Online Privacy
by Alain MulberryOnline privacy relates to the personal privacy of internet users. For example, when they surf a web site. The website may ask for personal details to be entered into an online web form.
The data may be minimal information such as an e-mail address and a user name or more detailed such as postal address and home telephone number.
Where personal details are entered online, the personal privacy of the individual may be compromised by them receiving intrusive telephone calls from telemarketers.
Publication of photographs can be a form of online privacy concern where permission was not granted by the people appearing in the picture. However, it would depend on the nature of the photo and the context in which it was used.
For example, there is a big difference between a picture clearly showing the face and body of one person and a picture with distant faces in a crowd.
Writing about people may produce an online privacy concern where personal and private information is shared online such as on a blog or forum.
Invasion of privacy by observation, such as through a web cam is unlikely. However, it is feasible to have such an extreme invasion of privacy if a Trojan Horse software was downloaded and installed by the user. Then this software piped video from the web cam to a remote server.
One method to achieve online privacy is to not use your real name but a pen name. This is common in online social gathering places such as Forums and Blogs.
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