Describe four ethical issues that arise when storing electronic information about individuals.
With technology growing rapidly by the day and being a part of our personal and professional lives, it raises concerns wherever electronic information has ethical problems/issues. With that said, electronic information can pose a threat to privacy, misinformation, accelerated use of AI, and security.
The first ethical issue is concerns over privacy and how consumers are unaware they are being tracked all the time. “Technological innovation has outpaced our privacy protections. As a result, our digital footprint can be tracked by the government and corporations in ways that were once unthinkable.”(ACLU) It raises severe concern about the misuse of personal information as well as constant surveillance. There isn’t much confidentiality put in place for consumers to feel safe and comfortable when private information can be accessed or misused.
Misinformation is another ethical problem that a lot of users have to deal with. Nowadays anyone can post and spread false information about literally anything such as politics, global economic, etc. and many consumers fall into this trap because it seems so believable. There are concerns of creating “deep fakes” which tricks consumers into believing something occurring when in reality it did not happen. “Deepfake technology now allows such a sophisticated manipulation of digital imagery that people appear to be saying and doing things that never happened”(Watters, 2023).
The next ethical issue is concerns about the rapid growth of AI. Specifically the use of AI, we don’t know if AI can be used in malicious intent which then can pose a threat to society, individuals, companies, etc. Another concern of AIs is it produces biased results, with race, gender , sexuality, etc. AI can be programmed in implementing biased outcomes, which will lead to unfair treatment. Problems specifically with facial recognition “various concerns about facial recognition, such as misuse, racial bias and restriction of personal freedoms”(Watters,2023). Since AI has been getting popularized it could lead to a severe losement of jobs which will lead to a decline in employment.
Finally, it concerns security. Since much of our personal information is embedded into technology it can always be compromised whenever cyber attacks, cyber threats, etc. come into play. Consumers don’t fully know if one day their whole life might be ruined from a certain instance, whenever it’s falling for an online/telemarketing scheme, someone hacking in, viruses, etc. It’s hard knowing sometimes not all of our information is fully secured and unauthorized accesses can happen at any moment.
Watters, A. (2023, February 3). 5 ethical issues in technology to watch for in 2023. Default. https://connect.comptia.org/blog/ethical-issues-in-technology
UNESCO. (2023, April 21). Artificial Intelligence: Examples of ethical dilemmas. UNESCO.org. https://www.unesco.org/en/artificial-intelligence/recommendation-ethics/cases
Privacy & Technology. (2022, February 16). American Civil Liberties Union. https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology#:~:text=Technological%20innovation%20has%20outpaced%20our,intimate%20aspects%20of%20our%20lives.
Tan, K. B. K. (2023, July 31). 7 possible ethical issues within cybersecurity concerns. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-possible-ethical-issues-within-cybersecurity-kevin-b-k-tan-/