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Malcolm S. Knowles- Adult Education
Malcolm S. Knowles: Adult Education:
Pedagogy vs. Andragogy Instructions
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Contents
TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc282181005” 1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc282181005 h 3
HYPERLINK l “_Toc282181006” 1.1 Research Issues PAGEREF _Toc282181006 h 5
HYPERLINK l “_Toc282181007” 2.0. Discussion PAGEREF _Toc282181007 h 5
HYPERLINK l “_Toc282181008” 2.1 Practice vs. cognitive learning. PAGEREF _Toc282181008 h 5
HYPERLINK l “_Toc282181009” 2.2 Learning model flexibility PAGEREF _Toc282181009 h 7
HYPERLINK l “_Toc282181010” 2.3 The Knowles model and the society PAGEREF _Toc282181010 h 9
HYPERLINK l “_Toc282181011” 3.0 Conclusion. PAGEREF _Toc282181011 h 10
HYPERLINK l “_Toc282181012” Reference PAGEREF _Toc282181012 h 12
Malcolm S. Knowles: Adult Education:
Pedagogy vs. Andragogy Instructions
1.0 Introduction
Malcom Shepherd Knowles lived between 1913- 1997 and was claimed to be the central figure behind adult education in the United States Education system, mainly during the last half of the twentieth century. In fact, in the 1950s according to Smith (2002), Malcom became the Executive director of the Adult Education Association of the United States of America. This distinct position encouraged and motivated Malcolm to develop the curriculum and the basis on which the adult education as well as learning through andragogy could be applied rather than the pedagogy learning practices used by the normal students in the learning process.
Knowles (1970) described andragogy as an emerging technology for adult learning. Knowles employed the word theory in his description of andragogy and later explained that, he obtained the term from his European colleagues. Interestingly, Knowles (1970), explained that he was not certain on the assumptions of andragogy and left the correctness of the assumption to be challenged, tested and modified through inquiry process. The andragogy learning process advocates self directing in learning process since different people would learn at different rates depending on several factors such as age, occupation, and other dimensions of life. The only role that teachers would be required to play in such a process according to Knowles, Holton & Swanson (2005) would be to encourage the students as well as nurture the learning process as the students direct their learning process. The learning process in adult education does not follow a systematic process as would be the case with pedagogy, but the adult learner would be willing to learn a new concept in order to cope with a specific life problem. Therefore, the process has been much designed with the flexibility that would allow the student to discover their needs in search of specific lines of knowledge. The andragogy learning process therefore offers the necessary tools and creates the conditions necessary for the student to discover the above explained knowledge.
Through Knowles adult learning process and methods, there have been an increasing number of adult learners in institutions of higher educations in and education system that could have been otherwise considered to favor the lower education levels. As Gold (2005) explained, there has been a gradual increase in the number of adult learners registering in the U.S.A universities in search of particular areas of knowledge. Gold further explained that the number of the students in the higher learning institutions was registered at about 28% in 1970, increased to about 37% in 1980 and by 2003; the number was recorded as 43%. The gradual increase might be attributed to the major breakthrough that the education system impacted on adult learners in the United States. It might explain the success of Knowles’s education model in transforming the education system from the traditional learning methods known as pedagogy to a more flexible system that would allow the learners to direct the learning system as per their individual requirements.
From the explanations above on of andragogy learning process, the success of the Knowles adult education system and philosophy to large extent revolutionalised the learning process from the subject centered process in pedagogy to the performance centered system in andragogy. It’s therefore evident that the education system to a large extent bridged the gap between the fixed education systems to a more market friendly education system based on specific performance related issues. This might be attributes as the major reason behind the major success in the andragogy system successes.
1.1 Research IssuesThe paper to a large detail focuses on the development and growth of the non traditional adult education programs in higher learning institutions, explaining several factors that have been largely attributed to the increase of the non traditional adult learning programs in the institutions of higher learning. The paper on the other hand researches on the trend that has seen the decline of the liberal arts programs, which are being gradually replaced with occupational and professional programs centered to specific skills in the learner’s life experience and designed in the new andragogy learning system. Using the Knowles principles behind adult education and life experiences, the paper will also outline the advantages as well as the limitations of such education systems aimed an enhancing continuous education process for the adult learners as well as the societies at large.
