity is no longer possible. With today’s society moving in a faster pace than ever, features such as same day delivery and instant meals will only cause future generations to expect faster and better service.
In the near future the market and society will overall continue to advance or become enhanced through social networking and technologies of new media. And as social networking websites attempt to protect users privacy in steps, securities will further enhance as social networking continues to become part of our daily lives.
How To Protect Your Privacy on Social Networking Sites
Securing your personal information on social networking sites isn’t only a matter of privacy. It’s also an important step in preventing identity theft. If you share personal information online, you make it easier for identity thieves to make off with your life story (and credit cards, and social security number, etc.) without a second thought. Victims of identity theft can suffer significant financial losses, and can spend years working to “clear their name.”
Users of social networking sites and online communities should be aware of the legal implications of publicly posted information and ways to protect their privacy online. Here are some suggested ways to protect your privacy on social networking sites:
• Use Social Networking Sites wisely. Understand which information you should and shouldn’t share and how you can actively set limits (privacy settings) on the information you share. Each social networking sites takes a slightly a different approach to sharing your information.
• Be aware that information posted on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and other online networking places is public. Think twice before pressing “Publish” or “Share.” Avoid sharing personal information such as phone numbers and addresses online. Change passwords every thirty to sixty days, and don’t use passwords that are easy to guess (such as variations of loved one’s names).
• Be proactive in finding and using the controls these sites provide to protect your personal information and reduce your exposure to identity theft. According to McAfee, users should be weary of the links they click on facebook. It might look like a farmville invite, but it may contain malicious third party applications link.
According to the FBI and Myspace Myspace Safety a user should follow these rules: •Children are the most likely to post valuable information on the website without realizing that it is potentially placing them in danger. Young children may also not be as perceptive to a phony profile on a website as someone who is older. Keeping the computer in a shared area allows others to know that they are being watched and therefore helps keep them out of danger from saying inappropriate things to strangers.
•It is recommended that the user always have some sort of firewall or anti-spamming program installed. People are able to embed viruses into their links which puts the visitor at risk of becoming infected.
•It is advised to all members that they should display caution when choosing on whether or not to have contact with a social networking member rather than keeping the relationship strictly virtual.
•A user is also advised to never post their address, phone number, or actual name on their profile as it makes it easier for them to become a victim. •Do not upload private photos onto social networking site. Terms of use on sites such as facebook state that all photos belong to them once uploaded to their site.
Google Online Medical Records
Google launched an online service which lets users store and manage their health care information online. Many concerns over peoples privacy were brought up lately.The thought of my medical history being placed online scares me to death. As we all know the internet is a great place for hackers to find a huge amount of private information. Google claims the service will improve the health care system and save the country allot of money.Doctors who are taking care of patients in critical condition will be able to access their records in a matter of seconds. Google's intentions are good what they forgot to take into consideration are the risks associated with placing such delicate information online
Here is an interesting article which discusses the subject in depth. http://en.kioskea.net/actualites/google-launches-online-medical-records-service-10386-actualite.php3
Privacy on the Data Web
The World Wide Web in its current form, linking documents with hyperlinks in an associative network, has led to a number of concerns about issues related to privacy, copyright, and intellectual property.
The linked data Web, in which assorted data is brought together from dispersed sources relatively flawlessly with user-provided ontologies, allows information about individuals or organizations to be queried despite being collected at different times for different purposes, with different provenances and different formats. The benefits of such a Web are manifest but threats to personal privacy will also increase as boundaries blur between personal information published intentionally, that published conditionally (for example, to specific social networking sites for a specific audience) and information over which the subject has no control.
One way of expressing the problems that will face us is to ask the question “who owns all this data?” When it is personal data, surely we do? Surprisingly, the answer is no. Even if you enter the data yourself, for example onto some Internet service, you do not own it—the service generally does. You will have signed up for something in the small print—that is, you will tacitly have consented to handing over the data. Given the interactive nature of the Web where one creates data consciously and unconsciously all the time. It has always been somewhat flawed, with few limits to the uses to which data is put when consent to process has been lawfully obtained (and privacy policies may change after one has consented). Naive users and minors often treat policies, or terms and conditions, as a tedious box necessary to check to get onto a site, rather than as signing away their rights. But even when there are no problems of asymmetric information or proportionality, there are social issues to be considered—privacy is not a private matter. It impacts on a series of wider communities.
Given the benefits of wide access to data, it is important to ask whether “ownership” is the concept needed. In the first place, legal frameworks that define a type of data ownership for the subject are absent—these are facts about a person, not copyright material, intellectual property, or trade secrets.
The most important power of ownership is denial of access: if I own something, I can stop you using it. But this undermines the potential of the Web of linked data. In the old days the value of information was in its scarcity, but on the Data Web value comes from abundance, the ability to place information in new and unexpected contexts. Ensuring data is correct is more valuable than preventing its use. We should also not ignore the opposite pull from rights of access to information, as a corollary to rights of freedom of expression, while many people and organizations have legitimate interests in access to data. Under a data protection regime, individuals have the right to inspect and correct information being held about them, in theory allowing them to address issues of incorrectness, inappropriateness, excessiveness, and so on.
Regulation of the Web is a complex matter, crossing jurisdictions and posing problems for the W3C’s consensus- based standards approach. Regulation generally leverages normality, and is premised on common behavior and shared interpretations of a situation. It is more effective if it goes with the grain of a society’s norms, but online there is no “normal” behavior, as work on the scale-free aspects of the Web has repeatedly demonstrated, while user understanding of online situations is highly heterogeneous.
