Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have gained huge popularity as well as much controversy recently. We have all seen on the news about the incidents where employers fired employees based on what was on their MySpace page.

The general public that use these sites seem to not realize that all of the private information they are giving out, can be used against them as well. Many countries have started taking notice of this phenomenon and a growing concern has become evident.

According to The Guardian a survey that was conducted showed that nine out of 10 people believe these sites should be more heavily regulated in order to protect people’s rights. This is surprising as it would mean less freedom and more restrictions on what they can and cannot do on these sites. 

The EU is also taking a progressive stab at regulation with TechWorld reporting that ENISA (European Network and Information Security Agency) have called for a new legislation that would allow for a more strict regulation of these sites. One thing they mention is the importance of getting consent before posting pictures up on the Internet. Currently there is no law preventing anyone to post a picture of someone without consent.

It’s curious to see if US will follow suit and consider regulating these sites as they are increasingly becoming more popular. Social networking sites are a byproduct of the Internet and something that just happened and wasn’t planned in the strictest sense. So, it may in fact make sense to create these walls to protect us from, well… ourselves.

Of course the implications are less freedom which is something we would hate to sacrifice, but at what point should we consider on compromising part of our freedom for our safety?

Related:

Entry was posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 12:18 am under Uncategorized.

Read more entries by Mike Ferro.
Stumble It!