Writing Homework Help

Discussion: Information Privacy

Preparation for the Discussion:

Go to the web site www.intelius.com, an online database that draws upon U.S. public records (for example, phone directories, voter registration records, marriage and divorce records, real estate deeds, criminal records, lawsuit filings, and professional licensing records). Type your own name or the name of someone you know into the search fields. What kinds of information are provided on the first results screen?

Click on the Get a Report link. What are some types of information that can be purchased through this site?

Do you know any California state employees? Look up their salaries at http://transparentcalifornia.com

Do you know anyone who recently bought or sold a house? Look up the address at http://www.zillow.com to find out the price.

Next, go to the “Privacy Issues” page of the Electronic Privacy Information Center web site: https://epic.org/privacy/ and click on “Privacy Topics from A to Z”:

From the A-Z list, select one (1) of the privacy topics–your choice. Here are some topics that may interest you:

Backscatter
Olympics Privacy
Telemarketing
Credit Scoring
Polygraph Testing
Theme Parks and Privacy
Facebook
Poverty and Privacy
Face Recognition
Protester Privacy
Voting
Gender and Electronic Privacy
REAL ID and Domestic Violence
Workplace Privacy

What are some of the privacy issues relating to the privacy topic you have chosen? What concerns are described on the page on your topic? What—if anything—is being done or has been done to address these concerns? [Tip: Begin by using the links at the top of the page on your topic to navigate to the “Introduction,” “Background” or “Overview” section.]

Please also view the following two video clips The first is from an interview with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and the second is from an interview with Sherry Turkle, sociologist of technology. Both Zuckerberg and Turkle address the issue of digital-era privacy.