The growth of the internet and new media has been undeniable. But with that growth comes pitfalls and obstacles as well. Privacy and confidentiality issues are serious dangers in the age of Web 2.0.
First, there are the privacy issues presented by social networking sites. For example, Facebook's privacy policy has been constantly criticized for making private information public. The default privacy settings are to share as much information as possible. This makes Facebook a playground for potential hackers and identity thieves.
Youtube is another example of new media with privacy and confidentiality concerns. Users who post personal videos become vulnerable to personal attack (either on the internet, or in real life).
Privacy and confidentiality concerns shook the world with the release of WikiLeaks. The project presented an anonymous way for users to post sensitive, classified, or hidden documents for the world to see. Items posted include sensitive political and military documents, as well as confidential documents about corporate misconduct. The things posted on WikiLeaks routinely become giant news stories.
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