Analysis of Computing Technologies' Impact on Personal Privacy

This report delves into the multifaceted relationship between computing technologies and personal privacy. It begins by outlining the emergence of digital technologies in society, emphasizing the close link between technological advancements and societal development. The report then explores how digital tools, including social media, cloud computing, and online tracking, impact personal privacy, highlighting risks such as online activity tracking, data theft, degradation of esteem, and location tracking. It underscores the importance of personal privacy and privacy values in society, discussing how privacy limits power, aids in reputation management, and maintains social boundaries. Finally, the report offers steps to prevent privacy erosion, providing a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and offering potential solutions for individuals and organizations to safeguard their personal information in the digital age. This report is a valuable resource for students on Desklib, providing insights into the complex landscape of digital privacy and security.

Running Head: Computing Technologies in Society
Computing Technologies in Society

Computing Technologies in Society 1
Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1
Emergence of digital technology in society.................................................................................................1
How digital technology impact personal privacy.........................................................................................2
Importance of personal privacy and privacy values in society.....................................................................3
Steps to protect privacy erosion..................................................................................................................5

Computing Technologies in Society 2
Introduction
Digital technologies are the electronic tools, devices, and systems which stores, generate and
process data. Digital technology includes social media (Facebook, WhatsApp, twitter etc.),
online games and applications, multimedia, cloud computing, productivity applications, mobile
devices and interoperable systems. Under this type of technology, different innovations are
undertaken on the internet and social media. digital technology is one of the most valuable
invention provided to people in today’s world, as with the help of this digital technology people
can easily communicate with each without being physically present there. Also, they can send
their important files and documents without spending a large amount of money on them. Apart
from getting numerous benefits from the use of this digital technology, people get prone to
numerous risks as well (Taylor, Fritsch, and Liederbach 2014). One of the major risks concerned
with the digital technology is the threat to the personal privacy of the people using such
technology. as technology can assist people in better working, similarly it can ruin the lives of
people as well. Further, the below mentioned report analyses the emergence of digital technology
in the society and its impact on personal privacy of people. It also explains the importance of
personal values in society, and the ethics connected with the digital technology and lastly, the
report provides steps to prevent privacy erosion. Further details about the task are discussed
below.
Emergence of digital technology in society
Technology and society have a close link between each other as with the help of society only
technology develops and without technology society also cannot develop adequately. Both the
aspects co-influence each other with their activities initiated. Further talking about the rise of
technology in a global world it shall be noted that it has become the need of human being
nowadays. Development and innovation in the society can be only processed with the aid of
technological advancement only. Also, many business operations and students projects are
completed with the help of technology only (Oldham, and Da Silva 2015). A country whose
technological infrastructure is inefficient is regarded as under developed country. Thus, it shall
be understood that rise of technology has benefited to the society in many ways. Aggressive
growth of technology was seen in the years near the 2010s when around 2 billion people started
using interest and social media applications. Use of mails, radio, and cassette eliminated with the
entrance of this process as people got to know about new and efficient technology prevailing in
the society. The digital revolution developed many other industries as well; many e-commerce
businesses were influenced with revolution due to which people earned more income in the
market. Thus, the emergence of digital technology can be understood as the need of era
(Gangadharan 2017).

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How digital technology impact personal privacy
Human beings value their privacy and the protection of their personal sphere of life. And they
certainly do not want some other to take control of or access their personal information. But it
has seen that the technological advancement is threatening the privacy of people which shall be
prohibited on the highest priority. Activities related to Big Data is also increasing the concern of
many people as it involves using the private information of many people in various another way
which can negatively impact the society on a whole (Butler, and Rodrick 2015). Further, the
impact of various digital technologies on the society is discussed below:
 Tracking of online activity: Internet privacy is a thing which is becoming a serious
concern for people as with the development of technology people threat to access the
personal is also increasing in the society. Personal information can contain any type of
data; it can be price sensitive data or any type of crucial information which can affect the
life of other people along with their lives as well. While surfing on internet cookies are
created, which refers to the pieces of data on the computer which enables personalization
of the site. These cookies can be used to track the past activities of people on the internet
(Kizza 2016). Due to this process, any person can get to know that which sites a person
was accessing currently and what they were searching for. This can act as a threat to
business, as due to this process the competitors can gain knowledge about the future
activities of the organization. This is this way privacy of people and corporates is invaded
by the technological advancement nowadays (Hill, Betts, and Gardner 2015).
Another aspect is the theft of cloud. Cloud computing is a technique which helps people
to store their personal information in the cloud. No person gets the right to access that
cloud without prior information of the user itself. But due to unethical hacking process,
these clouds are being hacked and used by many people with their cruel intentions.
Furthermore talking about social media it shall be noted that these online sites ask from
people for accessing their contact list, messages and gallery to gain complete information
about the person. Apart from that, these sites also invite the user to generate more of their
personal data on these sites so as to increase the value of the site (your profile is …%
complete). People provide such kind of personal information for the benefits of using
these social media sites more appropriately. With effect of these activities, people
themselves provide access to these sites to make use of their personal and private
information. Someone who knows how to seek the personal data of other people on these
social media sites can easily use that data and for their benefits which can create an issue
of people (Agarwal, et. al., 2014).
 Loss of private information and money: one of the biggest impact or threat of digital
technology in the lives of people is the one of private information of people present in the
society. Talking about businesses, it shall be noted that if someone unethically makes use
of digital technology then they can easily attain the price sensitive data of companies,
replication of which other competitors can harass the growth of the other company in the
target market. Resulting to which the company can attract the loss in monetary terms as

