...The right to privacy for online Internet activity is a serious issue in the world today. Some internet users wish to hide their identities while participating in discussions of sensitive topics. Others fulfill fantasies and harmlessly role play under the cover of a false identity in chat rooms, but there are the eternal "bad apples," and on the Internet, they are the people who use anonymous servers as more than a way to avoid responsibility for controversial remarks. Cases of harassment and abuse have become more and more frequent because there are ways to avoid people knowing your true identity. There are also problems with frauds and con artists who elude law enforcement authorities through anonymous mailings and postings. Nowhere in the United States Constitution does the word “privacy” exist. Rather, the Supreme Court has decided that “privacy” is to be protected by the amendments. It is the essence of the Bill of Rights and so it is a guaranteed right. The Invasion of Privacy is covered under the 4th Amendment in the Bill of Rights. However without a reasonable expectation of privacy, there is no privacy right to protect. Files stored on disk or tape in the home is protected, but the rule becomes less clear when applied to files stored on an Internet access provider's server. Web servers, on the other hand, may be protected by federal law. Some argue that consent of the access provider, however, is all that is required for law enforcement authorities to search and seize...
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...The Right to Privacy Privacy is one of the most fundamental values on which our country was founded, and the privacy of an individual is one of the most important rights. So do we really have a right to privacy? According to the article written by Warren and Brandeis “the individual shall have full protection in person and in property of the law”. The purpose of this article written by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis is to consider whether the existing laws properly protect the privacy of an individual. Warren and Brandeis purpose for writing such an article was to argue that the laws have to change with the times. Rather than just protect an individual only for “physical interference with life and property” the laws had to evolve with the changing times. Because an individual life gradually expanded so should the laws that was set out to protect them. The authors argue that individuals have the right to enjoy life and to be left alone. The individual have the right to determine how their thoughts and emotions be communicated and how, their thoughts and emotions are expressed. The authors concluded that the thoughts, emotions, and sentiments of individuals needed protection. Protection preventing what could be ultimately written and publish, giving the individual the right to enjoy life. The authors assume that individuals shall have full protection in person and in property, and also the right to life served only to protect the person from battery. They realized that...
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...The technologies described are an unethical violation of the privacy rights of the individuals subjected to them. Many customers are protesting the data collection as an invasion of privacy. In the age of smartphones, it’s become easier for stores to monitor the customers who give them business. Unless some form of regulation is established, this type of monitoring will continue to become a part of reality. Many customers don’t trust stores with their personal information after the Target credit card data was hacked. In the New York Times article, “Attention Shoppers: Store is Tracking Your Cell” many customers say what stores our doing is way over the line (Clifford). Robert Plant, a computer information systems professor at the University...
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...Employee Privacy Rights in the Workplace Vicki Puckett COM 120 Allyson Wells October 8, 2006 Do you think that your employee rights entitle you to workplace privacy? Well, think again. The fact is that most employers monitor their employee in one way or another. In the workplace, many employers are violating the privacy rights of their employees by surveillance, genetic testing, and sexual orientation. According to some workplace privacy studies, there is a good chance that your employer is monitoring your internet activities, including the Web pages you read, and messages you read and post in forums, blogs, and chat rooms. Your employer could also be spying on you in several other ways as well. Some may include recording your phone conversations, videotaping your every move within the company, and tracking your location with the company cell phone. Such monitoring is almost entirely unregulated. Therefore, unless company policy specifically states otherwise, your employer may listen, watch and record most of your workplace communications. The rapid growth of workplace monitoring and surveillance technology has far out paced the development of laws that protect worker privacy interests. Modern technology has provided employers with more advanced and effective means of monitoring their employees. As a result, electronic monitoring of employees in the workplace has become far more prevalent in recent years...
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...CCTV cameras (Daily Mail, 2016). In support of mass surveillance, the ‘if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear’ argument is used commonly against privacy advocates. However, there are those that have discredited this claim and argue against it. In this essay, arguments will be made to explain why I disagree with the statement ‘if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear from surveillance’. This will be done by exploring the right to privacy, the problem with not knowing...
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...Employee Privacy Rights in the Workplace Employee Privacy Rights in the Workplace Employees must have the right to phone security, application confidentiality, the right to no sexual harassment, and the right to not have any personal questions asked that do not pertain to work. Employee privacy laws are limited, which makes it easy for employers to invade the privacy of its employees. Some things are personal and should remain that way. In today’s working environment, employers need to reevaluate their techniques, approach this ongoing situation, and find alternative solutions to this problem. There are limits to everything in life, and there needs to be limits set on employee privacy laws. Employee privacy laws are limited; they are not set up to protect employees. Someone needs to do something to protect employee privacy. Many Americans accuse their employers of violating their privacy. Employers are becoming more vicious on how they screen new candidates as well as their current employees. Normally employers will conduct background checks, random drug testing, and maybe even a credit check. The question that needs addressing here is “How much are we willing to give up satisfying our employers”? Employees need to become more aware of this situation. Employers have the upper hand in this situation. Everyday they find a new way to invade their employees’ privacy. In today’s world of ever-changing technology, the court and legislature systems...
