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

• Digital Clinical Records: As technology has improved, more and more companies and organizations are transitioning to digital record keeping. A major advocate of this is the medical sector, and this comes with its own set of issues. Technological competence is critical in this field now more then ever since this trend does not seem to be going away since it is not only a more cost-effective approach, it also improves the quality of the health care service. A security breach in this sector can jeopardize sensitive and private information relating to the patient such as their address, name, and Medicare numbers. All of this information can then be sold at the detriment of the patients.
  
• Privacy and Confidentiality:  Privacy and Confidentiality is the right of an individual to keep information about themselves from being disclosed to others. When an organization or company is storing information about there clients digitally, there is always a risk that the information can fall into the wrong hands. If strong privacy and security policies aren’t established and maintained, then the risk of this information leaking into the wrong hands increases exponentially.
  
• Data Inaccuracies: Integrity assures that whatever data is being stored is not only accurate, but that it also has not been altered. An organization that maintains information about its customers must ensure that the Integrity of this data remains intact. If inaccurate information regarding a patient’s current condition and treatment occurs in a medical setting it has the potential to create some extremely dire consequences, and potentially even death.
  
• Electronic Monitoring: Many companies use electronic monitoring in an attempt to increase productivity in the workplace. This can be done in many different ways, but personal information is often gathered as a result, such as E-mail traffic. This poses an ethical problem since it has to do with the private communications of an individual. Most companies have policies in place against use of corporate machines for any personal matters, and employee contracts generally indicate that any actions on a corporate computer are monitored.

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

The United States has some unique challenges to overcome as it relates to cyber security compared to some other countries. As more and more devices connect to the Internet of Things due to its usefulness, the risk also increases. Researchers have shown that the IOT possess architectural flaws that can be exploited by nefarious individuals or by other countries offensive cyber team. Insider Threats are another major concern for the US at the moment, especially with our large military industrial complex, information that can be leaked from a current or ex-staff pose a major threat to cyber security be it witting or unwittingly. Another major risk is our governments IT systems, these contain vast amounts of personally identifiable information. All of these systems need to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the information that is being stored, and the individuals responsible for overseeing these systems bust be able to effectively respond to security incidents and data breaches.

Comparing all these potential threats to another country such as Greenland where extreme environmental conditions prevent providers from deploying networks helps to show the risks the US faces in comparison with another country. Roughly 40 percent of the world’s population does not have access to broadband internet, and many individuals without internet access live in developing countries. Greenland, however, is an industrialized and high-income country. Greenland has only one internet service provider and has only one major data center that focuses on providing service primarily to the costal regions. With a relatively new and small footprint on the internet, this leaves them exposed to risks that the US is already accustomed to. Additionally, with the increased interest in the Artic regions by both the US and Russia, attention has been drawn to Greenland’s vulnerability, not only to physical threats but to cyber attacks as well.

Refrences

Greenland Fears Russian Cyber Attacks. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://www.insidescandinavianbusiness.com/article.php?id=417