The Web moves so quickly that regulation is risky. It takes time and coordination across borders; by the time rules are in place, behavioral patterns may likely have changed, and all that is left is unintended consequences.
- O ’Hara, K. and Shadbolt, N., The Spy in the Coffee Machine: The End of Privacy As We Know It. Oneworld, Oxford, 2008.
- Pitt-Payne, T. Access to electronic information. In C. Reed, and J. Angel, Eds., Computer Law: The Law and Regulation of Information Technology, 6th ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2007.
- S hadbolt, N., Hall, W., and Berners-Lee, T. The Semantic Web revisited. IEEE Intelligent Systems 23, 20 (April 2010), 96–101.
- H etcher, S.A. Norms in a Wired World, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004.
- Weitzner, D. et al. Information accountability. Commun. ACM 51, 6 (June 2008), 82–87.
- O'Hara K, Shadbolt N. Viewpoint: Privacy on the Data Web. Communications of the ACM [serial on the Internet]. (2010, Mar), [cited April 28, 2010]; 53(3): 39-41. Available from: Academic Search Complete.
Privacy and Online Shopping
Tools in our busy lives help make things easier. Online shopping is one of them. We can buy almost anything on the web. Those who buy online know that it is very convenient but do they really know what how dangerous it can be?
Chris Pickering, a senior consultant with the Cutter Consortium, a Boston research company, says the Internet has made personal data like a "genie in the bottle". "Once you let your information out on the Web, it's very hard to get it back," said Pickering. "Every new relationship with a Website should be approached with suspicion."
From now on follow precautions since your information can be used as a tool for identity theft. Many sites show how to protect yourself.
The main ones include:
1. Secure Connection
□ First, if you look at the top of your screen where the Web site address is displayed, you should see https://. The "s" that is displayed after "http" indicates that Web site is secure. Often, you do not see the "s" until you actually move to the order page on the Web site.
□ To determine if a Web site is secure is to look for a closed padlock displayed at the bottom of your screen. If that lock is open, you should assume it is not a secure site.
□ A symbol that indicates you are on a secure site is an unbroken key.
2. Research the Web Site Before You Order
It is very easy to order something but make sure you know the company as well if you are not sure about it do your homework and research. The best way is to make purchase with small amount of money so you can make sure it is not scam.
3. Read the Web Site's Privacy and Security Policies
Read the privacy policy of the e-commerce because this way you would know how you information is used and if they share with third parties. You can check if the company is the member of a seal-of-approval program that sets voluntary guidelines for privacy-related practices, such as TRUSTe (www.truste.org).
Even the policy doesn’t guarantee that the information would be used in right way since policies change all the time as well others can get your information by hacking the system.
4. What's Safest: Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Cash, or Checks?
Of course credit card is the safest way since you are protected under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act. You can dispute the charge, which you did not authorized and you are responsible for the first $50 but many times you do not even have to pay this.
DO not use you debit card, check card or ATM card since this way the information about you bank account could be accessed.
5. Never Give Out Your Social Security Number
Never provide you Social Security Number for any purchase because you do not need it in E-commerce. Providing this information could put you identity in danger.
6. Disclose Only the Bare Facts When You Order
When you place your order you need to put your name or address but do not put more information then need it. Many times more information is need it only for marketing purpose.
7. Keep Your Password Private
Most web site which do e-commerce require to set up password and login to be safe never tell anyone your password. You really do not know who will use it. At the time when you create password do not use common questions since people can figure out and be little creative and never use the same password for other web sites.
8. Always Print Copies of Your Orders
After placing an order online, you should receive a confirmation page that reviews your entire order. It should include the costs of the order, your customer information, product information, and the confirmation number. Make sure to print this site to prove that you purchased that product.
9. Shop with Companies Located in the United States
When you shop within the U.S., you are protected by state and federal consumer laws. You might not get the same protection if you place an order with a company located in another country.
10. Pay Attention to Shipping Facts
Under the law company needs to ship your product in the time stated in the ad other wise you should be able to cancel your order or you agree for delay.
11. Use Shopper's Intuition
Look at the site with a critical eye. And heed the old adage, "If it looks too good to be true, it probably is." Other wise I’m sure you will be able to find other company, which can provide you with the product.
12. Consider Using Single-use Card Numbers
Many banks and financial institutions offer virtual credit card which can has set up spending limit, expiration date and this way you do not have to give a way information of your credit card. They can also be used to buy goods and services over the phone and through the mail but can’t be used for in-store purchases that require a traditional plastic card.
Most important thing is that you should be aware of identity theft. As e-commerce becomes common, the stole identity committed over the Internet will be popular. Every technology brings cons but just right use can protect you from getting into hassle.
Anonymous. "Fact Sheet 23:Online Shopping Tips:E-Commerce and You." [8] (retrieved on 2010-04-30)
Tiltman, David. "Online privacy." Media: Asia's Media & Marketing Newspaper (2010): 7. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web. 30 Apr. 2010.
Larkin, Erik. "Go Virtual for Safer Online Shopping." PC World 27.11 (2009): 35-36. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 30 Apr. 2010.
Privacy and Secure surfing
To be anonymous online for security reasons, whether it is for shopping or posting on forums.Proxies can either be a separate computer system or application program that can hide ip. Some examples of web-based proxy servers:
* Anonymouse - Free anonymous surfing. * Art of IP Bending - Proxy with SSL support. * FilterSneak - Anonymizer to bypass web filters * Proxify - Free web proxy with optional removal of cookies, scripts, ads and referers. Requires cookies. * SlyUser - CGI Proxy site * Vtunnel - Web proxy supporting SSL
