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

Today, many tech companies store electronic information about individuals. The most disturbing part is that the data of every person on the Internet is being tracked and sold for profit without the users’ consent. This has become quite a controversial issue in recent times, as more and more people are questioning the moral standards of big tech companies. There are many ethical issues that are brought up by those concerned with privacy and safety over the Internet. These issues are summed up by the PAPA model, which focuses on privacy, accuracy, property, and accessibility. 

Privacy is the first major area of concern when it comes to ethics in technology. Companies usually store any information that they find from an individual. This is problematic because somebody may want to keep certain intimate information secret. Also, there is some suspicion towards how this sensitive information is being used, as well as the ambiguous organizations that obtain the data. Another ethical issue that arises from personal data collection is information accuracy. There are questions surrounding the reliability, authenticity, and accuracy of the information that is being stored. Moreover, the identity of who is responsible for managing each person’s data is also unknown; even worse, it is quite unlikely that they would even be held accountable for inaccuracies in data collection that could potentially harm somebody’s personal and/or occupational life. The third problem area concerns the property rights of the information itself—that is, who owns this information, who is purchasing it, and how much it is worth. The final ethical issue pertains to the accessibility of a person’s data. What information in particular are these individuals and organizations able to gather from the end user? Why is more intimate data being collected? Is this really necessary, or does it only serve to assuage their special interests? Questions like these warrant a valid concern about the control of personal information and its impact on human dignity and safety.