Much of the tension in the movie “Unfriended: Dark Web,” comes from the fact that no one using the dark web wants to get caught by the police. In the end there are seemingly no consequences for those who committed crimes throughout the movie.
Many laws already exist to uphold people’s right to privacy; “The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) are two examples of federal laws that regulate privacy and the exchange of specific types of information [3].” FERPA deals with parent’s and student’s rights and “It prohibits educational institutions from disclosing “personally identifiable information in education records” without the written consent of an eligible student [4].” This gives individuals control over their educational records and allows them privacy in the form of withholdment. On the other hand we have HIPAA which is “a federal law that requires the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge [5].” This law is important for security because of the type and amount of data stored through health services. HIPAA is far from perfect in real life and “Between 2009 and 2021, 4,419 healthcare data breaches of 500 or more records have been reported to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights[7].” Another notable change in law regarding privacy is due to the Privacy Act of 1974. The Privacy Act is “a federal law that governs our collection and use of records we maintain on you in a system of records [6].”
These laws and regulations are some of the only means of defense we have for our privacy. When too much data is taken from us the people will naturally become upset, but on the other hand if too little is done to watch over those who might commit a crime they will be as well. In the case of the Charons from the movie bad things happen and people become more upset over too little security to prevent situations like these. Regarding leaks and hacks, when Matias uncovers the hidden files on the stolen computer he finds videos taken without people’s knowledge from their everyday household electronics. This can be related to how poorly companies design their security for these devices even at such a high cost of purchase. In conclusion, the government needs to have more precautions in place to keep people from getting harmed in any way.
Resources:
[4] “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 June 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/ferpa.html#:~:text=The%20Family%20Educational%20Rights%20and,%2C%20or%20post%2Dsecondary%20school.
[5] “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 June 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/hipaa.html.
[6] “The Privacy Act of 1974 .” The Privacy Act of 1974, https://osc.gov/Pages/Privacy-Act.aspx.
[7] “Healthcare Data Breach Statistics - Latest Data for 2022.” HIPAA Journal, 26 Aug. 2022, https://www.hipaajournal.com/healthcare-data-breach-statistics/#:~:text=Between%202009%20and%202021%2C%204%2C419,disclosure%20of%20314%2C063%2C186%20healthcare%20records.