Civil Liberties

Civil liberties are freedoms that the government puts in place and they include laws which are to be enforces to be able to ensure safety while using the internet. Our lives are surrounding by IT and we need these freedoms to allow us to have the right to life and understand between positive and negative rights.

Data

Data is stored by companies about customers and workers and the information gathering is kept private, however it can be sold on. The two types of data include data subjects and data users. The data is gathered by many companies, even when you are unaware. Data subjects are everyone because we are the people who are having data held about us. Data users are the people who hold the data. A data controller is only used for the people who are holding the data and it is a person who ensures the data protection act is enforced.

Data Protection Act

The data protection act started in 1998 and they had set out to protect the privacy of personal information. It only covers personal information of individuals and it covers data stored on computer and on paper through a filing system. It lets a person check all the data that is being held about them and it is currently run by the information commissioner’s office. The Information Commissioner’s Office is an independent public authority set up to uphold information rights. They believe that they do it by promoting good practice, ruling on complaints, providing information to individuals and organisations and taking appropriate action when the law is broken.

Many people will feel insecure sharing their information with people they do not know, especially when they are unaware of it as they might think it could be a hacker trying to receive information. It is legal for companies to sell your information onto other companies; however the companies have to ensure the person is notified and say: what data they want to store, what they want to use it for, how long they will keep it and who they might pass it onto. They also have to agree to follow the 8 Data Protection Principles.

Exemptions of the Data Protection Act

There are a few cases when the Data Protection Act does not apply. Some of the exemptions of the act include: national security, police investigations and examination results. If the national security is involved within your data then you are not allowed to ask for that data which is being stored. If your information is being used in police investigations then your data is not covered. Finally in examination results, results are not allowed to be seen before publications of the exam board.

CCTV

We are living in what some people call the surveillance society where there are many security cameras all around us. Offices have CCTV cameras and also schools to protect the machinery and equipment. It is said that in the UK for every 32 people there is one CCTV camera. CCTV cameras do not come under the Data Protection Act and you can argue that it is an invasion of privacy because it is as if someone is constantly watching your every move and they can also be used for the wrong reasons as they are used in many places; however some people believe they are to ensure we are kept safe.

Other Aspects

There’s a danger of our own civil liberties becoming damaged, you would want criminals to be caught, but by making their data accessible means that the innocent’s data is also accessible. This essentially means you only have privacy up to a point as they know data about you that could potentially be unnecessary. There are some things that you should never share, for example, keeping your date of birthday secret is very important. There have been cases on the Google search facility about people asking to be taken off Google because they have found defamatory information about them.

Scopes of Civil Liberties

The scopes of civil liberties include that in the Data Protection Act the company informs you about any great amounts of data they want to keep. They also inform you about who they may pass the information onto which helps the person feel more secure about who will receive their data. Finally the data is only kept for a long as they need it which is some cases could be a short amount of time.

Limitations of Civil Liberties

The limitations of civil liberties include having a large amount of invasion of privacy due to CCTV cameras and from some of your data being kept without your knowledge. Also there is a possibility that fraud could happen as someone could receive the information about you and use it against you. Finally it may make the person feel uncomfortable with sharing their data with someone they do not know.

My Personal Opinion

I think that companies should not be allowed to share the information because although the person may agree for them to share their information, they are not aware of who will receive the information and they may be led to a false agreement. I also believe CCTV cameras in some cases are unnecessary because they can be used for the wrong reasons, for example, in a local swimming pool there has been controversy about CCTV cameras in the changing rooms as it is invading your privacy in a more extreme way. However I do think that CCTV cameras are used for our safety and to prevent criminals when on the streets and in very crowded or even deserted places.