Data Collection: Necessity or Risk? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Data collection is a vital process that a country or state cannot afford to forego. It has become a basic necessity for any public department and even private business firms. In the recent past, data has been used to create wealth for companies. As technology skyrockets and digitalization of the global economy gathers pace, there is almost no way one can avoid their data being collected, either legally or illegally. Both legal and illegal data collection and use possess their measure of risks, but the illegally-acquired data is prone to do more damage to the owner. Legally acquired data, on the other hand, help institutions such as health and security to provide up to speed services efficiently. There is an intensifying need for individuals, corporations, organizations, and governments to take intrinsic measures to foster data privacy, confidentiality, and integrity.

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Inappropriate use of data can happen either intentionally or accidentally. Data misuse is when the usage of statistics is not strictly within the confines of intentions it was initially collected for. Laws and adequate policies can control the acts of misusing data. Nonetheless, the potential of data being misused even with laws and policies in place, especially in reporting and political discussions, is growing. Employees and third-party contractors are most prone to commit the crime of data misuse.

In the U.S.A., incidents involving data misuse have been rampant in the recent past. Notable ones include the bizarre American Presidential election period of 2014 (Pasternack & Winston, 2018). The season was characterized by waves of deceitful stories and cyber-attacks, including foreign disinformation campaigns. It is on record that Cambridge Analytica gathered Facebook data on Americans in certain U.S. States (Pasternack & Winston, 2018). The information was later used to disintegrate the electorate into segments to generate a political advantage for Trump through tailored political advertisements. Facebook interference has eventually led to one of the biggest political scandals in American history. Tracing of linkages between personal data and digital political advertisements revealed a huge problem. It led to a big political scandal referred to as the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal, which has since enlarged the frame around the issue of election meddling to the extent of implicating other countries like Russia (Pasternack & Winston, 2018). It has raised queries about the security of voter registration data, as cyber-attacks rage on while social networks leak data in the open market.

Police officers have also been accused of inappropriately handling law enforcement databases that are otherwise confidential to access information on business, intimacy, neighbors, drivers, and journalists for motives that have nothing to do with police duties. According to a 2016 report by Associated Press, there are many cases where police officers have misused confidential law enforcement databases illegitimately, often accessing personal data of individuals (Tribune News Services, 2016). An example is a case that linked Denver officer with a hospital worker in a sex-assault inquiry. He acquired her phone number from the intelligence databases and called her at home (Tribune News Services, 2016). There was also another bizarre incident where a Colorado marshal required workmates to run a license plate check for each white pickup truck they came across, only since his girlfriend had been cheating with a man who used to drive a white pickup (Tribune News Services, 2016). A Polk County sheriff's deputy in Florida who was investigating a battery complaint also is reported to have run driver's license database of a lady he had met and before beginning messaging her on Facebook (Tribune News Services, 2016). Such mischievous occurrences intensify concerns as to what needs to be done to ensure personal data landing in the wrong hands.

An ex-Cumming officer was accused of having accepted an enticement to search a lady's license plate number to enquire about her profession. A retired NYPD sergeant Buell Ronald also took part in the case after receiving probation for selling NCIC database to a private detective for defense lawyers (Tribune News Services, 2016). Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether improper access of databases is undoubtedly a federal offense or if it infringes a trespass statute that outlaws using computers for purposes not approved. In a federal appeals court, a cyber-attack sentence of an ex-NYPD officer Valle, who used a police database to gather information on target women to kidnap and 'eat' was reversed (Tribune News Services, 2016). In his defense, he argued that being a police officer, he possessed the legal authority to access individual databases. Since the statute was deemed ambiguous, the court ruled that it risked illegalizing a broad range of computer use.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Cases of data misuse are on the rise generating an urgent need to find solutions towards data privacy. The security and even the political sphere of life seem to be constantly under threat. Though an organization may have preventive policies and security tools, many times, these tools only help in monitoring how data moves - not how the data is used or the context behind interactions. However, states have now taken initiatives to try and curb abuse of data, though there seems to be no guaranteed safeguard of data due to the bulk of inquiries and necessity for officers and state structures to possess individual databases at their disposal. Nevertheless, all is not lost as most states, if not all, have espoused data breach notification legislature, which applies to personal databases of its residents. Firms and information systems have the mandate to conform to the state's laws when faced with the unauthorized acquisition of or access to personal information it may hold or process about the residents.

Reference

Pasternack, A., & Winston, J. (2018, June 11). How Facebook blew it. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/40550423/how-facebook-blew-it

Tribune News Services. (2016, September 28). AP investigation: Across U.S., police officers abuse confidential databases. Retrieved from https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-ap-police-database-abuse-20160928-story.html