Privacy & Confidentiality

I think that new media raises new questions  today about privacy and confidentiality. Some of those question had simple answers before Web 2.0 era, but they are not so simple now....
That is just one of the examples of controversial issues that arose with the invention of new media....

Excerpt from "Young people, ethics, and the new digital media" by James C., Davis K., Flores A., Francis J., Pettingill L., Rundle M. & Gardner H.

Privacy in the Blogosphere

Sofia is an eighteen-year-old freshman at a small college. She has

been keeping a blog on LiveJournal for several years and has continued

to blog after she enters college to keep her high school friends

informed of the ups and downs of her new life at college. She also

finds that writing is a great way to think through problems in her life

and to express her opinions in a free environment. The stresses of

taking premed courses, handling dorm life, and making new friends

are consistent themes of Sofia’s blog at college, but she also writes

about her dating and intimate experiences. Some aspects of her posts

are fictionalized, but Sofia has fun writing, and judging by the comments

that her friends leave on her blog, they seem to enjoy her

narratives. She has told only a couple of close friends at college

about her blog and disguises the identities of her crushes, hook-ups,

and dates. Although she does refer to her college by name, she writes

under a pseudonym and doesn’t give many details that would clearly

identify her as the author. Even if a few random people happen

across her blog, she reflects, they probably wouldn’t be able to figure

out her real identity.

A local journalist who is writing a story on blogging searches

LiveJournal for local college students who actively maintain blogs.

Her search uncovers Sofia’s blog, and because it is in the public

domain, the journalist feels free to write about its content. After the

story appears in the local newspaper, Sofia is surprised to find that

students all over campus start reading and commenting on her blog.

Eventually, a few people are able to piece together details from her

posts and expose Sofia as the author of the blog. Some of her past

romantic partners express anger and frustration because comments

that Sofia’s friends write on the blog reveal their identities. Sofia

feels blind-sided by this turn of events. She never imagined that a

broader public would be reading about her most intimate thoughts

and experiences.