Copyright in the Digital Age Podcast

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Blog Post #4 COM 305

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2011-11-15/facebook-privacy-tracking-data/51225112/1

The Article I chose to write about for the final blog post is titled “Facebook Tracking is Under Scrutiny,” and it discusses the controversial way in which Facebook tracks their users’ internet activity. Facebook has recently been involved in an ongoing debate with the Federal Trade Commission over the collection of data on Facebook users. When a user creates a Facebook account, the company automatically installs a browser cookie that tracks which sites users’ visit, for how long they view the site, and any other unique activity. Facebook is still able to track activity even when users are not logged in, and is even able to track non-Facebook users if a Facebook page is pulled up at any point during a browsing session. Facebook claims that this helps them regulate fake accounts and scams, and helps improve users’ displays by supplying content that actually interests them.

These practices implemented by Facebook, which are similar to that of other major sites including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others, have sparked a heated debate. Privacy advocates believe users should have an option to block corporations from tracking internet activity, while advertisers support the practice, for it allows them to learn more about consumers preferences, which allows them to target people more accurately, which in turn generates higher revenue.

In my opinion, I can understand why people would not want their browsing history sold to advertisers. People may not like the idea that others are able to gain insight into the way they spend their time online. However, I feel that in this day in age, the fact that the technology even exists makes in inevitable that corporations will sell browsing histories to advertisers. Advertisers are always looking to improve the ways in which they target consumers, and if they are willing to pay in large enough numbers, I don’t see why Facebook would have any desire to do away with this practice.

Also, in most cases I don’t feel that tracking browsing history for the purpose of ad targeting is such a bad thing. This might be different if it were the government or any organization were collecting browsing data and selling it to other individuals for the purpose of spying and finding out personal facts. In this case information is being sold to advertisers who have no interest in your business personally, only your business as a customer, and whom consumers will never have to encounter first hand. In my personal experience on Facebook, there have been many times that an ad has popped up on my page that I was genuinely interested in. I have found new online clothes shopping sites, and useful coupons. I have personally benefited from a substantial number of the ads that appear on my Facebook page, so for that reason, I am ok with Facebook selling my browsing history to advertisers.

Blog Post #3 COM 305

Blog Post #3: Conflict in the digital age

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/04/us-china-usa-cyber-idUSTRE7A31FW20111104

The article I chose to write about for this post deals with China’s response to a U.S. report claiming that China is using cyber espionage to steal U.S. trade secrets in order to enhance their own development as a nation. The report, released to congress on Thursday, November 3 2011 was done by the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, which is a government agency. It claims that U.S. corporations have reported intrusions into their networks that had originated in China, but also acknowledges the fact that the intelligence department cannot confirm exactly who is behind these attacks. China dismissed these statements by inferring that the U.S. allegations are “unprofessional and irresponsible” by identifying the attackers before carrying out a more in-depth investigation.

There have been a long history of reports in this nation that have strongly suggested the fact that China is one of the worlds’ biggest perpetrators of malicious cyber-espionage and computer hacking. According to Search Engine Watch, in January of 2010, Google announced that it was hit with a cyber-attack that had originated in China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property. According to the Guardian, a United Kingdom news site, in August of this year, a Chinese State Broadcaster screened footage that showed army-labeled software designed for attacking United States-based websites.  The U.S. isn’t the only victim of Chinese cyber-attacks. According to Tony Glover of the National Conversation, in February of this year, McAffe, a U.S. security company, detected a number of cyber-attacks on global oil, petrochemical, and energy companies that had been occurring since November of 2009. Countries in the Middle East were the primary targets of the attacks which have become known as “Night Dragon.”

The report released on Tuesday, in my opinion, further confirms the fact the China is launching an alarmingly high number of cyber-attacks on the U.S., and on other nations around the world. China’s communist government, their extreme human rights violations and other factors have created tense relations between the U.S. and Chinese governments. From the secret build-up of the Chinese military, to these strong allegations of extensive cyber-attacks, the actions of the Chinese government are far from transparent. In my opinion, the response of the Chinese government to the report should only raise further suspicions. The report that was released did include extensive research, and was supported by strong evidence. The fact that the Chinese were so quick to dismiss the allegations, which were credible, goes to show this is not a topic they wish to discuss. If what China says is true, and they are not responsible for these attacks, it would be in their best interest to make a stronger effort to prove the allegations to be false, rather than just saying that they are false.