Computing Technologies in Society 4
well (Gartenstein-Ross, and Atherton 2013). Talking about the impact of technology on
personal values of people, it shall be noted that many unethical activities can be initiated
with the through leakage of such price sensitive information. Blackmailing is the most
prominent activity which is initiated in the society with the use of such information.
Thus, the impact of this process is that not only it gave loss of private information to the
people but also it gives rise to unethical activities which resulting loss of money as well
(Silverman 2017).
 Degradation of esteem: people do want to keep their information private maybe because
either it might let others know with their future targets or it might degrade their image in
the society. Talking about degrading of image maintained in the society, it shall be noted
that no person wants other to know the mistakes which they did in their past, as it can
make others look at the person with that perspective. Thus, judging someone on the
reflection of their past activities can degrade their esteem in the society. Because of lack
of self-esteem, a person becomes more vulnerable to enact threating activities; resulting
to which crime also increases in the society. So, low esteem can make a person more
prone to attract such negative activities in the society (Tao, and Shuijing 2016).
 No secrecy: if the private information of a person is circulated in the society with their
prior approval, and then it gives rise to disputes in the society as well. Apart from that
this activity eliminates secrecy of a person. Not all people are extrovert or want to show
their feelings and emotions on social media, resulting to which if any such information is
leaked in public through social media then they feel guilty and shy as well (Bashir, and
Khalique 2016). Further talking about organizations present in the society, it shall be
noted that lack of secrecy bars the organization of an organization in the global
perspective. Confidentiality in the business functions helps the organization to initiate
their assumed plan actively and it into action as well, but is secrecy from the organization
is eliminated then it can hinder the growth of the organization (Feher 2015).
 Location tracking: location tracking is one of impact occurred with the people present in
the society when the private information is invaded. with the help of big data and cookies
created in the mobile devices, any person who has adequate knowledge of technology can
easily trace the location of any persona and can also track the activities of the people
which they are performing. Location tracking gives assistance to illegal activities as well.
Thus, it is major risk which shall be mitigated as soon as possible (Kshetri 2014).
Importance of personal privacy and privacy values in society
Privacy is one of the most important factors highly affecting the lives of people as it is one of the
most important for which people care about. privacy is one thing which every persona wants in
their life, there are many things which people do not want to share with any one and
contradicting to it if their that sensitive information is leaked in the society then they feel
shattered and heartbroken (Jambhekar, and Dhawale, 2017). Value of privacy cannot be
measured in terms of money, privacy is connected with the sentiments and emotional feelings

