Read the article entitled “Professional Athletes’ Shrinking Privacy Boundaries: Fans, Information and Communication Technologies, and Athlete Monitoring”
Question 1. According to the article, who was providing “free labor” to the teams’ surveillance of professional athletes?
According to the case study, free labor is provided by audience members who explore ICT sports surveillance. Also, fans comment on news coverage of stories and posting information on the internet about their public interactions and observances with professional athletes.
Question 2. Fill in the blank. Sports organizations perceive athletes as __________ that change in value and can be bought or sold.
Sports organizations perceive athletes as commodities that change in value and can be bought or sold.
Question 3. Why do teams monitor what their athletes are doing off the court?
Professional athletes are monitored by teams which are less accountable, but the picture was taken provide sports journalist with information to criticize and praise the athletes. More so, a sports organization for whom the athletes play pass discipline if the need arises or storing the event for future use in bargaining power.
Question 4. In the three examples of professional athlete’s privacy being violated in this article, which side of the argument did it state that the general public was on? Which team did the media/press favor?
Citations given in the article, the general public was on taking the pictures and posting them on the internet. For example, the website drunkathlete.com encourages people to upload photos that show these professional athletes in their private places. The media fraternity are happy with the actions of the public for they have additional resources that are efficient. Also, the press benefits from labor provided by fans which puts information in public domains.
Question 5. The article suggests that athletes may have to implement “security checks” for people who enter the athlete’s home to ensure that they don’t have a cell phone to take photos and to maintain their privacy. Do you agree or disagree that an athlete should implement these ‘checks’?
I disagree. Athlete homes are recreational. Fans enjoy taking photos while in athlete homes. Implementing security checks will curtail people the freedom of information through sharing pictures and videos.
