Intrusive Technology and Privacy Writing Assignment - 1925 Words

Intrusive Technology and Privacy Writing Assignment (Essay Sample) Content: First and Last Name Professor Class June 14, 2018 Intrusive Technology and Privacy Peoples lives today are surrounded, supported and even managed by electronic devices. With the advent of the internet, these devices ensure that personal data does not remain personal. Smart TVs, phones and every other device that connects to the internet collect small details about the user, sharing them companies that specialize in building a complete picture of the consumer. By doing so, every individual can be targeted on a personal basis with specifically targeted products and services. This is corporate and government surveillance which has been allowed by people into their homes and their pockets, thus becoming an open target for marketing, and more worryingly, spying. Devices connected to the internet have become the norm in households. Earlier, the only smart device with someone used to be a computer and mobile phone. However, nowadays everything ranging from televisions right down to refrigerators and home lighting can be controlled through the internet. These devices can even interact with people using voice. In effect, they can be used to record sounds, read private texts and emails, and build a profile using not just online activities, but also offline one. These include the routes one takes, the groceries one buys, and even sleep patterns. As with all things related to information technology, there is always a possibility that even the most well-protected data stored in the most secure environment can be hacked and misused by those who are so inclined. There are many ways that cyber-attacks can occur. Mobile phones, laptops, computers, internet routers, and even smartwatches and televisions are vulnerable to hacking. One such example was the weeping angel tool which was used to target Samsung Smart TVs, ostensibly at the behest of the CIA. A TV that is exploited by this tool goes into fake standby mode. The user believes that the unit is switched off, but in reality, only the monitor gets turned off. The microphone and the internet connection still work, and the TV has the capability of recording conversation and sending them over the internet to whoever ran the tool on it (Hollister). This is just one example of the malicious ways in which electronic devices can be used to spy on people. On the other hand, corporate firms can utilize a plethora of information that people leave as their digital footprints. Every laptop and mobile phone stores information about the users personal information. If all such details of billions of users are put together, they become a dataset of prospective clients for big businesses. There is an adage which says If youre not paying for it, you are the product. Everyone uses some or the other online service which offers a huge amount of convenience for free. These range from email and social networks to shopping. People can send emails, messages, share photos, shop from the convenience of their homes, with absolutely no cost. There is a price to be paid, but rather than a monetary one, it is the loss of ones privacy. Browsing patterns, shopping lists, and other activities are studied by the service providers to prepare what can only be called individuals dossiers, and these are sold to other business to allow them to market their wares effectively. Many websites use software that monitors the users' inputs on their portals, and they can profile the persons habits, interests, and requirements on the basis of this data. Users can be segmented right down to a single person, and this information is then sold to businesses as leads. There also exists a darker form of the use of personal details. Spying on internet users is one of the fastest growing businesses. Companies use cookies and other surveillance tools that asses and analyses users. Though cookies have been in use ever since the birth of the internet, the way they are used now in conjunction with other methods has become much more pervasive and intrusive. With or without prior permissions, websites put in tracking technologies on personal computers. Instead of the relatively harmless content that cookies store, these new tools allow access to users locations, shopping habits, income levels and even medical issues. Even the most tech-savvy user can occasionally be flummoxed by these tools, as the more intrusive ones have the capability to persist in the system even after deletion. By collating all manner of data, the users profiles can be bought and sold in online markets. This has had a huge impact on the economic structure of the internet. Previously, advertising used to be limited to ads on web pages. However, nowadays advertisers follow users as they visit various websites and show extremely specific adverts. A person who has searched for used cars, for instance, will continually see banner ads for cars no matter which website he or she visits. The tracking companies and data brokers act as middlemen between the advertiser and the user. The competition between these companies is huge, which is why they go to occasionally questionable lengths to provide the most in-depth data to the advertisers. In doing so, they completely disregard the concept of the users privacy. On the part of the advertisers, instead of buying access to ad space on web pages, they now purchase direct access to people. Though bordering on being illegally intrusive, these businesses function because so far the data provided to companies is anonymous. The individual is identified through a sequence of letters and numbers rather than a name. This code points to a database