2.0. Discussion
2.1 Practice vs. cognitive learning.One of the areas that Knowles learning process made a great impact was in the improvement of the cognitive teaching practices that marked the mode of learning in many traditional learning processes in institutions of higher learning. Realin (2007) explained that, the vocational training was reserved for lower education grades in trade preparations; the characteristic of the professional education in the higher education institutions was that, the system with time evolved to become a mass of higher education where students could choose their profession. The important aspect of practice in education system was therefore shelved as the professional training disassociated its curriculum from the real world practices that the students expected to encounter as soon as they left their institutions of training. The first tier liberal arts colleges according to Realin (2007) were a better example, which the institutions of higher education tried to emulate to gain credence due to the overwhelming critics that organizations raised concerning the training practices in the higher learning institutions.
However, Realin (2007) explained that the colleges also had their training programs mainly based on cognitive development on the student rather than the learning approaches that the field expected from the students. It therefore followed that, the universities and the mid-level colleges having relied much on the cognitive development of the students, they failed to equip the students with the relevant skills in real life situations, as the practices in the field required. The liberal arts colleges could not help much in developing the skills in adult education, which as Andre, Rocco & Welton (2009) explained, required legitimacy and professionalism when applied to real life situations in the field. The colleges were therefore abandoned, for a more concrete and practice oriented education system that would be inline with eh problems and skills required in the field. Therefore as Andre, Rocco & Welton explained, Knowles learning process for adults was to large extent based on these important attributes.
Knowles and Ohliger’s learning models were very similar in this in that; both models recognized the differences of tasks that required adult’s to learn voluntarily while on duties in the field to the tasks that were complex enough to require the learners to participate in some learning models sanctioned by the job requirements as Andre, Rocco & Welton (2009) explained. To reverse the situation in the traditional pedagogy practices, Knowles, Holton & Swanson (2005) explained that adult education was more successful while designed through the route of situations and not the subject as was the case in many institutions of higher learning. While in the traditional learning methods, the students came second after the teachers and the subject, the adult learning model as designed by Knowles reversed the situation to place the student first and the other two elements in the learning process second.
In the new model, the cognitive learning could be largely connected to needs and requirements as determined by the field practices. The subjects are therefore designed and made to suit the requirement of the students with teacher as the referee to oversee the implementation of the learning process and intervene where necessary. The molding of the subject around the student was critical in ensuring that the adult learning programs were designed with particular problem in focus, thereby improving the cognitive based education learning, which had in many instances distanced itself from the field requirements thereby resulting to critics from many quarters in the field. The fallout between the learning for practice and cognitive learning was the major force behind Knowles adult education model that was to a large extent a bridge that rectified the errors created by the traditional learning methods.
2.2 Learning model flexibility
One of the major differences that the traditional learning methods and the adult learning model portray would be the flexibility that the adult learners require in the formal learning process. An adult student according to Knowles, Holton & Swanson (2005) has major and important responsibilities that face the student in the formal education process. The major involvements include the daily duties, the family, the student’s recreation requirements, the needs of the community and other responsibilities that call for the interest of the student. The adult education model by Knowles finds a major ground on this aspect. Whereas the normal students have very few interests to take care of, apart from their daily education needs, the adult students require an education system that would accommodate all their numerous interests in the learning process. As discussed above the subject matter has also to be based on a real problem which is mainly the drive behind the learning process for such a student. Knowles, Holton & Swanson (2005) explained that, the teachers and the subject matter in modeling a learning process for such a student would take a second role, while the interest of the specific student finds the utmost importance it deserves.
