In today’s digital age, where almost everyone uses the internet, it is almost certain that data pertaining to those individuals is present. In fact, most people have more information about themselves online than they do in person. This can create many dilemmas, not only of ethics but also of security. Most people do not understand how data is organized and managed. It is only brought to light that there was a problem if there was a data breach of some sort. Any hack, breach, or compromise in a system can cause a lack of trust between the user and the company, which is why proper data management is essential. There are many ethical issues when it comes to storing electronic data about individuals. Many ethical issues are subjective depending on the person that is asked. However, there is a general consensus of certain factors that people are usually concerned about. These common concerns are outlined below.
- Cybersecurity risk or threat of data exploitation.
- Is my information private?
- Is my data secure?
- Who has access to my data?
Although it may not seem evident, these concerns are actually the purpose for the CIA triad, which is supposed to help individuals and companies understand how to have the optimal data relationship. Data needs to be confidential, unaltered or modified, and available only to authorized users. Concern #1 ties into data having integrity. If data is compromised by a cyber attack, it has no integrity. Concern #2 is related to confidentiality. Users want to know, is my data private? Concern #3 is in regards to data integrity, as insecure data is at risk for compromise. Finally, concern #4 is in regards to availiability, or who has the access controls to view the data. These concerns show how the CIA triad may be important to reference when making decisions in the cybersecurity world, or even in many other parts of a company!