Privacy & Confidentiality

Considering the openness of new media it is no surprise that issues of privacy and confidentiality would appear. New media sites allow for a plethora of information to be shared with potentially anyone if the user is not informed about the various privacy features available to him/her. Some information about a person that can be gleamed from their new media connections include their name, address, telephone number, education level, where they go/went to school, their appearance, likes/dislikes, relationship status, where they are at a given moment, their friends and family members, the places they have been to recently, what they do in their free time, what they do for work, what social causes they support, their political views, and the list can go on and on.
 
Inherent to this information being readily available is the possibility of it being used against the poster. A stalker could use this information to keep tabs on or, in the worst case scenario, kill their victim using the information they post. Sexual predators could lure young naive victims through new media sites.

The onus on who is responsible for privacy and confidentiality are two-fold. The administrators of new media sites should offer resources that protect the users and the users should make sure they know how to protect their information from people they do not wish to have it.

Privacy and confidentiality (should) go hand-in-hand with new media in order to protect the users.

                                                 Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me"