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...information have forever changed. Employers are playing constant “catch up” with new technologies that are utilized on a broad scale long before policies are created to manage their impacts. Privacy issues often arise in connection with employer efforts to locate, hire and evaluate the most qualified and reliable employees. Improvements in technology, such as the rapid rise of the use of electronic mail and the increasing use of surveillance cameras, often force otherwise reluctant employers to readdress the balance between employees' privacy concerns and perceived business needs. In fact, nearly 67% of all companies currently use some type of surveillance in the workplace. According to a recent poll, “. . . over 66% percent of those surveyed had used the Internet from work in the past 24 hours.” (M.Lee Smith Publishers, Hospitality Workforce Trends, January 2000) In addition, when issues in his or her personal life impact an employee’s work, the employer must make judgments as to the appropriate level of involvement. Lastly, as traffic on the “information superhighway” continues to explode a number of substantive questions about the use and abuse of these information networks arises. What are the ramifications for employees’ right to privacy in the workplace? Does an employer have the right to search an employee’s computer files or review the employee’s electronic mail (“E-mail”)? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using surveillance at the workplace? As you...
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...Dania Afif El-Achmar The Rights and Ethics of Employees with Respect to Privacy at Work Widespread use of electronic communications media such as e-mail and information resources such as the Internet has prompted many employers to engage in electronic surveillance of their employees. Employers are monitoring—and even recording—employees’ personal phone calls, e-mails, and workplace conversations. Video cameras are trained on employee parking lots, break areas, and other parts of the workplace. Today’s employers have the legal right to conduct search and seizure of employees’ personal property; monitor the employee’s telephone calls, workplace computer, Internet, fax use, and e-mail; perform employee drug testing; and conduct investigation and surveillance of employees. Electronic Surveillance The ethics of employee surveillance are problematic, because both the company and the employee have rights, and these rights can conflict. The employee owes the company a solid day’s work and protection of proprietary property and knowledge, but the employee can claim rights such as privacy, compensation for injury, freedom from harassment, and a living wage. Employees are often not aware of the fact that their e-mails are being read by their employers. Moreover, most employees are unaware of the extent to which their employers can and actually do monitor what they do. Studies indicated that worldwide, approximately 27 million employees workforce, are under continuous Internet or e-mail use...
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...The concept of an individuals privacy and it’s juxtaposition with freedom of press has been an area of concern for the European Court of Human Rights for many years, as such many legislative proceedings within the United Kingdom have followed precedent set out in those cases. Richard Peppiat, former journalist for the Daily Star Newspaper during an interview once quoted, “When you are immersed in that world you don’t see people as people. You see them as targets who can provide information or quotes. You lose any moral or ethical considerations. In your desperation to get a story you forget you are dealing with individuals, family life, privacy.”.(Carrick, D. 2012) The object of this essay is to evaluate the significance of the issue of balance between an individual supposed right to Privacy and the collective right given to Freedom of Expression within the Print industry. Specific reference will be made to adjudications made by the European Court of Human rights and how this has set out guidelines regarding the aforementioned. Furthermore, these cases will be analysed and compared to notable United Kingdom court cases to allow further insight into this particular problem facing the Media industry. The National Union of Journalists set out a code of conduct, outlining the main principles of journalistic ethics, something that has been held as industry guidelines since it’s creation in 1936. Part of that code of ethics states, “A journalist does nothing to intrude...
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...Human Rights final essay What rights to privacy do celebrities have? Do many celebrities often have their privacy rights breached? Privacy rights are difficult to explain as every individual perceives them as something different. The privacy of celebrities in the media has been an issue since the start of time and has only been getting worse as technology is improving. I believe that everybody should have equal rights but unfortunately celebrities privacy rights are not acknowledged as much as they should be by most magazines, newspapers and other forms of media. High profile individuals are not looked at as normal people with real feelings, but rather as money makers and news stories. There is a blurred line in relation to privacy when it...
