online privacy

Online Privacy

Online privacy is a relatively new issue, and something that my parets’ generation did not have to worry about. I am totally in favor of greater restrictions of what companies can do with online data and how they can collect this data. I would definitely like to see this legislation in place and, perhaps more importantly, a mechanism to enforce the law (after all what good is a law that you can’t enforce).I am in favor of these notions for several reasons. 

First of all, privacy is an important aspect of life in America. Without clear boundaries, the internet could turn into a dangerous place with little or no privacy. Literally a free for all with sensitive credit card, social security, employment, etc. data few clicks away for anyone. Without laws policing cyberspace we could all be vicitims of identity theft at nearly any moment. The same way routes of commerce need to be protected from thieves so does the internet. If the internet became less trustworthy than it already is it could b a serious disruption to our way of life and hurt many e-commerce relate businesses. 

Just as we need to protect the internet from thieves and people without ethics, I think that controlling the data-mining practices of companies like Google and Facebook is important because these companies make tremendous profits without really adding anything of value to the economy. Facebook for example sells advertising and collects data based on its users but the users themselves aren’t really made aware of this nor are the compensated in any way. To me, this type of practice seems exploitive and should be at the very least strictly policed.

Earlier this year, companies such as Wikipedia, Google, and Mozilla either suspended or modified their operations for a single day on Jan 12 in order to protest the  Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act. These internet companies felt these pieces of legislation seriously impeded their businesses and took too much power away from them. Obviously, because these companies make their livings off the internet they do want to see it restricted any more than it already is. However, for the reasons I have outline above I would like to see the internet become a more regulated entity where people can exchange even sensitive information safely and be sure they are not becoming part of a data set that will then be sold without their consent.

Global warming

The United States can do a great deal in order to fight global

warming, a phenomenon which most in the scientific community is

legitimate. A large percentage of Global Warming is thought to come

from our carbon footprint, and so reducing our carbon footprint is an

important priority in combating global warming. Carbon emissions as a

result of burning fossil fuels represent a large portion of the

destruction done to our ozone layer. Accordingly, our government must

enact policies that will cut down on carbon emissions by encouraging

cleaner energy sources. This could be achieve a number of ways through

government subsidies, tax credits, or taxing fossil fuels at a higher

rater (the problem with that is that it might hurt the already feeble

economy). This is one of those issues where our government has to take

steps proactively in order to make the future environment is healthy.

While many in America complain that the price of gas is already too

high, taxing gas further could have two positive effects: 1. people

would drive less reducing carbon emissions 2. society would explore

cleaner more renewable energy sources instead of using gas. In

conjunction with this our government could demand that car

manufacturers only make engines with a certain MPG rating that is very

efficient (above 20 MPG on highways or something like that). The less

oil we use the less we contribute to global warming and the less

dependent we are on other countries for our energy.

       Basically, if gas were really expensive people would invest in

developing technologies other energy sources such as electric, natural

gas, wind, ethanol, or biodiesel. The tradeoff seems worth it to me

but would definitely require significant thought. Another thing our

government could to do to fight carbon emissions is to create a better

public transportation system. By implementing better public

transportation systems, people would use cars less and so emissions

would be greatly reduced. Improving our country’s infrastructure and

transportation system is expensive and something that should be a

government undertaking.

       Another thing our government can do is build more energy efficient

buildings and encourage private homeowners to do so through tax

credits etc. For example, New York state offers its residents low cost

loans and credits if the put up solar panels in their houses. Policies

like these will be important in fighting against global warming and

should probably be implemented on the state, local, and federal level.

Our government could also offer low interest rate loans to “green”

businesses who would otherwise find it difficult getting loans from a

bank. While these policies might hurt some industries, like coal for

example, they would definitely help the US fight global warming.

       Fighting global warming is an endeavor for our government because it

might not be profitable for private companies and thus they would be

less likely to invest in such things. All of this can be a very effective way in trying to solve and fix the problem of global warming and the effects it has on earth.