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| e-Business week of Jan. 28th
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This past week in e-Business class we discussed the controversial issues surrounding the Patriot Act and internet privacy, a topic which stirred a great deal of emotion and passion on behalf of both the students as well as the professor. The debate between those in the classroom stemmed from different interpretations of our Constitutional rights in a post September 11th world, and whether or not the government's tracking of each E-Mail we send, IM we type, or topic on Google we search is ethical. Some students in class believed that if you were not doing anything wrong in the first place, one would obviously have no fear if the government was keeping tabs on their business and personal computers. Our professor however brought up the issue of the right and expectation of privacy, mentioning that with technology only becoming better and better with time, how many years will it be until U.S. citizens have virtually no right to privacy in their personal lives.
Whenever I have been asked about this issue, I have always stated that since I was not doing anything wrong or "un-patriotic" when I hop online (not that I could even if I tried, I'm still trying to understand the Facebook Bumper Sticker application nevermind hacking into the C.I.A.) that it did not matter to me if the government was looking over my shoulder at my computer. Granted, I have lived in a "pre-9/11" world and therefore like many others are still taking for granted many of the civil liberties and freedoms which due to recent bills and acts in the last seven years may not technically be in existance anymore. For example, I've heard stories about laptops not being allowed on planes anymore, however since it has never affected me personally I am sure on my next vacation I will have a naive and perplexed look on my face when airport security tells me I can't bring it on board with me. This is where for the first time I'm my life the issue surrounding the right to privacy hits home for me. Now that I'm 20 years old (good Lord), the notion of raising a family and kids is not too far off into the distant future anymore, and this debate got me thinking about what the next generation will be like. Will my children be brought up in a country where the right to privacy and freedom of speech are mere concepts they have to study for on a History exam? Will they ever truly experience these liberties firsthand? It is questions such as these that for the first time in the last several years made my opinions of the Patriot Act and the right to digital privacy less stand packed and finalized. |
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Posted by TennMan22 on 2008-02-02 09:00:48 | Rating: | Views: 30
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