Privacy & Confidentiality

The complication of the internet is that data posted on the internet is written and will exist permanently online. It is virtually impossible to get rid of something once it is exposed online. This can create problems for individuals who post pictures, statements or more that may be addressed to only a select few but be leaked to the masses. It is quite difficult to make something online 'private' because the content is not in your hands but in the care of service you had uploaded the data to. For example, if an embarrassing video of you has been posted online, you cannot remove it and it may have already spread to several new sites or machines. This can also be an issue with the new generation that with to be more socially connected with others online. Posting a twitter update about exactly what you are doing can be comprising of privacy of your personal life and is by no means confidential. On the other hand, it can be easy to disguise as someone else online. The new media provides an outlet to be anonymous or pose as an avatar online or even in a virtual world. This can allow users to keep their identify confidential. New media does promote communication and communities, therefore it can be expected that privacy and confidentiality of yourself will need to be loosened to a certain extent.