Hacktivism: Good or Bad?

Hacktivism is when people employ the use of hacking for activist purposes as a form of political or social protest. Hacktivists believe that citizen have the right to be informed and that if corporations and governments are not willing to provide citizens with information, then citizen have the right to hack and expose this information for themselves and for the greater public.

Over the years hacktivism has been a topic of concern. While some people see hacktivism as a form of positive protest and as a push towards freedom of information, other see hacktivism as being negative in that it is the illegal access of information that can threaten both personal and government security.

One of the biggest and most controversial hakctivist organizations is Anonymous. Anonymous has deface government and corporate website along with hacking and shutting down numerous child pornographic sites. They have done some good things, however, in the process they have often leaked personal information potentially putting people at risk.

While I believe in the freedom of information, when it comes down to it, there is some information that should remain privet. Bringing down illegal organization is commendable and I am all for it. However, I do not agree with the leaking of personal information. In 2015 a group know as Impact Team, claiming to be a hacktivist organization, hacked the dating site Ashley Madison and leaked account details that included users credit card info, emails, names, and addresses. This is a form of supposed hacktivism that I do not agree with. There was no real activist purpose behind this hack. People may not agree with the Ashley Madison website, however, hacking and sharing peoples personal information does not accomplish anything. The people who use this site have families and jobs and what they choose to do in their personal time is no ones business. By sharing these peoples personal information Impact Team put the lives and livelihoods of these people at risk.

Overall hacktivism, if done responsibly, can be a successful form of activism. That said, not all groups claiming to be hacktivists use hacking in responsibly manner. There are those organizations that abuse the phenomenon of hacktivism and use it as an excuse to perpetrate criminal activity and steal and share people’s personal information.