This electronic environment does not obey the same rules as the physical environment within which we live. People now have the opportunity to access an infinite array of information or to communicate with people on earth or in outer space. The technology for this world is progressing at a profound pace and it seems as if something revolutionary is being implemented all the time. But along with this innovative technology, in a world of few regulations, come many opportunities for infringement upon user’s rights that were implemented in the real world. Computers and the internet are merely tools to access this median between users and the massive amounts of information available.

A poll conducted in the March 1999 Business Week magazine showed that 57 percent

The topic of internet privacy is an interesting topic to cover in that today so many people utilize the internet which causes a need for the regulation of peoples’ individual freedoms in cyber space. The internet is so popular that anything having to do with it directly or indirectly affects us all. The question arises as to how much or little regulation should applied as to make the internet safe from those who miss use it, yet at the same time not compromising peoples’ right to confidentiality.

It is quite cheap and fairly easy to accumulate thorough information about people because of the advances in computer technology. This can prove to be beneficial for law enforcement looking to track down criminals, prevention of fraud within banks, and consumers becoming more educated about new products and services. However, this also creates opportunity for misuse of such information.

Another example of an invasion of privacy in cyberspace is through encryption. These techniques jumble sensitive information so that it can only be converted with a key code, a passkey that unlocks the scrambled electronic data. Encryption can also be used to generate distinctive digital signatures that validate the real identity of the correspondent and are at the heart of protected electronic trade. Companies can obtain the information of your key stokes and use that information to create a very personal description of an individual. The process that most commonly uses this technique is know as data mining and is become ever so popular today (Computer Privacy Presentation).

Many web sites deposit data about an individuals visit onto his own hard drive while he is surfing the web in the form of cookies. When the user returns to that site the cookies reveal that he has been there before and may offer products or ads based on the data in the retrieved cookie (Computer Privacy Presentation).

Even though it may seem immediate, an e-mail message travels from ones computer to several computer hosts across the world before finally reaching its destination. At every stopping point, it could be intercepted and examined by anyone who has right of entry to those intermediate computer hosts. These intrusions may be confined by encryption (Web Security and Privacy: An American Perspective, in larg

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