of information about various attributes behaviors and habits about the person. The justification offered is that the data is primarily harmless and that by allowing better targeting, it is not an ad that is being served, but important information. Tracking in itself is not a new concept, but the number of attributes which can be monitored is growing every day. Small pieces of code or programs called cookies, flash cookies or beacons are installed when one visits a website. Cookies are the most basic of such trackers, with the rest being more complex (Tirtea et al.). US courts have deemed the former to be legal, but have e been quiet on the latter. This is alarming because the intrusive nature of newer tracking tools needs to be brought under legislations since they are already being misused. One such technology is third party tracking files. After installing on a user computer, this assigns a unique ID to the computer and keeps track every online move the person makes. The businesses which use this technique have huge affiliate networks which allow them to create a very detailed and precise profile of the individual. This data is used and even traded extremely quickly. Today, the internet is everywhere, and people have usernames and IDs not just on websites, but also on every connected device. Whether awake or asleep, people use technologies and gadgets that are connected, and sometimes knowingly allow themselves to be tracked. Personal data has become a valuable commodity for sales. Companies sell us products where they explicitly state which information will be shared, but people accept that almost unconditionally, Google, Facebook, Apple and almost every other company tells users that such sharing can be turned off at any time, but no one ever does. The Like" and Share buttons from Facebook are present on almost every page that one visits nowadays. It is very convenient to be able to share a tidbit of information or lie a company so that one may receive updates. However, this is a two-way street, and by sharing or liking such content, the user is also providing access to his or her online activities. To disable such tracking, one can log out of Facebook, but then, it is not possible to share or like a webpage or a post. Just for the sake of this convenience, people allow 24/7 tracking. In fact, the value of Facebook as a company is derived primarily from its vast user base and the tremendous amount of individual data that it can make available to other businesses. Each user is a certain number of dollars in Facebooks valuation. Another 21st-century technological marvel that no one can survive without today is the smartphone ("The Problem With Mobile Phones"). This is even worse than computers because of its ease of access. Where a laptop has to be switched on and used, a smartphone is continuously working, whether in ones hand or the pocket. A small example is the location services on phones. It is beneficial when trying to find out the closest subway station. The phone will give accurate directions and estimated time of arrival, while tracking your location on a map and updating it to the nearest meter. Whether it is Apple or Google, these location records allow the companies to build up a dataset of places one frequents and can be used for serving ads which market businesses in that general area. The basic functioning of a mobile phone is made possible by sharing the users location with the service provider. These devices connect to different towers as one moves around. Therefore, though this location is not as accurate as a GPS one, it still provides a general area to the phone compan...

Myths of the American Dream Exposed in Arthur Millers...

Myths of the American Dream Exposed in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman Willy Loman, the lead character of Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, believes in the myths of the capitalistic society(DiYanni 412). This essay will examine the impact of the capitalistic myths on Willy Lowman. Willy believes in the myth that popularity and physical appearance are the keys that unlock the door to the â€Å"American Dream†. We are first introduced to the importance of popularity and physical appearance when Willy is speaking to his wife, Linda, about their son Biff. â€Å"Biff Loman is lost,† says Willy. â€Å"In the greatest country in the world, a young man with such personal attractiveness gets lost.† In this quote, not only is†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœWilly Loman is here!’ That’s all they have to know, and I go right through.† Willy believes in the myth of log cabin to president, which he transforms into a myth of philandering two-bit salesman to big business executive. As we can see from Willy’s actions, he doesn’t seem to rely on hard work very much. In actuality, it is the lack of hard work that attracted Willy to become a salesman in the first place. In a conversation with Howard, his boss, Willy speaks of an eighty-four year old man he’d met when he was young. â€Å"...he’d drummed merchandise in thirty-one states,† said Willy. â€Å"And... he’d go up to his room...put on his green velvet slippers...and pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without even leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, he made his living. And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want.† Willy finds this man’s life so appealing, that he decides to follow in his footsteps, thinking that perhaps he could just as easily become as wealthy and as respected. Willy believes in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, realized in his mind by his brother Ben. In one of Willy’s flashbacks, Ben is telling Biff and Happy about his accomplishments. â€Å"Why boys,† said Ben, â€Å"when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich.† Willy responds to his brother’s comment by saying, â€Å"You see what I been talking about? TheShow MoreRelatedMarxism In Arthur Millers Death Of A Salesman1465 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Lowman sought to attain the American Dream, but his distorted view of Marxist control ultimately provoked his physical, material, and mental destruction. Lowman, a middle-class salesman, husband, and father of two shared the ideology of many American’s, an ideology that hard work, dedication, and likeability was attainable regardless of social class, or life circumst ances. Yet, the multiple distortions Willy associated with this dream combined with