Knowles (1980) explained that adult education was very critical in addressing the discriminatory practices against some races in the U.S where the discriminated people joined learning forums that empowered them to break the discrimination barriers. This found many earlier discriminated races joining the federal, state or local funded adult learning programs. This further explains the importance of the adult education system in aiming to solve and deal with a specific problem in the society or at work. It therefore requires the flexibility that would fit to a specific arena and bring about the intended outcome in the society or at work place as Knowles, Holton & Swanson (2005) explained. The design of the adult learning model as Knowles, intended was to impact the ability of such a model to cater for the social, educational, and cognitive needs that according to Knowles, Holton & Swanson are essential in meeting the numerous challenges faced by the adult learners in real life situations. The traditional or pedagogical learning model to a large extent limits the achievement of these factors due to a static curriculum that requires the student to mould around the subject matter and the teacher in the learning process. It therefore, limits the flexibility that an adult learner would require in the formal education considering their education requirements and their responsibilities in various situations.
The flexibility according to Knowles (1980) could be well achieved considering several factors that define the adult learners; adult learners according to Knowles might be considered to be more independent and self directed compared to the young learners, the adult learners bring out more experience to the learning process compared to the young learners. This might be attributed to the fact that, the adult learners in most cases are in the practical field, and hence know and recognize the important aspects of learning that would go along with the specific problem in the field compared to the young learners and traditional learning methods that use a laid down system that has to be followed. In addition, Knowles explained that an important aspect in adult learning is the decision making task. Adult learners make their own independent decisions around some particular needs unlike the pedagogical model that suits young learners who cannot make independent decisions. Further more, Knowles explained the adult education model to be more performance centered whereas the traditional model could be termed as subject centered. This might explained the influx of adult learners to mid level colleges and other institutions of higher education with the development in technology. The performance centered education therefore according to Knowles would be required to impact the necessary technological knowledge to the adult learners based on their specific areas of operations. Incase of the traditional learning method, the technological approach would be a broad covering, which would not zero in to a particular area of operation as would be required by the adult learning model.
2.3 The Knowles model and the societyThe Knowles model on andragogy might be considered as an important tool that introduced a new approach to both formal and informal education to adults. The institutions of higher learning had been criticized largely for alienating the coverage of the subject matter away from the requirements of a specific profession. One important aspect of Knowles model would be to enable the society to get the skills that would be required by a specific area of operation as well as keeping up with challenges of any profession. As Knowles (1980), the adult education would be performance centered, thereby giving only the content that a members of the society requires in meeting their needs and goals (as quoted in Mavrinac, 2005). This in most cases would be a relief to employers who as Knowles, Holton & Swanson (2005) explained had criticized the traditional learning models in the higher education institutions due to channeling of employees with little or no skills, contrary to the requirements of a specific profession.
Many members of the society, who had been trained through job experience training, would as well get a chance to upgrade their practical experience with formal education without having to go through the stringent requirements of education system that young students had to go through. The Knowles education model recognizes the numerous interests that the adult learner has to be faced with and integrates the same to form a flexible model that allows the adult learner to be flexible as per their areas of interests and duties. However, the Knowles model would discourage many would be students form joining institutions of higher learning. Knowles (1980) offers many critics on the traditional learning methods based on cognitive development as producing unskilled graduates who cannot cope up with requirements in the practical world. This might discourage many young students who would prefer to join the adult learning models later in life rather than join the pedagogy system as would be required.
3.0 Conclusion.
Knowles andragogy learning model has to a large extent modernized the learning process for many adult learners who were previously required to undergo the pedagogy models to gain the required skills in solving specific problems. In addition to offering a new approach that Knowles described as performance centered rather than the pedagogy subject centered approach, Knowles to a large extent rang the wake up call to many institutions of higher learning that were previously criticized for producing semi skilled graduates through the cognitive learning processes. The adult learning model has over the time received much support where many adults embraced the system due to the flexibility of incorporating their duties, responsibilities and a formal learning method to form the problem centered learning. It has enabled many adult learners to upgrade their skills mainly due to the technological advancement that has posed new challenges and demands to the adult learners. The success of the learning model might be considered as being due to the ability of the student to direct their learning as per their interests. The experience that the adult learners bring along in the education system has in many cases helped in molding the education curriculums to match the practical requirements in the field. Therefore, the Knowles adult learning model has to a large extent revolutionarised the education systems in colleges and institutions of higher learning, while correcting the faults of pedagogy in the learning process.
