These days the personal information of many individuals is held by large internet companies and organisations. Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
These days the personal information of many individuals is held by large internet companies and organisations.
Benefits
Can be useful for government agencies when looking to verify details of citizens or even criminals
Can help store details for future use in various areas
Can help afford customized browsing experience
Help one find their desired commodities/ services/jobs, or even entertainment genres
One is not flooded by unnecessary advertisements
Drawbacks
Encroachment of privacy of users, often deemed as surveillance
Vulnerable to data and identity theft
Misuse of details by unscrupulous characters: manipulation of details, and graphic content
The policy of data retention by commercial entities and internet-based platforms has become a ubiquitous practice. Although this facilitates personalized browsing, there are umpteen hazards: data theft and scams, which outrightly eclipse any benefits derived.
The most prominent upside of this arrangement is that it extends unprecedented convenience while using the internet, in the form of extending personalized search, and getting suggestions about targeted products, services, and other objectives. For instance, most users of Google browser report that they tend to save humongous time while looking for desired goods and services, entertainment, and even employment, as most of the time, the search engine fetches them accurate information. Similarly, one can circumvent the need to represent their details while availing services from establishments: hospitals, airlines, and online shopping portals, and can receive better facilities and discounts instead.
However, these pros fail to overwhelm pitfalls. Many have raised concerns about their privacy being encroached by businesses, sometimes by government agencies, who tend to use personal information to either pitch unnecessary products, and facilities, or monitor online activities. As per The Week, there is a growing resentment about people receiving unsolicited calls from telecallers, and warning flags from law enforcement agencies.
Moreover, this system has resulted in a phenomenal rise in the instances of theft of personal information by cyber criminals who use it to defraud ignorant internet subscribers, and steal their money or misuse their data to cheat others. To corroborate, as per European online intelligence agency, over 800,000 people were robbed of their money through scams like cyber arrest.
To conclude, undeniably, even though careful use can mitigate risks associated with this policy, the reality is one can not always be on high alert, and thus, it is hard to surmount its shortcomings.
Introduction 1:
Data retention by commercial entities and internet-based platforms has become a common practice today, and it can offer certain benefits such as facilitating personalized browsing, but one can also be exposed to certain hazards. This makes it imperative to assess whether the former outshine the latter.
Introduction 2:
