The Eyes Behind the Screen

With Internet gimmicks such as UK's Internet Eyes that is offerring to hire individuals to spy on shoppers via their home computer, it's no wonder people seem to be losing jobs and most importantly their privacy. With so many laws constantly enacted regarding privacy, the digital world still remains a large unregulated body that open doors to online companies to earn a fast buck. As I have mentioned previously my point of view on the Internet is that it is replacing many our necessities and many of us have grown so dependent on it. For instance, to keep track of a product's sales there are programs that already have this data stored. Of course this is very helpful for store managers, but most of them rely on these systems that they fail to notice any glitches that may have occurred. Internet Eyes is intending to allure more viewers to their website by offering a simple job opportunity that doesn't acquire experience or labor. Who wouldn't want to stay at home and watch suspicious criminal activity and earn money for it? Sounds tempting enough for those who have a lot of time on their hands. However, jobs like these replace loss prevention that is found at most retail stores. Will such an easy job motivate people to work harder? What would they lose if they didn't report a theft? Most of the loss prevention, are given weekly goals and incentives to observe customers from inside the store and arrest them as soon as they have been spotted stealing. Internet Eyes apparently is not interested in the quality of the work but are only interested in generating the revenue desired for their company to grow.

Laws in regards to privacy differ from country to country. If a U.S law is broken in another country then it will become extremely difficult to prosecute. Now in regards to keeping your privacy secured over the internet it is always good to keep in mind that any information you post about yourself online will be available to EVERYONE and it is very difficult to erase your tracks. One way websites keep track of your searches if through your IP address. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) allows you to connect to the internet and they give you a unique IP address that allows you to send and receie information over the internet. When you enter certain websites they receive your IP address which allows them to view your browsing preferences. Most our well known search engines such as Yahoo and Google keep track of your website visits. These companies claim they keep the information retained from your IP address to provide better customer service and recognize trends in consumer behavior. Constantly we are being watched, perhaps not physically as described with Internet Eyes but our personal information is being observed by others. What happens when we google map addresses? They retain the information. What happens when we're curious to search information on our Social Security address? It is recorded as well.

If we're not careful such valuable information can fall into the wrong hands. Knowingly or not the internet we have all grown to love and depend on can one day work against us.