Accounting Standards Framework in Australia Sample for Students

Question: Understand the Accounting Standards Framework and the Conceptual Framework in Australia, and Influence and Impact of these on Accounting Practice and the Financial Reporting Environment. Answer: Introduction This paper analyzes the improvement of positive bookkeeping hypothesis (PAT) and contrasts it and three standard records of science. There is some perplexity about what PAT is. On the off chance that the meaning of bookkeeping hypothesis (i.e., bookkeeping hypothesis tries to clarify and foresee bookkeeping and inspecting rehearse) given in (Watts, 2016) is interpreted as meaning PAT, investigations of bookkeeping decisions and evaluating hones constitute PAT. In the meantime, they likewise look to clarify the financial aspects based experimental writing in bookkeeping and they portray, notwithstanding bookkeeping decision considers, capital market-based bookkeeping research. They call attention to that Ball and Brown at first promoted positive research in bookkeeping, proposing that PAT incorporates both capital market-based bookkeeping examination and research in bookkeeping decisions. This paper takes PAT to incorporate both research programs. This use is steady with(Watts, 2016) attestation that when they utilize the expression "positive" to separate it from "prescriptive" hypothesis. Commend has been a champion among the most enticing accounting research programs in the midst of the latest four decades. It has delivered a considerable measure of correct research on the connection between accounting numbers and stock expenses and returns, and determinants of accounting choices by organization. Article Summary PAT addresses a vital move in accounting research perspective. One basic relationship with which Watts have addressed legitimize and propel PAT is the balance of their viewpoint of theory and that in science. They have alluded to various levelheadedness of science makers to express that their point of view of theory is the same as that in science and to legitimize their technique; and to destroy, to a specific degree, regularizing speculation. Thusly, given that PAT has been vital to accounting researchers for around four decades, it is basic to investigate how far PAT has been viable in imitating typical sciences and what the limits have been. It is similarly basic to come back to the methodological spots of PAT. It is captivating to see how the progression case of PAT differentiations and records of science to which Watts what's more, Zimmerman addressed legitimize and propel their theory. This is by virtue of such a relationship will enhance our understanding of how PAT progressed and what methodological gaps remain.(Baskerville, 2016) Research Question A noteworthy question that PAT scientists are hoping to answers to was the reason the supervisors direct the bookkeeping determinations as they comprehend the. Because of the global nature, the understanding ought to be communicated regarding directors' sure mental procedures. Elucidation ought to be communicated in light of the convictions and reasons assessed in the brains of the chief at the season of settling on bookkeeping decisions. The legitimacy of elucidation does not rely on upon the request of certain bookkeeping conduct in comparable conditions by the chairman or others (Carey, 2013). The reason is that man does not generally give a similar conduct in comparative conditions. Two individuals can carry on contrastingly in comparable circumstances and present comparable conduct in various circumstances. The issue with the above position of PAT on hypothesis decision is that most likely no hypothesis with more prominent informative power rises out of the blue. The logical power that PAT now has is the aftereffect of four many years of research endeavors. Along these lines, if the relative logical energy of contending speculations is to be settled on the referee in principle decision, that must be connected not at the underlying stages but rather at some later stages. (Ghanbari, 2016) Along these lines, three applicable methodological inquiries are (a) how to choose sanely whether to offer opportunity to another hypothesis or permit it to fade away in its early stages, (b) at what phase of hypothesis advancement the relative logical power foundation is to be connected, and (c) how to pick between two hypotheses when the new hypothesis clarifies a few parts of the old hypothesis and some new marvels not clarified by the old one. Theoretical Framework Positive Accounting Theory is produced by Watts and Zimmerman, which looks to anticipate and disclose why directors choose to receive specific bookkeeping strategies in inclination to others. The hypothesis depended in incredible piece of work attempted in the fields of financial matters, and vital to the improvement of Positive Accounting Theory was the acknowledgment of financial aspects based 'reasonable