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...Legal systems based off of civil, common, and religious law have been established throughout the world since the beginning of mankind. Although these systems commonly tie into one another, each policy has been shaped by its country’s unique history and their individual variations. Statutes in many sorts are provided by whom ever deems power within a particular nation. As straight-forward as this may seem, a sense of moral and reason tend to influence the law where a specific statute may not exist. If an individual is convicted of a crime, of which is not stated in a state or nation’s penal code, how is it possible to be convicted at all? If an individual proceeds to use a defense in a lawful contention such as the “right to privacy,” which is not explicitly written in the Constitution, is it a valid defense at all? I believe these can be answered, with the consideration of and through, moral and reason. Using the United States as an example, the law has been divided between the common law of the nation and its military legal system. There is a need to separate these systems solely because the responsibilities and duties of a civilian and a servicemen are simply incompatible. As we know The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. Therefore, not only does each individual state govern with The Constitution at hand, but they also provide a separate penal code unique to its own. Laws prohibiting a personal liberty such as abortion (where arguments have been...
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...Can a teacher’s (or parent’s) democratic right to know ever over-ride a child’s right to privacy? Fundamental to democracy is the right of the people to know. Democracy dictates that all citizens have a right to be fully informed, and thus have a right to know - this applies equally to children as to adults. However, counterbalancing the democratic right to know is the right to privacy. It is here that conflict arises – at what stage does the right to know override the right to privacy? The concept of privacy needs to be considered in five key areas – bodily observation (what we observe of others), bodily space (that which concerns our personal body), property (that which we own), information (documented and undocumented about ourselves) and thoughts and communication (personal thoughts and feelings). Each of these key areas has levels of privacy invasion acceptable to society. For example, bodily space invasion may be permitted when assisting those who are physically unable to perform a task by themselves. Privacy is something we value and may take for granted; however, there are occasions when an invasion of privacy may be justified. If privacy is to be breached, there must be compelling evidentially based reasons (legal, moral or prudential) for doing so. For example – parents have a vested interest in their children’s education, and in how they are performing. Information shared by the school with the parents regarding how their child is performing can assist...
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...In regards to Issue 16 Unit 5 in the textbook, I strongly agree that government Internet surveillance efforts threaten privacy and civil rights. It is a basic human right to allow someone to keep something secret to oneself. We owe no explanation or clarification to anyone for our private matters. With the governments increasing efforts in Internet surveillance this basic right is violated. It is as if we have become completely transparent to people we know nothing about ourselves. New technological tools are vulnerable to exploitation by governments aiming to crush dissent and deny human rights. All governments struggle to balance a need to deal with serious issues such as security, hate speech and child safety for their citizens but in repressive societies, these concerns often serve as convenient pretext to engage in censorship or surveillance of the internet that violates the rights and privacy of users and threatens the free flow of information. We all are aware that he internet and other communication technologies have created a vast amount of opportunities to share information, opening-up paths for pro democracy groups, activists, journalists and individuals around the world to share their opinion and judgment on various policies made by their respective government. I understand why monitoring people’s activity may seem as the right thing to do to ensure security but it is not of utmost importance; there are various other problems that need to be fixed at grass-root...
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...Running head: BUSINESS WRITING PORTFOLIO Business Writing Portfolio COM/285/Introduction to Business Communication September 28, 2011 Business Writing Portfolio The public relations manager will present information regarding changes in a retail store operations to three sets of stakeholders of a retail clothing chain. The stakeholders are store managers, employees, retail customers, and the public. The adjustments regarding employees working fewer days a week in an effort to combat rising gas prices as well as saving money on store operations are as follows; First, Sonny, the public relations manager will outline several steps to follow when drafting business communications. While constructing this message, Sonny will determine the characteristics of her audience as well as considering the appropriate communication type and style for each audience. The next step is to write three messages by selecting one message format for each audience, explaining the changes in the retail store operations.The final step is to write a reflection on the writing. Business Writing Steps [pic] Research, communication, and evaluation are three steps that should be followed when drafting business communications. The first step is to identify the audience by performing research on the given audience that needs to be communicated with. The four audience characteristics that are important to identify when drafting business communication are English-language barriers, diversity, education...
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...Is There a Right to Privacy in Social Networking? ISSUE: Should social networking sites allow outside parties to have access to user information? Although it is free for users to participate on social networking sites (to a certain extent), companies like Facebook are businesses; they must make money to stay in operation. One way in which Facebook has begun to collect revenues is by allowing marketers to post advertisements on its site. Yet with the growing competition in social networking, Facebook must take new steps to retain its competitive edge. One possible way is by establishing the standard for online identity. In August 2009, Facebook hired David Recordon, an expert in online identification. Recordon intends to promote open and transparent standards for web identity to Facebook. In other words, the company hopes to make it easier to identify its users. Although several social networking sites have been criticized over this issue, the site that has garnered the most criticism is Facebook. Facebook has already implemented changes to promote more open identification. For example, users can no longer hide their name, gender, profile picture, or hometown from other users. Facebook also gives access to this same information to its partners of Facebook Connect, a program that lets users log onto their Facebook profiles from thousands of websites. In December 2009, Yahoo! and Facebook formed a partnership that permits Facebook users to identify themselves on Yahoo...
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