I chose to talk about trust in this blog entry because the past month I have been hearing so much about it. Trust in personal life, in relationships, in friendships, at work, in the financial world, in industries... and of course, trust in the Internet. There are so many different kinds of trusts but they all pretty much lead to the same point: when one is in a vulnerable situation will the other take advantage of the first one, or not? In other words, can the first one TRUST the latter or not? !
While looking online for material on trust I came across a company which is named: "Trust". What a "catchy" name! They sell all kinds of electronic things http://www.trust.com/corporate/about.aspx and if I can judge by the name, they want people to trust them (“Life is More! Trust us”").
A few weeks ago, we had a very nice discussion on trust in the classroom and that's when I realized how big of an issue it is in our lives. People have "trust issues" everyday: from not trusting people around them to not trusting e-banking or e-shopping. It seems to me that as our society becomes more and more used to technology and as computers and the Internet are incorporated in our lives the issue of trust will only get bigger.
While looking online for material on trust I came across a company which is named: "Trust". What a "catchy" name! They sell all kinds of electronic things http://www.trust.com/corporate/about.aspx and if I can judge by the name, they want people to trust them (“Life is More! Trust us”").
A few weeks ago, we had a very nice discussion on trust in the classroom and that's when I realized how big of an issue it is in our lives. People have "trust issues" everyday: from not trusting people around them to not trusting e-banking or e-shopping. It seems to me that as our society becomes more and more used to technology and as computers and the Internet are incorporated in our lives the issue of trust will only get bigger.
Following from my group discussion in class, I was amazed that many people cannot trust to use their computers at work, or say their opinions openly while in their working environment. Everything is being watched by cameras, and softwares that keep track of the websites we visit, the time we were logged on and the links we used. In a financial crisis like the one we are experiencing now, few are the people who are willing to take risks and surf the Net on their break and/or talk about their working experiences on MSN while they know that there is a possibility that someone is "watching" their every move.
So many frauds take place everyday regarding e-shopping and e-banking that not everyone is willing to take the risk of. Credit card numbers can be retrieved and people can shop around using OUR account information. Especially for older generations than mine, it’s harder to trust the new ways of paying, shopping and getting things done.
However, now that I think of it... my grandfather would tell me stories about how 70 years ago in a village of 50-60 residents there would be problems regarding trust so maybe its not our society evolving that makes trust being a challenge...maybe its just in our nature.
At this point I would like to share with you the link for a very interesting blog called: Online Identity and Trust http://blogs.verisign.com/identity/ as well as a video on WOT (Web Of Trust) which is a software that identifies the "safe" and the "dangerous" websites http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BuhjlOBzu8 . Last but not least, here a video on e-banking frauds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmHQmNJ0OuQ .
Hope you enjoy your long weekend:)
See you all in class,
People that are trusting can be taken advantage of in many forms. When I was reading your last point about e-banking frauds it brought to mind a news story I recently saw on TV.
ReplyDeleteThis story was about an older gentleman that had lost his wife and was now leaving with his daughter because he could not live alone. The older gentleman went on to explain the 'scam' he got himself into. He got a letter telling him that he had won the lottery (it wasnt' a large amount - somewhere around $500,000). The letter told him that in order to get the lottery winnings he needed send them a few hundred dollars for a processing fee. The older gentleman sent them the money and a few weeks later got another letter asking for more money for additional fees - something like $2100. The older gentleman saw through the scam and decided that he would not send them any additional money. The police were called and told about the scam. The investigation was started and the culprits happened to be located in British Columbia. They were watched for a period of time and were finally arrested. When the police raided the office, there were thousands of letters addressed to various individuals across Canada and the US with the same scam.
I guess the theory is... if it is too good to be true... then maybe it is.
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