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http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2011/10/in_21st_century_america_privac.html

This is article is about the intricacies of privacy in the virtual world. It describes in detail all the types of information that are stored within only one day in the life of an ordinary individual. Just how much of your life is tracked is astounding, from things like tracking your library book selections to randomly being on tape from a camera in a store parking lot across the street as you’re walking down the street. The issue of privacy in this currently web-dominated world is important because of its huge influence on the lives of people everyday; employees have been fired before due to things they post online or are tagged in and students can receive disciplinary action due to possible pictures of illegal activities online and furthermore, people’s lives can be upturned by identity theft or cyberbullying.

This article relates to what we have been discussing in class about information networks, the advent of the world wide web, and the basic constructions of the Internet. The article talks about how everything piece of information about you online is interconnected and can be accessed easily starting from any page about you. For example, the ads that you see while visiting websites may feature items that are precisely your preferences; all this is possible because of cookies that track your online activity. Companies can pay for information from these cookies, situations which we have analyzed in class: companies can have certain valuations for kinds of information and will pay specific amounts for cookies while the ones who hold the information will decide who gets what information and at what price. Furthermore, suggestions may even be directly sent to you because certain cookies track your friends online activity and report this in their recommendation.

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