Professor Booth

Internet Communications

24 April 2006

Spam and Privacy are Continuing to Dwindle

            The Internet is a main source for all different things these days. It is for things like business, entertainment, and school. With the use of the internet increases, so is the risk of spam, viruses, and our privacy that is decreases as the days go by.  Our safety online is dwindling and the risk of viruses is increases. However, they are many ways to control spam and protect our privacy while we are online. It is important to try and eliminate spam because it can destroy your computer and the programs on it and privacy is being stolen everyday and not to much is being done to stop it. It has become a matter of protecting yourself and your family from both harmful things as well as inappropriate things that the internet is full of.

            “Spam is more than a nuisance; it often carries more serious threats to computer users – viruses, worms, spyware and other kinds of “malware” (Greenberg 1). It is proven that over two-thirds of spam is fraudulent and there are only small amounts of spam left, because of all the filtering and extra precautious people are now taking to avoid and eliminate spam from getting onto their computer.

Spam is a major issue and is a main reason why computers receive viruses and programs are corrupted or even destroyed. Today, they are many different ways that this can be controlled. As shown in an article titled, “Staying Safe Online” there are nine different yet effective ways to cut down and eliminate spam, viruses, and even spyware on computers. These steps include protecting your email address, using spam filtering, using a firewall, blocking instant message spare, never clicking on pop up windows, blocking images that appear in emails, being cautious of email attachments, reading privacy policies, and forwarding spare to your ISP, which is your Internet service provider (Greenberg). Spam will always be there because spammers are always finding another way to get their messages through filters without your knowing, but the nine steps will greatly decrease your chance of receiving a virus.

Privacy on the internet is another large issue. It is hard to get someone’s actual identity but it is becoming easier and easier these days. Websites all over ask you for your zip code, so they can show you what the weather is suppose to be like, other websites ask your for birth date so they can show you your horoscope and when information like this is linked together it is easier for people to create your identity. “The Internet sees only computers, not the people who use them” (Coyle 1). Computers are used by individuals at home, or even the whole family on one computer. However, websites are asking for more and more personal information and some people are giving it out, putting their privacy at risk. “The industry will make at least a show of beefing up Web privacy policies” (Baskin 1). Computer companies are trying to do everything that they can to protect their consumers and make the internet a little bit safer. It is a struggle but they are continuously fighting with the government and trying to put laws into place that will protect people while they are on the internet from spam and other harmful things.

Schools face online safety regularly. In general, children are safer at school than they are at their own home. Schools have many programs and software that monitor and restrict children from gaining access to inappropriate websites and to things that may harm the computer. In school, children are also more closely monitored and do not have the chance to be able to download anything that may be corrupt or click on any pop up windows, because they are restricted. Schools have privacy policies and parents are encouraged to ask and understand them. The article, Online Safety at School, strongly enforces to know what type of protection your child’s school uses by asking what their privacy policy is, what type of filtering they have, what is the consequence if they is misconduct of any kind, and if they do and how they monitor and record children’s activity online, which shows which websites they were looking at.

Spam and privacy on the internet are two major issues that are being dealt with everyday. Spammers are continuously finding ways to get through filters and still put viruses into computers. People and technology are becoming more advanced, but it is still possible for it to harm your computer, no matter how many precautions you take. There are many steps that you can take like protecting your emails, using both filters, and avoiding pop ups, that all will help cut down spam and the chance your computer may be effected. Privacy is also another issue that is being dealt with by businesses as well as consumers. Privacy should even be known and talked about in children’s school, so you can try to manage and know what your child is doing on the internet even at school. “As privacy continues to dwindle, there's not much agreement about how to protect the little that remains” (Baskin 1). Privacy is much less than it ever was and finding out one’s identity is even easier, which is scary. Spam and privacy online are two major issues that are in everyday life in homes everywhere.
                                                                           Works Cited

Aftab, Parry. “Online Safety at School.” PC Magazine. 23. 13 (2004): 58-58. Academic Search

            Premier. 18 April 2006. <http://search.epnet.com>.

Baskin, Cathryn. “It Pays to be Paranoid Online.” PC World. 8.8 (1998) 19 April 2006.

            <http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9808/06/paranoid.idg/index.html>.

Coyle, Karen. “Protecting Privacy. (Cover Story).” Library Journal. 126.1 (2001): 14.

            Academic Search Premier. 18 April 2006. <http://search.epnet.com>.

Greenberg, Pam. “Staying Safe Online.” State Legislatures. 32.2 (2006): 32-33.

            Academic Search Premier. 18 April 2006. <http://search.epnet.com>.

Neuman, Sally. “Top 10 Spam Control Tools.” CNN. 22. 9 (1998). 19 April 2006.

            <http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9809/22/spamcontrol.idg/>.