Ji Yeon Chu, Lindsey Fong, Jonathan Bender, Yi Low, and Umang Patel
Impact for Internet Users
The internet began as a project of the
US Defense Department’s Advanced
Research Project Agency (ARPA)
 It was called the ARPANET
 Linked computers and networks owned
by the military and schools who carried
out defense research

Impact for Internet Users

Technological changes over the years
 Connectivity
 Data collection and storage
 Computational power
 Advances in sensor technology

Societal Trends
 Globalization
 Social networking
 Electronic communication
 Mobility
Impact for Internet Users
Health History
Travel
History
Employment History
Books Bought
Credit Card History
Cash Withdrawal
Marital History
Emails
Details of
Websites Visited
Phone Calls
Magazine Subscriptions
PURCHASES
Education
Impact for Internet Users
Google- first company to implement
expiration date for collected data
 Google & Microsoft- 18 months
 Yahoo & AOL- 13 months
 Ask.com- option to prevent recording IP

- The Washington Post (Sept 15, 2007)
Impact for Internet Users
“Google’s cookies don’t expire until 2038”
 Search queries are windows into our souls
 Gmail users- every email
 Google Maps, Google Book Search, Google
Earth, Google Scholar, Talk, Images, Video,
Calendar, Reader, News

- motherjones.com
Computer Privacy
When a computer accesses a webpage,
logs into a site, or searches a term in an
engine like Google, it is stored on the
computer and often elsewhere (your ISP
or Google)
 That information can then be retrieved at
any time by someone searching for it
 It is very difficult to navigate the internet
today without leaving a footprint
somewhere that someone could find

Issues

The revelation of some information is
necessary, but how much is required?
 Some companies track the sites their customers
go to as well as their search histories and sell
that information to advertisers

Cookies allow for users to keep site
settings whenever they return to a
particular site
 Cookies can also track which sites a user goes
to, which can also be sold to advertisers for
targeted ads
Specific Cases
Google Searching
- In 2006, a hacker was found guilty after
evidence was found that he had used
Google Search in order to learn how to
make a device that would interfere with
wireless networks.
- Court did not specify how the FBI found
this information, but it has been known
that Google gives access to search
terms to law enforcement.
More Specific Cases
US v Zeigler
-
-
In 2006, Zeigler argued that he had privacy on his
own work computer which contained child
pornography.
The court decided that the employer can overrule
and give consent to a government search that does
not violate the Forth Ammendment.
State v Reid
-
Reid changed her employer’s password and shipping
information on an online site.
This prompted the state of New Jersey to set more
privacy rights than the federal courts set.
Protection

Safe browsing
 Cookies/cache/authentication
 Encryption
Spyware/adware/malware
 Phishing
 Social networks
 Know who you’re dealing with
