We are in the year 2020, we are living in the “age of information”. The internet is a very popular tool in family and child research that is sometimes seen to pose new ethical challenges. Due to unethical behavior from people nowadays. Invasion of privacy has become a serious issue concerning the Internet, e-mails can be read as well as encrypted, and cookies can track and store personal information.
Everyone has the right to protect themselves as much as they can from privacy invasion and shouldn’t have to give in to low standards of safety being pursued by the government. Encryption is probably the best and maybe the most convenient way to ensure that e-mails and other files transferred via the Internet are kept private. Another problem is the ability of “cookies” that watch and keep track of the internet user. Cookies are electronic snapshots transmitted between an internet server and the browser software that is then stored. Cookies can be used to trace exactly what documents a user accesses on the site. They have the ability to develop a user profile, and this capability is an invasion of privacy. Cookies can operate quietly in the background and collect information about an Internet user without the person’s knowledge. Literally hundreds of companies violate the privacy of Internet users by gathering and selling information about the visitors to their websites. This is often done without the knowledge or consent of the user making it a very clear violation of privacy. Honestly, the internet is too good to be true. It provides everyone with an excess amount of knowledgeable information. However, it can also provide hackers with your personal information. Everything searched and posted on the internet is saved and then it can potentially be sold to better target advertising. Not only has unethical human activity caused the immobility for privacy but it has introduced a very dangerous occurrence. Cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying can come in various forms. It doesn’t really mean hacking someone’s profiles or pretending to be someone else anymore. It also includes someone posting negative comments about somebody or spreading rumors to socially ruin someone. As everyone is caught up on the social network, it makes it very easy for anyone to misuse this access. In other words, cyberbullying has sadly become very common nowadays. It includes people using the internet to manipulate and harass others. These very hostile actions are seriously damaging and can honestly affect anyone easily and in a very permanent way. They mainly take place on social media, public forums, and other online information websites. A cyberbully is not necessarily a stranger; it can quite often be someone you know.
Sadly in my past, I have been a victim of many of these horrible actions. Cyberbullying is something that sticks with you and can seriously damage your self-esteem. In my personal situations, a lot of it came from what at the time appeared to be my closest friends. However, the internet is full of your private information which can be easily found on social media making everyone a possible target from anyone. Fake news can be spread easily on social media due to the fact no one really checks if the post is genuine. Everyone just sees some gossip and spreads it like wildfire. Sometimes the internet makes you feel as though you aren’t actually bullying anyone at all. You are sitting behind a screen not witnessing any damage that is occurring. Cyberbullying really is a problem in today’s society. “Overall 36.5 percent of people have felt cyberbullied in their lifetime” (Patchin,2019)
In conclusion to this, Cyberbullying is a huge problem in societies that are advanced enough to connect with other people online and is not an easy fix. While Cyberbullying can affect anyone it is most prominent in today’s youth. If we can try to avoid this awful behavior early in their age, they are unlikely to continue down that path. Once again, unfortunately, this is not an easy task. It will require schools, and especially parents to be aware of the problem and they will have to act on it. Eliminating cyberbullying will take a combined effort and won’t be eliminated overnight. To add to this the world needs to protect its Internet privacy and avoid the information being used in unethical actions.
