Anonymity disappears under rise of tracking programs
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 10/02/2007
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Students might think they are anonymous on the Internet, but one Purdue professor said there is less anonymity on the Web than in real life.
"We're less anonymous now than we've ever been in our lives," said Marcus Rogers, professor of computer and information technology.
"(People) still like to think that this is the wild, wild West," he said. "That old Internet is gone."
The issue of Internet privacy has come to the forefront as organizations such as the Recording Industry Association of America track activity and file lawsuits against people who illegally download copyrighted files. Each month, the RIAA sends 400 pre-litigation letters to colleges, 85 of which have been sent to Purdue. But privacy is also being invaded by corporations that collect data on users.
Rogers said that as the Internet has become more of a business environment, money has been the motivation in the loss of privacy. This includes everything from tracking the Web sites users visit to identity theft.
Scott Ksander, executive director of information technology networks and security, said Purdue has many efforts to educate students about Internet privacy. For example, this month is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and Purdue's Information Technology Networks and Security unit will host several presentations on Internet security.
"It's an awareness that we need to keep bringing up over and over again so people don't forget it," Ksander said. "The average take a criminal gets from an identity theft crime exceeds the take from a bank robbery."
But, like everyone else, criminals aren't anonymous on the Internet, either.
"If you think the Internet is somewhere you can do criminal things and be anonymous, then you're wrong," Ksander said.
Tim Wedge, a computer crime specialist at the National White Collar Crime Center on loan to Purdue, said law enforcement officials have many ways of tracking Internet crime.
"Some agencies take a proactive approach and go looking for people the same way a patrol car would drive around a neighborhood looking for problems," he said. "People assume that if you have police officers undercover they're looking for child predators. But it can be other types of crime."
Two Purdue sophomores were arrested last month when they were caught downloading child pornography over Purdue's network.