Betrayal vs. Misuse

      Do we get betrayed by the internet? Or are we misusing it? To address this question it is very important to figure out the source of the problems that we are dealing with. In this case, it comes down to the creators of the different websites or its users. Who is to blame?

To betray is to reveal or disclose in violation of confidence. Many websites, including Facebook, have reserved the right in their user’s agreement contracts to change their privacy policies at their discretion. The fact that they can change those policies is a way to fix privacy problems. But changing privacy policies without letting their users know of the changes, in my opinion, is betrayal. What others post about us on the internet is another way that we can be betrayed (Born Digital). We can take all the precautions possible but we cannot control what other people upload onto the internet. I consider this a form of betrayal because there should be certain policies/laws in place that would prohibit this. Yes I know that enforcing laws of that sort may seem somewhat impossible, nevertheless it would be nice!

Misuse, on the other hand, leaves the user accountable. Personally, I have never fully read the agreement contracts that we have to “sign” in order to use a website or download computer programs. Normally, I read the first two paragraphs then deem it boring and click the little “I agree” button at the bottom of the page. Not reading the fine print definitely leaves me liable. Another form of misuse is not checking the privacy settings at every website we use or not verifying that the website is providing/protecting whatever they say they are going to provide or protect. Basically, the culprit for a user’s misuse of the internet is laziness.  

Taking into account both sides of the story, I believe that internet users and website creators need to meet each other halfway in order to make the internet safe. This being said, I also believe that in most cases the users are to blame because we don’t take the time to look up how to use a website safely. If we did then we could keep the website creators accountable to make sure their websites are as safe as possible.