Privacy and Data Security: Tutorial

What do the cookies saved on your computer do?

-they track your browsing habits. -they track your online preferences. -they store and maintain your personal info.

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA, 2000):

COPPA limits the data that websites can collect from users who are under the age of thirteen. This law also regulates the use of this information by websites. It also limits the information websites can send to advertisers. Some social networking sites disallow users under the age of thirteen to view content or create accounts.

Data vandalism:

Clicking on unknown links or downloading unknown attachments invites a lot of trouble in the form of data vandalism. When you open any link or attachment, you might infect your computer with a virus, a worm, or a Trojan horse. These malicious codes or programs infect computers and make them inoperable.

Ethical Issues of Online Resources

In addition to privacy and security concerns, you must also be careful when you use information from online resources. For example, to prepare a report, you may refer to the content of scholarly articles. You should not directly copy the content of the articles in your report and present it as your own writing. Online information and materials may be subject to copyright laws. Copyright laws prevent the use of original content without their creators' prior permission. These laws protect original authorship and prevent people from stealing original content and claiming it as their own. If you use material created by others without first obtaining permission, you are guilty of plagiarism. When you use online content, make sure that you state the source. Otherwise, people may consider it plagiarized content.

California Online Privacy Act (OPPA, 2003):

OPPA requires websites that collect personal information from users in California to post an online privacy policy. This policy must be easily accessible. The policy must describe the following. -information categories the site will collect -third party categories that may have authorization to view the information -the notification process about policy changes -the effective date and expiration date of the policy

Online privacy:

Online piracy is the illegal copying and sharing of copyrighted materials from the Internet. Violations include music theft, online copyright infringements, and illegal copying of copyrighted materials. Online piracy takes places in one of three ways. These three ways are music piracy, movie piracy, and software piracy. Music piracy involves illegally creating and sharing a copyrighted digital music file. Movie piracy takes place on a large scale worldwide. It involves stealing, copying, and distributing copyrighted movies. Software piracy involves copying and distributing copyrighted software.

Online predators:

Online predators are people who initiate Internet-based child sex abuse. They lure children—or teenagers—into sending their images for malicious reasons. These predators may even send obscene material to children. Because of this, it is important that children learn how to avoid online predators.

Cramming:

Phone users might find additional charges levied on their phone bill for services that they never ordered. Third-party suppliers, which phone companies require to supply data and communication services, dishonestly levy these charges. Sometimes, they may charge fees not disclosed to the customer for calls received by the customer.

Telemarketing scammers:

Several companies use telemarketing to conduct businesses. Criminals take advantage of this situation by using telemarketing to obtain personal and financial information from victims. Fraudulent telemarketers may try to use effective sales pitch phrases, such as "you've been specially selected," to gain your trust.

American Psychological Association (APA):

The American Psychological Association or APA style manual is a style used mostly in works related to social sciences and scientific research. APA style puts an emphasis on the work's date of creation. Most APA citations include the date of a particular work in the physical text along with the name of the author. The "References" section at the end of an essay places the date just after the author's name.

Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA, 1986)

The ECPA prohibits government and law enforcement agencies from accessing communications through telephone and digital media. These agencies need to obtain a search warrant to access such data. Typically, however, any information stored on website servers is accessible by government and law enforcement agencies. The ECPA and its proposed update strengthen the online privacy of users. It increases the level of approvals needed for governmental access to the data stored on these servers.

Online Security and Ethical Concerns

The Internet continues to grow as a medium for communication and information sharing. This growth generates concerns about online data security. As the number of websites increase, malicious opportunities to steal and misuse information also increase. For example, fake websites or advertisements pose a major threat. Avoid opening or replying to unwanted emails in your mailbox. This way, hackers are unable to obtain your social networking or email passwords. In addition, avoid downloading software from unknown websites. These software programs may steal information from your computer system or cause damage to your files.

Key Guidelines for Online Protection

The Internet is a medium used by numerous individuals. It is your responsibility to protect your privacy and ensure that your information is secure. Here are some guidelines that will help keep your online interactions secure from data or identity theft. -Don't ignore the terms and conditions, and privacy policies of social networking and other websites. Check them frequently because the policies might change from time to time. -Provide only the information that a website requests and nothing more. Always ask yourself if you are comfortable sharing the information. -Avoid putting information about your daily activities on location-tracking social websites. -Use antivirus and spyware protection. This will limit the information sent to websites from your computer.

Online Fraud and Scams

The Internet's popularity has increased the scale of online fraud and scams. Scammers may friend you on social media, pretending that they know you. They could also be members of the same online group as you, pretending to have the same interests. Scammers also use spam to carry out online frauds and scams. Spam refers to the use of emails to send unwanted messages to multiple users. In the early days of the Internet, spam was limited to email messages. Now it has spread to social media and other networks. Scammers can use fake accounts, real people, or spambots.

Modern Language Association (MLA):

The Modern Language Association or MLA style manual is a manual used mainly in language, literature, and humanities. The most common citation used in humanities is authorship. Most MLA citations include the author's name in the physical text along with the page number that carries the cited text. The "Works Cited" section at the end of an essay also includes the author's name at the very beginning.

Online Risks and Security

Websites collect information about their users and their browsing habits. They use small information-tracking files called cookies for this purpose. When you visit a website, it stores a cookie on your computer. This file keeps a record of the pages you visit. Cookies help websites to track and assess your browsing habits and choices. This process causes many privacy concerns, because websites may use this information to their own advantage. Email service providers and social media websites also collect your personal information. Social media websites include Internet forums, blogs, and social networking sites. Various websites request that you share different levels of personal data. They also offer various privacy agreements. The privacy-related risks are higher if a site requests that you share a great deal of personal information. Privacy risks are experienced most often on social media. Your friends, and others you interact with, have the ability to post videos and content without your prior permission. In the United States, the government considers any information that it gathers through electronic tracking methods to be public data. This includes information that you share, or that is shared about you, on social networking sites. Posted status updates about your vacation plans or events that you plan to attend can also put you at risk. You may even unknowingly reveal your address, contact number, daily routine, and your travel routes on social media. This information can compromise your security. You also need be careful when you are using social media for a job search. Negative comments about current employers, or about past employers, could affect future career prospects. Such comments may even get you fired from your current job. Also, be careful what your friends write about you on social media. Negative comments about you may ruin your chances of getting or keeping a job.

Phishing:

involves a fraudulent website or person deceiving you into revealing your password or other vital information. Phishing websites tempt you to share confidential information through various frauds or promises.

Phone fraud:

involves fraudulent communication with potential victims through the telephone. Various frauds can target you through your phone. Let's learn about some of the most common ones.

Clickjacking:

involves making you click a malicious link. These links entice you by disguising themselves as legitimate links. For example, you may click what appears to be a play button for a video. However, you may actually be clicking on an invisible link to another site. This link may give a hacker control over your computer.

Trojan horse:

is a malicious program that pretends to be a legitimate program. It spreads when the user runs the program to perform a routine task. The routine task may be opening an email message or downloading an application.

Worm:

is a malicious program, very similar to a virus. However, it does not attach to an existing program to infect your computer. It travels through the network independently to infect computers.

Citation:

is a way to identify and acknowledge published works that serve as sources of information within your writings. These works can include articles, books, websites, and chapters. Whenever you take information or an idea from a book or from the Internet, it is necessary to acknowledge its creator. Content that you take from sources, such as the Internet, books, and magazines, is the intellectual property of the content creator. The legal system considers copying any material or another person's idea verbatim as plagiarism if not properly attributed. Some authors may allow the use of their material in some cases, usually non-commercial, with proper attribution. On the other hand, others may forbid the use of their work altogether.

Malware:

is software that is designed to damage your computer or steal your personal information. Malware can download itself secretly onto your computer when you visit an unsecure website or when you click an unknown link. There are various types of malware.

Virus:

like its biological namesake, is a software program or a piece of code that reproduces itself and spreads throughout a computer system. Attached to a software program, it infects your computer and destroys your data and files.

Single sign-on:

means you sign in only once. You do not have to provide your credentials repeatedly for every website that you visit. This process may be convenient, but it raises many security concerns. Single sign-on is vulnerable to hacker attacks. The websites that you visit subsequent to the first one may not be secure.

Identity theft:

occurs if an impostor steals your personal data to impersonate you. This is a common type of fraud today. Identity theft typically occurs when a person steals your credit card information or Social Security number. Cyber criminals may want to sell the information. They might use the data to make unauthorized purchases. They might also use it in other illegal ways for monetary or personal gain. It is surprisingly easy for criminals to use social networking sites to obtain your personal data and steal your identity. They can also use this information to target your friends and family.

More guidelines:

-Download applications from trusted and secure sites only. Be careful using third-party applications. Also, avoid clicking pop-up windows or unknown/shortened links. -When you are finished browsing the Internet, delete all cookies from your computer. -If you are using public computers for transactions, use secure browsing and one-time passwords. Also, remember to log out when you are done. -Use strong mixed passwords that contain letters, numbers, and special characters. Avoid sharing your password with anyone. Never write down your password and leave it in places where others can find it.

Protecting Online Users

Breaches of privacy and incidents of fraud are increasing on social networks. This trend is compelling people to seek legal rights to fight violations of their personal online spaces. However, not many laws offer protection for information floating around on social networks. Privacy laws in the United States do not extend to causal searches on the Internet. However, they protect certain types of information. Let's look at some of these laws.

Slamming:

Some vendors make unauthorized changes to their clients default long distance carriers or charge for Internet without permission.

Spambots:

are automated programs that send spam messages to scan unread email notifications, breaking news stories, or pending invites. They sometimes use fake and malicious links to download malware onto your computer system. These links can also provide the scammer with access to your personal information and online actions.

A cybercriminal stole Sam's credit card details and used the information to buy goods from the local grocery store. What criminal act best describes the given description of Sam's situation? Sam is a victim of ___________________________.

identity theft.