After reading the article about Google's settlement of a class-action lawsuit totaling $8.5 million over personal information privacy linked to their social networking service, Buzz, one must wonder if our personal information is as safe as we think it is. The controversial issue involved users of Buzz that had their names linked to their gmail email accounts made public without the users knowledge. This has only added to the criticism of the way Google handles its sensitive personal information, as this is shortly after the internet giant was hacked into by the Chinese Government. This raises the question, exactly how secure is the internet and are we too willing to give our personal and financial information to internet websites?
My answer to this question is Yes. I am constantly registering for accounts on various sites and using my debit card to make online purchases, without really understanding how internet security works. I do know that secure sites have the small lock icon somewhere in your browser, and the site usually advertises secure login or something of that nature to let the user know their information is safe, but what is exactly stopping some expert hacker or new software from penetrating the system. If arguably the most innovative and technologically advanced company can be hacked into and make such careless decisions as the Buzz controversy discussed above, then really how secure is our information on the smaller sites and online stores? Like many things we become comfortable with, it has become virtually instinctive for us to apply for an account on a website that requires it for access, giving away our personal information too freely. I believe we are in for a rude awakening when a website with lots of private personal and financial information in its system is hacked into and results in a widespread identity or credit card theft.
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