Exam question, answer questions in 1 report using lecture slide.
please add a definition for foreign direct investment.
The question is ‘discuss the underlying reasons for foreign direct investment
its cost and benefit for the host and home country. also the disadvantages.
with the aid of a diagram critically explain the welfare impacts of capital movement for both investing and host countries’
ReferenceAndre, P.G., Rocco, T.S., & Welton, M.R (2009) Challenging the professionalization of adult education: John Ohliger and contradictions in modern practice. CA: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Gold, H.E (2005). Engaging the adult learner: creating effective library instructions. Portal: Libraries and Academy 5(4) 467- 481
Johnson, K. A. (2009), In service of the common good: Anna Julia Cooper and adult education African American Review. 43(1)
Knowles, M.S. (1980). The modern practice of adult education: from pedagogy to andragogy. 2.ed, NY: Cambridge Books
Knowles, M.S. (1970). The modern practice of adult education: from pedagogy to andragogy. NY: Cambridge Books
Knowles, M.S, Holton, R. A., & Swanson, R. A., (2005). The adult learner: the definitive classic in adult education and human resource development. Elsevier: MA
Mavrinac, M. A., (2005) Transformational leadership: Peer mentoring as a values-based learning process. Portal: Libraries and academy 5(3) 391- 404.
Neary, M. (2002) Curriculum studies in post compulsory and adult education, Cheltenham: Mary Neary
Raelin, J.A., (2007). The return of practice to Higher Education: Resolution Paradox. Journal of General Education. 56(1), 57-77.
Smith, M. K. (2002) ‘Malcolm Knowles, informal adult education, self-direction and andragogy’, the encyclopedia of informal education, HYPERLINK “http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-knowl.htm” www.infed.org/thinkers/et-knowl.htm
A visit of charity
Student’s name
Instructor
Course
Date
A visit of charity
In short, by Eudora Welty about a visit to charity, different themes and moods are displayed in different parts of the story. This story also comprises many other types of organization and information, which are essential in understanding what the author is trying to out across. The general mood displayed in the short story is dark. Marian does not find what she expected in the hospital room, where she meets with the two older women. The mood can also be discussed as foreboding as Marian senses that the place was to be awkward from the first moment she steps in and realizes the wet floor (Welty, 217). Therefore Welty uses different means to achieve this and to tell the story of Marian whereby she is not inside the story, and therefore this gives her authority and ability to read the minds of the characters even though she does not utilize this feature in her story.
Eudora Welty was a resident of Mississippi, and her work is generally known for its exploration of the south’s culture. This culture is of essentiality in American society and knowledge since it helps us understand and interpret her work in the face of the southern part, which helps us borrow from her and know the culture. She has authored dozens of short stories and six novels. In 1973 she won the Pulitzer Prize, which was awarded to recognize her novel the optimist’s daughter. She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom as well as the southern border. She was the first to have her works published in the library of America when she was still alive.
In this short story, the writer’s main means are making us understand it better and showing us how the interaction between the characters goes on concretely is shown through dialogue. This is an essential part as dialogue helps us see the characters as just telling to one another, and therefore it becomes easy for us to understand what they say. The dialogue is very well constructed and developed. Even though it develops into the negative side, it still develops. The characters, especially the two very vocal women, try to understand each other, which is an essential part of the short story. The dialogue begins with the nurse welcoming Marian to the hospital. Without Marian’s knowledge, she tells the nurse she could take her anywhere, and that is how she ends up with these two ladies. At first sight, the women ask if she was a campfire girl (Welty, 218); she responds with a yes, and therefore they say they had another one of her kind the previous week. Even though the ladies are somehow unkind in the way they describe the other campfire girl who came to read the bible to them, it is still of the dialogue, and it serves to provide the audience with the real feeling of a person.
