Describe four ethical issues that arise when storing electronic information about individuals.
Storing electronic information has both benefits and challenges. Some benefits of storing information electronically are the ease to look up information when needed. Additionally, moving information from paper to the cloud, is that information won’t get destroyed by fires, floods, or any disaster that paper is susceptible to. It is important to remember that storing information electronically in one location is not enough to keep information from getting destroyed, copies of the information should be kept in a second location, or as mentioned before, the information should be uploaded to the cloud. Some sectors benefit more than others from storing electronic information. One example is law enforcement, many case files, and evidence storage places have been destroyed forever making it impossible for law enforcement to pursue justice. Moving all case information to electronic storage not only keeps information safe but in addition, can help connect similar crimes or trends. Data mining can be of great aid to law enforcement. However, not all information is created equal.
Other sectors might not benefit as much or have greater challenges when it comes to storing electronic information, such as the difficulty of medical records and patient information. Patient data is considered more sensitive than any other, with good reason, therefore Congress passed an act in 1996 that deals with industry-wide standards for health care information on electronic billing and other processes, and it requires the protection and confidential handling of protected health information. HIPPA or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act only pertains to the medical and insurance field, while there are other acts that protect personal information in other areas, such as Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Information/data is not protected the same way all across the board which brings up ethical issues. Some challenges or issues of storing electronic information include threats to confidentiality, security breaches, lack of standards, lack of performance metrics.
Nowadays more and more services are going partially or completely online, and they collect a lot of data from their customers. For example, Stitch Fix is an online personal styling service that mails personalized outfits based on a questioner with over 80 questions. Questions involving weight, height, age, and even some questions about your personality and career. Many of these questions are similar to questions asked by a medical facility, however, they are not protected by HIPPA or any other act. The data that Stitch Fix collects is not protected because the data is collected by a private retail company and not a doctor’s office or insurance office.
Confidentiality is the state of keeping or being secret or private, and a threat to confidentiality pertaining to personal information is critical. Storing electronic information is a daily occurrence for retail online stores however the protection of its confidentiality is taking a back seat. Many consumers are trading security for convenience. Retailers can state that they are protecting consumers’ data still there is no certainty of its safety when the data becomes old or the consumer ends business with the retailer. Online retail can potentially sell customer information to data mining companies or insurance companies, to no name a few. Confidentiality also suffers when stored electronics information is access by less secure personal devices or BYOD.
Encryption came to the spotlight when Apple and the FBI came to public disagreement. The FBI asked Apple to help unlock an iPhone and Apple declined. The issue boils down to vulnerabilities created by creating a front door or a back door for the FBI to use when needed or letting criminals and terrorists hide behind encryption even if it means endangering American’s lives.