Describe four ethical issues that arise when storing electronic information about individuals:

When an entity stores information about a user it matters when this is personally identifiable information. This includes social security numbers, credit card information, health records etc.

Retention of the data in question is a concern. How long are these entities storing information? Are they storing it as long as it is needed? The longer this information is stored the higher the chance it is accessed by a future attack.

Building of metadata is also an issue. Does this metadata still belong to the person it was generated from, or is this metadata property of the entity?

Dispersal of data is also an issue. Some entities want to sell of a person’s data. This of course is undesirable to said person. Entities often get around this by claiming to make this data untraceable to the person, or by having a lengthy terms & conditions document that obfuscates that they will move the data to another party. Even if the personally identifiable data is stored in an anonymous manner, mass dispersal allows a profile to be built. This increasingly becomes less anonymous.

Compare cybersecurity risks in the U.S. and another country:

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Britain places the United States as first in the cybersecurity realm (Marks). This doesn’t mean that the U.S. always employs a cyber offensive reaction to cyber-attacks by China or any other competing nations. The rising technological sophistication of adversarial nations allows them to attack, while the U.S is mostly concerned with “good behavior”; retaliation comes in other forms like sanctions according to Marks.

It seems that the U.S. is playing defense when it comes to cyber risks. Countries like China have the incentive to disregard internet etiquette and focus on the offensive. I doubt that the sentiments of “good behavior” on the United States’ side are true (sounds like propaganda). I do agree that the U.S. must react more to state actors than a country like China.

Works Cited:

Marks, J. (n.d.). The cybersecurity 202: the united states is still number one in cyber capabilities. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/28/cybersecurity-202-united-states-is-still-number-one-cyber-capabilities/.