Welty also uses symbolism to portray the different features of the story. Symbolism is mainly used to show one thing as a clue to something’s real meaning, as it is used in this short story. One of the instances whereby symbolism is used is whereby she alights at dark prickly shrubs (Welty, 216), Therefore from this, we see that even though it means something different, it can be used to symbolize the mood as well as the general experience of the visit as it was not pleasant. This symbolism shows how this inability to arrive at the desired results was depicted earlier enough through symbolism. The lady’s talk can be said to be a symbol state of being irritated by the ladies. We find that the mobile lady is not as talkative as the immobile, bedridden one, and therefore the bedridden talks a lot. She, at some point, sheds tears which might symbolize how she has been suffering and all the bad experiences she has gone through (Welty, 220).
The setting of the short story also enables Welty to tell her story in a very good manner. The story’s action is taking place in a hospital setting, and it is in a hospital setting that Marian finds these ladies. They are in hospital supports their manner of behavior and taking since they may be under medication for some disease or just a condition which they have and which makes them behave in such way. Therefore, the playset can be said to be congruent with the message of the short story.
Welty in this novel also deploys imagery. The imagery is the visual representation of the description, which helps us form concrete mental photos of what is happening, is essential and nice. In this, from the way the short story is discussed t becomes easy for a person to imagine the hospital and the two older women talking, and therefore, this creation of mental pictures makes the message of the short story even more understandable.
In conclusion, therefore we can say that Welty is one of the very good writers who uses her ability to write to look into the issues which the society is facing as well as talking about the daily activities of a person in a creative manner to communicate effectively to the reader and the audience.
Works cited
Welty, Eudora. The collected stories of Eudora Welty. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1982
Breaching of Privacy on Social Media
Breaching of Privacy on Social Media
Name:
Institution:
Introduction
Social media platforms have become an integral part of human existence. From sharing texts, photos, the latest news, assignments, to online surveys, marketing, and customer targeting, social media platforms have a wide array of digital uses. Despite these platforms providing daily interactions for more than two billion users globally, they have received much critique regarding privacy and security. In the recent past, there have been reports of privacy and security breaches by online social media and social networking service companies and governmental agencies CITATION Lad15 l 1033 (Ladan, 2015). This work aims to emphasize the need for every user to be cautious about the security and privacy of information they share online and to advocate for all Social networking sites to be limited in what they can do with the information that users post on these networks.
Privacy and Concerns on Social Media
Privacy is viewed from the perspective of control. This includes control over personal data and information, an individual’s choice to disclose their information, the number of entities or persons present in disclosure, the physical presence of other bodies, or the choice of which persons to discuss or share these issues with. Control is, therefore, a key concept in maintaining one’s privacy. The main problem concerning privacy in social networking sites is the misuse of user data and the leakages of user information and profiles. Lately, several cases regarding breaching of privacy have surfaced. Reports have proven that Facebook and other social media platforms have been sharing their users’ personal information with advertising companies without the users’ consent or even knowledge. The data shared by these sites comprises of usernames, their IDs, and other sorts of information that enables the advertising companies to single out distinct user profiles CITATION Stu16 l 1033 (Stutzman, 2016). Advertising companies such as the Double Click Company owned by Google have been getting these data to facilitate advertisements and marketing. Facebook has been identified to go much further in the sharing of user information than other social networking sites.
Due to Facebook’s extensive breaching of privacy, its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, was summoned to Congress to elaborate and testify of these misdeeds. It has been reported that whenever a Facebook user clicks on advertisements that appear on a profile page, Facebook provides data such as the username behind the clicking and the use whose profile page clicked on the page CITATION Fuc14 l 1033 (Fuchs, 2014). Moreover, Twitter admitted to having scanned and imported their user’s phone contacts onto their website’s database to know more about their users and their relations. With this information, Twitter aimed to aid their users to find their friends. It is also reported that thousands of companies were waiting for Twitter to give them access to millions of tweets regarding their different products, services, or simply the organizations themselves. Data mining techniques have been used to fish valuable information on advertising and marketing CITATION Pre17 l 1033 (Preibusch, Soren, Hoser, Bettina, & Gürses, 2017). With this information, organizations can advertise their products to individuals who search for their products more. Despite some users not having a problem with the exposure of their private information, many care about the revelation of their private information to many people and worry about privacy guidelines, policies, and settings of a networking site. The latter group tries to use any available security policies or features to ensure that they have protected themselves. Many social networking sites have been seen to restore security settings to default after a user updates their security features. Facebook has especially been criticized on its carelessness when it comes to privacy and resetting privacy settings to default.
