Privacy in the Information Age

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The Value of Digital Privacy in an Information Age Introduction The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized (United States, Fourth Amendment). Privacy is supposed to be protected under our Fourth Amendment right. However, recent events have lead to a Constitutional crisis in America, jeopardizing every citizen's basic right to personal privacy. Before the dawn of the electronic age, it was customary for confidential documents to be placed under lock and key. Physical access was required to obtain these contracts, letters, or reports. Now, however, with computers becoming a larger part of everyone's daily lives, the difference between the tangible and the intangible has begun to break down. Three Researched Technologies Spokeo is a social network aggregator website that aggregates data from many online and offline sources, such as phone directories, social networks, photo albums, marketing surveys, mailing lists, government censuses, real estate listings, and business websites. This aggregated data may include demographic data, social profiles, and estimated property and wealth values. All data collected by Spokeo is publicly accessible from its original sources. According to the site, Spokeo does not originate data and information available is only as good as its source. The information available originates from information people provide that becomes public information “even if a person isn't on Facebook or Twitter. References Spokeo.com privacy terms. Retrieved from http://www.spokeo.com/privacy/terms 1. ^ "Spokeo.com Site Info". Alexa Internet.

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