monetary individual presumption". (Ball, 2013) That is the presumption that a bookkeeper inspired without anyone else intrigue, and that the specific bookkeeping strategy chose will be subject to specific conditions. Components - Assumption: self-intrigue Premises: The bookkeeper is remunerated as far as bookkeeping based reward; The association they work for is near breaking arranged bookkeeping based obligation contracts. (Dosi, 2016) Nonetheless, PAT does not look to reveal to us that what is being done by and by is the most productive or fair process. Positive Accounting Theory has enhanced the cognizance of various accounting wonders and issues. For example, it has yielded basic bits of information into the linkage between accounting numbers and stock returns and organization's cash related uncovering inspirations. Despite this, its dedication to accounting practice has been amazingly confined. Accounting sharpen has grown over quite a while through the association of a load of segments and the strategy of advance in accounting practice has been direct.(Martin, 2016) However PAT research discoveries detailed imperative verbal confrontations about bookkeeping productions. For instance, PAT look into molded open deliberation on current reasonable esteem. Dialogs identified with the reasonable esteem concentrated on whether the reasonable esteem must be seen as an estimation include in money related explanations. The discourse about the market esteem is excessively old. Be that as it may, there are present experimental confirmations on the positive and negative parts of reasonable esteem. For instance, the writing has shown the reasonable estimation of advantages is the same as related an incentive in some standard definition. Then again, such bookkeeping sources have contended that the reasonable esteem is a poor measure particularly when they can be effortlessly controlled by prescribed models as basic as the evaluations of reasonable esteem. (Brggemann, 2013) Applaud writing demonstrates that the chiefs deal with the announced income to deal with their reward objectives. Later thinks about have demonstrated that the administration controlled the evaluations of the reasonable esteem. For instance, arranged confirmation of the far reaching utilization of reasonable incentive, what's more, contended that the reasonable esteem is manhandled by the administration and this brought on its devastation. What's more, the outcomes acquired in PAT has proposed circumstances in which the supervisors oversee profit. For instance, the income is overseen when the chiefs prizes depend on the announced profit, the organizations abuse the obligation understandings when the present advantage is not as much as a specific sum, or when the organizations have discharged stock information or when is an adjustment in administration. Inspecting benchmarks asks the examiner to recognize and assess the dangers of essential mutilations in the money related articulations.(Salthouse, 2016) The theoretical structure of bookkeeping is a case of a regulating hypothesis of bookkeeping. Depending on different suppositions about the sorts or traits of data helpful for basic leadership, The CFA gives direction on how resources, liabilities, costs, pay and value ought to be characterized, when they ought to be perceived, and at last how they ought to be measured. PAT researcher consistently fight that in undertaking research they would lean toward not to drive their own specific viewpoints on others as this is casual, however rather they get a kick out of the chance to give information about the ordinary consequences of particular exercises and starting there let people decide for themselves what they should do. In any case, as various bookkeeping scholastics have appropriately brought up, choosing a hypothesis to embrace for research, for example, open hypothesis or PAT depends on an esteem judgment; what to research depends on esteem judgment, trusting that all individual activity is driven without anyone else enthusiasm as the PAT do is an esteem judgment, etc. (Beattie, 2014) Significance and Limitations of the Article Essentialness It doesn't give anything curable, it doesn't state that what ought to happen, rather illuminates and predicts what may happen, which is the purpose of positive accounting speculation and this is lacking It is not free since it just elucidates and predicts what people may do, dismissing totally on what they should do. It acknowledge that every chief's (pro) and proprietor's (fundamental) exercises have a self-interest point of view, with the basic target of growing their own wealth without considering any ominous effects. (Isa, 2014) Confinements Right when Positive Accounting Theory was at first made in the 1970's it relied on three hypotheses, the commitment hypothesis, the reward organize hypothesis and the political cost hypothesis. Since this period however there have been no increments to these three, nor has there been any headway or augmentation of them. But much research has been played out all through the 1980-90's PAT has remained stagnant in its progression and this has perhaps provoked to the present decline in energy for PAT. It has battled that PAT doesn't have any potential for future headway and that it will continue uncertainly in its present edge with no new considerations. This nonattendance of headway and PATs late lessening in research are firm conflicts that PAT will be respected a mistake in the light of learning of the past. (Smith, 2014) The primary flaw that can be found with a begin of PAT is that of monetary matters and its reliance on the theoretical perfect market. A flawless market relies on upon (notwithstanding different