Other issues connected to privacy is the fact that numerous Social Networking Sites provide Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to third party developers for the creation of applications for the website’s platform CITATION Adr14 l 1033 (Felt & David, 2014). These third-party applications are pretty common with the users, and after installation, they can access the user’s information immediately. These third-party applications are also able to post on user’s profiles or a friend’s profile. They may also have access to other users’ information without these users’ knowledge. Moreover, third-party applications are capable of tracking the user’s activities and allow other advertisement partners to access and retrieve the user’s data for advertising and other commercial uses.
Posting and sharing pictures and videos, directly or indirectly, may lead to a user’s breach of privacy or a firm’s breach of confidentiality. Another violation of privacy is that potential employers can sometimes use social networks to look up information on their prospective employees. The employers use this information to screen applicants, and these may support or hurt their chances at employment, Employers seek to find if the applicants have made political statements that conflict with their organization’s culture and ideologies. Twitter and Facebook have been identified as the primary networking sites that are used to screen potential employees and job applicants. Twitter and Facebook are preferred by employers to get a personal understanding of the job applicants rather than relying on information from sites like LinkedIn that tend to offer resume-like opinions. Therefore, social media networks should know that many employers use their websites to get information on some of their users as a form of pre-screening.
Today, many social networking sites have responded to these concerns over the breach of privacy. They have claimed that they have dealt with changes in default security changes, data storage, and the sharing of user data to third-party applications and updated or corrected these issues. However, other issues remain unsatisfied such as the critical changes that need to be done on privacy settings to allow the user to determine whether or not their information can be shared.
Organizations Lobbying Against Privacy Infringement on Social Media
Lobbyists groups against the breach of privacy on social media and technology include The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). These groups state that technological innovation has outstripped the need for privacy protection. Due to this, the government agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA) and corporations are tracking users’ digital footprints in methods that most Americans would term as improbable CITATION ATh13 l 1033 (Thierer, 2013). As more and more people use social media, then more data is becoming available for these entities to use. The digital footprint comprises of communication, our locations, purchases, what we browse online, and even our physical bodies. When these entities access the users’ information, then the users lose their right to privacy and control of their information. Ultimately, the rights to free speech, privacy, and security are lost in one way or another.
These lobby groups and nongovernmental organizations fight the infringement of privacy by using litigation and advocacy in courts and lobbies on Capitol Hill. They also work with technology organizations to ensure that civil rights and liberties are protected even with technological advancements CITATION Pri18 l 1033 (Privacy and Tecghnology: What is at Stake?, 2018). The lobby groups are particular in their goals on privacy. These organizations aims include securing warrant requirements for the NSA to access people’s electronic information and to ensure that these surveillance practices are more transparent to the public. The lobby groups also aim to encourage the development of technologies that that ensure that users’ electronic data is protected. These groups argue that Americans should not be made to choose between enjoying the benefits of new technology and protecting their freedoms. They work to ensure that the Fourth Amendment Act that bans unnecessary searches to extend to digital data and property.
The Government on Privacy Infringement
The government does not condone the misuse and breaches of privacy for American social media users. As evidenced by Mark Zuckerberg’s summon to Capitol Hill to testify on Facebook’s alleged misuse of American data, the lawmakers are serious in the protection of the privacy of Americans. During Zuckerberg’s drilling, he acknowledged that Facebook had allowed the political data mining company, Cambridge Analytica, access to millions of American personal data. This proves that Social media sites do not have their users’ needs in mind. Despite the Congress advocating for their rights to user privacy, they have allowed the government access to Americans’ communications.
The National Security Agency (NSA) has the power to conduct a warrantless internet surveillance program that has been supported time and again the U.S. House of Representatives. Despite opposition from lobby groups and advocates of privacy, the promoters of this spying tool state that it is useful as the tool protects the nation from any terror attacks. The NSA classified domestic spying program was launched after the September 11 attacks and is used to mainly track calls and messages domestically. The NSA maintains that these monitoring communications is one example of collecting intelligence. The New York Times exposed this program in 2005 and was said to detect any American associations with terrorists.
