Blog 2 (privacy, hacktivism, whistle-blowing)

The one thing that really got to me from these past couple of weeks is Luciano Floridi’s idea that information is a part of you not a belonging. With this idea relating to privacy and hacktivism it made me look at everything a lot differently. At first I would just say that if you put things on the internet is your responsibility, but now I agree with Deborah Johnson when she said that we need privacy to form a sense of our own identity. I think back to when I was a teenager and I didn’t want my parents anywhere near my business. It is important to make sure that we can keep just a little part of ourselves private. Otherwise there is nothing that we can truly call our own. I really think about what I put on the internet now because it is a part of me, it represents me.
Along the lines of hacktivism before our discussions I believed that it is wrong and should not be done under any circumstances. I still think the same if not more. Yes the government could hack and try to bust someone for doing something illegal but they can take that way too far so easily. According to Tavani criminals do what they do to show off, they love the joyride, and they try to find “holes” in systems (Tavani 203). Now really come on, that should not be right. The group Anonymous I’m sure could find a much better way that would hurt and embarrass a lot less people. There would also be the threat of “counter hacking” and it might never end, just keep going back and forth (Tavani 204).
Finally, I was really intrigued by the concept of whistle blowing. It was not really touched on a lot so I wanted to bring it up myself. I still do not have a final decision about it. Is it telling on people or is it just a last grave effort to stop something that can be potentially very dangerous? Sisela Bok says that it should be the last alternative because it can be very destructive. All I can see as a bad point would be that the person would be labeled as a snitch. You would be a good person and doing the right thing but you would be shunned from society potentially.