things) perfect information and no trade costs. This viewpoint finds issues since "accounting exists in perspective of trade costs". It is in like manner difficult to imagine concordance for information when accounting information adds to this adjust. Watts and Zimmerman moreover say that bearing and political costs intrude with the operation of immaculate markets. In saying this they are sufficiently yielding that flawless markets don't exist as they require the departure of course to help with the more capable assignment of benefits (Kabir, 2016) Conclusion PAT holds that information are not the last referee of a hypothesis or maybe, there is a perplexing interaction between hypothesis and information. Along these lines, strange confirmation does not consequently prompt the dismissal of a hypothesis. A hypothesis is to be surrendered just when a contending hypothesis with more prominent informative power rises. Consequently, the decision between speculations is sane and bookkeeping information is combined in nature. This research, in any case, contends that PAT's methodological position on hypothesis decision keeps running into trouble (Ballwieser, 2012). The angle is that holding that a hypothesis is supplanted when a contending hypothesis with more prominent illustrative power rises does not resolve the hypothesis decision issue judiciously. On the off chance that no hypothesis with more prominent illustrative power rises, the standard of more noteworthy logical power can't be connected at the starting phase of improvement of a hypoth esis or maybe, this model is to be connected at some later phases of improvement of the new hypothesis (Christensen, 2016). In this manner, three imperative methodological inquiries are (a) how to choose objectively whether to consider another hypothesis, (b) at what organize the model of more prominent logical power ought to be connected to browse among contending speculations, and (c) at long last, how to look over among two contending speculations when the wonders clarified by one hypothesis are not a subset of the marvels clarified by the other. Congratulate defenders are quiet on these issues (Setyorini, 2012). To begin with, it looks at the advancement of PAT with three standard records of science. In research, it demonstrates that PAT fits not one or the other of these records flawlessly or maybe, its methodological positions reflect components of each of the three records. Second, it recognizes methodological crevices in PAT. The standard of hypothesis decision in PAT keeps running into challenges. Third, it demonstrates that regardless of the way that PAT has been taking after the technique of characteristic sciences, PAT has not possessed the capacity to copy the achievement of characteristic sciences up until now. The generalizability of PAT has been particularly constrained by the institutional situations of bookkeeping and time. References Ball, R., Kothari, S.P. and Nikolaev, V.V., 2013. Econometrics of the Basu asymmetric timeliness coefficient and accounting conservatism.Journal of Accounting Research,51(5), pp.1071-1097. Ballwieser, W., Bamberg, G., Beckmann, M.J., Bester, H., Blickle, M., Ewert, R., Feichtinger, G., Firchau, V., Fricke, F., Funke, H. and Gaynor, M., 2012.Agency theory, information, and incentives. Springer Science Business Media. Baskerville, R.L. and Wood-Harper, A.T., 2016. A critical perspective on action research as a method for information systems research. InEnacting Research Methods in Information Systems: Volume 2(pp. 169-190). Springer International Publishing. Beattie, V., 2014. Accounting narratives and the narrative turn in accounting research: Issues, theory, methodology, methods and a research framework.The British Accounting Review,46(2), pp.111-134. Brggemann, U., Hitz, J.M. and Sellhorn, T., 2013. Intended and unintended consequences of mandatory IFRS adoption: A review of extant evidence and suggestions for future research.European Accounting Review,22(1), pp.1-37. Carey, P., Knechel, W.R. and Tanewski, G., 2013. Costs and Benefits of Mandatory Auditing of For?profit Private and Not?for?profit Companies in Australia.Australian Accounting Review,23(1), pp.43-53. Christensen, H.B., Nikolaev, V.V. and Wittenberg?Moerman, R., 2016. Accounting information in financial contracting: The incomplete contract theory perspective.Journal of Accounting Research,54(2), pp.397-435. Dosi, G., Grazzi, M., Marengo, L. and Settepanella, S., 2016. Production theory: accounting for firm heterogeneity and technical change.The Journal of Industrial Economics,64(4), pp.875-907. Ghanbari, M., Manesh, M.Z., Hamid Khorasani, M.H. and Nejad, H., 2016. PAT (Positive Accounting Theory) and Natural Science. Isa, M.A., 2014. Determinants of accounting choice of noncurrent assets at IFRS first adoption among Nigerian firms.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,164, pp.378-383. Kabir, H. and Rahman, A., 2016. The role of corporate governance in accounting discretion under IFRS: Goodwill impairment in Australia.Journal of Contemporary Accounting Economics,12(3), pp.290-308. Martin, G.P., Wiseman, R.M. and Gomez-Mejia, L.R., 2016. The Interactive Effect of Monitoring and Incentive Alignment on Agency Costs.Journal of Management, p.0149206316678453. Salthouse, T.A., 2016.Theoretical perspectives on cognitive aging. Psychology Press. Smith, M., 2014.Research methods in accounting. Sage. Setyorini, C.T. and Ishak, Z., 2012. Corporate social and environmental disclosure: A positive accounting theory view point.International Journal of Business and Social Science,3(9). Watts, R.L. and Zuo, L., 2016. Understanding practice and institutions: A historical perspective.Accounting Horizons,30(3), pp.409-423.