The NSA program was first passed by Congress, who passed the FISA Amendments Acts and Patriotic Act to support surveillance activities outside the nation. Since these Acts have already been passed, NSA, therefore, has the right to record phone conversations, especially international texts, emails, and telephone calls. This program enables them in the detection of any foreign threat that may attempt to infiltrate the country. The ACLU and other lobby groups are trying to ensure that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) can assess the government’s surveillance programs and decide on whether all these programs are constitutional or not. The ACLU also asks for more transparency in the program’s activities for the citizenry. The government argues that the UAS.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protects the information that the citizenry keeps on their desk but not online information such as emails, photos, or videos.
My Take on Data Surveillance and Privacy Breaches by Social Networking Sites and Governmental Agencies
The pervasive use of information technology has changed our lives in terms of working, forming, and maintaining social connections. The main concern of these social networks is the privacy of our data. More stringent laws should be put in place to avoid social media networks from making user information available for advertising and marketing. However, if this information is to be used in the security of our nation, then the government agencies can use it. However, there should be an oversight body that regulates whether or not the government is using this information for the said purposes. Information is among the most important elements in the twenty-first century. The availability of information to the government is giving the government too much power, and this needs regulation and overseeing. Therefore, I agree with the ACLU and other lobbyists, that privacy is information, and so is the security of the nation. However, the government cannot have control over everyone’s data without the common public having a say in it.
Avoiding Data Surveillance by Social Media Networks and Third Party Applications
Security and privacy attacks can be classified into four groupings- breaches of privacy, viral advertising, malware attacks, and structural network attacks. Users should, therefore, be careful to avoid these breaches. Before signing up for any social media network, then one should review the website’s privacy policies. If the policies are unclear on how the site protects the users’ data, then one should not sign up or should limit using this platform. When signing up, one should also use a robust password that cannot be guessed easily and should be different from passwords used in other social media networks. After signing up, one should ensure that they configure their privacy settings from default since for some sites, default settings allow other parties to access your information. Users should also remember that once information is posted online, then it cannot be completely withdrawn. Despite deleting this information, some caches may still exist on other computers. Therefore, confidential data should never be posted online. Information like phone numbers, addresses, and other information that is mostly used for security should not be posted. This information includes; Mother’s maiden name, one’s town of birth, or the name of a favorite car. Identity thieves can configure a lot from this information on the user’s profile. Users should avoid installing applications that are not from trusted sources and that have been verified.
Conclusion
Since it has been difficult to stop government surveillance and access to our data, unless the issue is discussed by Congress or the matter is taken up during a referendum, we should, therefore, be more concerned on data security and privacy infringement by social networking sites and making this information accessible to corporations for marketing. Congress and lobbyists should ensure that all these privacy infringements are dealt with to protect the freedoms explicitly provided the Fourth Amendment.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Felt, A., & David, E. (2014). Privacy Protection for Social Networking APIs. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 179-186.
Fuchs, C. (2014). An alternative view of privacy on Facebook: Trust and privacy in our networked world. Informations Journal, 2-14.
Ladan, M. (2015). Social Networks: Privacy Issues and Precautions. The Ninth International Conference on Digital Society, Beirut.
Preibusch, A., Soren, G., Hoser, G., Bettina, M., & Gürses, S. (2017). Ubiquitous social networks? Opportunities and challenges for privacy-aware user modeling. Workshop on Data Mining for User Modelling .
Privacy and Tecghnology: What is at Stake? (2018, September 28). Retrieved from ACLU Web Site: https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology
Stutzman, F. (2016). An evaluation of identity-sharing behavior in social network communities. Journal of the International Digital Media and Arts Association, 3(1), 11-19.
Thierer, A. (2013). To Track Or Not To Track: Recent Legislative Proposals to Portect Consumer Privacy. Harvard Journal of Legislation, 111-134. Retrieved from Harvard Journal on Legislation.