Is our privacy really private? (Week 1)

It is interesting to note that there are many issues surrounding new communications technology, such as problems with hacking and privacy. These are just two of the issues that our society has to face. Many people are unaware of how much information they are actually sharing through social networking sites such as Facebook, and how easy it is for hackers to find out information that they thought was safe.

In light of the recent UK phone hacking scandal, concerns about privacy and hacking have been in the news. This has raised many questions about whether or not we are safe in Australia. The television program Lateline covered this issue, and the transcript entitled ‘Press Council prefers prevention over complacency’ (21/07/2011) can be found on the ABC website. According to Julian Disney, chair for the Australian Press Council, Australia should be concerned about the possibility of ‘illegal activities by journalists’ (Lateline, 21/07/2011). I personally find it concerning that journalists have been using illegal means to find information about people.

Julian Disney also claimed that the fault does not only lie with corrupt journalists, but also the telephone companies. For one thing journalists should not be hacking into phones, but the phone companies also have a duty of care to their customers to ensure that their privacy is secure. Disney also goes on to say that Facebook ‘is a major problem in terms of privacy’ (Lateline, 21/07/2011). Not only do telephone companies have privacy issues, but Facebook does too. I am not surprised that there would be issues surrounding Facebook, I have heard many times, through articles in newspapers and even one of my lecturers last semester, to ensure that your Facebook account is set to private. These are not the default settings for Facebook and it scares me that many people seem to be unaware of this.

If there is something to be learned from the UK phone hacking scandal, it is that our privacy does not seem to be very private, and that is a very scary thought.