Computing Technologies in Society 5
attached to some information which a person does not want to share with anyone. Violation of
privacy is not acceptable to anyone, as it can leak both personal information and professional
business price sensitive information (Patil, and Seshadri 2014). Further, the importance of
personal privacy and privacy values are discussed below:
 Limit on power: privacy is a limit on government power, as well as the private sector
companies. The more information a person gets about it, the more power they get to
make use of that data. Personal data or private information is something no person wants
to share with anyone else as it affects their decision making process. Thus, leakage of this
information can mold the decision in a wrong way and give the power to an unauthorized
persona as well (Mahmood, and Afzal 2013).
 Reputation management: privacy helps the people to manage their reputation in the
society. Apart from them talking in the view of business also it shall be noted that privacy
helps to maintain a definite position in the market. This position is made by the view of
people which they build on the basis of information received by them and if such
information is circulated in the market which is inappropriate and personal then it can
ruin the image of a persona or a company in the society and market in which they are
prevailing.
 Maintenance of appropriate social boundaries: people establish boundaries from other
societies because they do not want to share their viewpoints or personal information with
anyone else. these boundaries include both physical and information, further, it shall be
noted that it important for people to maintain their personal values personal only as it
establishes social boundaries for them in the society. Explaining the case further it shall
be noted that every persona in their lives have some private information which they do
not want to share with anyone else and nor they want some to get knowledge of their
information. if private information is kept private then it gives an ease to the people to
sustain in the society, otherwise, people start judging them and manipulating them when
they to people about someone’s private information. Breach of such boundaries creates
awkward situations for people to live in the society. Thus, resulting which if such private
information is kept private then social stability is attained to people and the organization
which helps to sustain in the society properly (Lafuente 2015).
 Protection from misuse: the important aspect due to which people shall understand the
need for privacy is the threat of misuse. If such sensitive information is leaked in the
market through social media applications then it gives a right people to make use of such
sensitive information and defame their name in the society. Keeping the information
private has a specific reason that is why they are kept private, thus, it shall be noted that it
is important for the society to understand the importance of private information and
private values.
 Maintain secrecy for future operations: many times the information is kept private
because it gives a sneak peek to the people for their future actions and they do not want to

Computing Technologies in Society 6
share any detail about the future information. Thus it shall be noted that leakage of such
information may hurt people as it reflects their future actions and activities (Tari 2014).
 Safety and Obscurity: safety and obscurity are the most important factors of a person’s
life. Leakage of such information may prone the life and safety of a persona as well.
Getting limelight might negatively affect the image of people. As many people do not
like getting importance on social media and if their personal information is leaked then
they might not feel safe in the society. Apart from that safety is also hampered with the
leakage of such information (Kim, and Noh 2014).
Thus, from the above mentioned features, it shall be noted that it is important for people to keep
their private information private in the society it might affect their regular day to day activities as
well.
Steps to protect privacy erosion
Control use of big data: big data refers to the software which stores all the activities a person
performs on social media. Right from accessing the location to media and likes and dislikes of a
person, can easily be known through big data analytics. Thus, big data activities shall be
controlled so that no unwanted person or organization can easily access the private information
anybody.
 Blocking cookies: by blocking third party cookies from the browser, a person can
maintain anonymity while online. Blocking cookies save the data in the hardware of the
company which helps in opening the website quickly when revisiting. It also makes a
person automatically log in to that site as well, thus blocking cookies might be
inconvenient but it will increase the level of privacy and will reduce the threat of privacy
erosion (Ku 2014).
 Securing connections from the virus: all organizations and people shall always secure
their computers with firewalls and antivirus services. This will protect them from
attracting virus which will ruin their software. Also, unwanted network traffic will get
reduced if firewalls are built in the security settings (Kesan, Hayes, and Bashir 2015).
 Strong password settings: online security is maintained through a strong combination of
username and password. The password shall always be complex and less predictable.
Also, people shall create different passwords for different websites, they shall not use the
same password for all online social networking sites, and this will help in increase
security as if one password is known to the hacker then also they cannot access all the
application through. Apart from that to secure the information people shall also restrict
the social media from accessing all the personal devices from the phones. Linking of
applications shall be prohibited (Casilli 2015).
 Turn on private browsing: it is the setting which is available in every browsing site
which deletes the cookies, browsing history and temporary internet files from the device
after closing the window. Also if a person cares about their privacy then they shall surf

Computing Technologies in Society 7
the internet while hiding their IP address. This can be done by using web proxy, Virtual
Private Network (Proia 2013).
 Two factor authentication: Two factor authentications refers to the special security code
apart from the password which shall be entered by the user while accessing the account.
It is the code which the site sends on your mobile phone while logging in. this type of
authentication prevents people from getting prone to cyber hacks (Noh 2014).
Conclusion
thus in the limelight of above mentioned events, it shall be noted that it is the right of every
person present in the society whether natural or artificial to get their personal space and keep
certain information private for the benefit of themselves. And no person or technology has the
right to fully access that information and invade their privacy prior to their information. This also
gave loss to many people and companies. Thus, the above mentioned report provides an
overview regarding the impact of digital technology on the lives of certain people. Digital
technology is an innovative tool which shall be used wisely by all the people present in the
society to avoid further issues. But as everything has its pros and cons similarly in the case of
digital technology, as it can be the best in the same way this technology can negatively impact on
the society as well. Further few steps can be initiated by the society on a whole to protect people
from privacy erosion activities. Lastly, it is the duty of all to understand the ethical implication
related to digital technology and use them in such a way that it does not harm the sentiments of
any other person present in the society.

Computing Technologies in Society 8
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