Paper Example on Data Protection: Privacy, Security & Trust Intertwined

Introduction

The security, privacy as well as trust are three terms that are closely intertwined. Preservation of privacy and security always depend on trust. Breach of privacy disrupt trust and run the risk of losing security. In fact, lack of privacy is an indication of disrespect to the law and violation of principles of ethics. It is therefore clear that data protection is not only necessary but complex at the same time. But the protection is necessary because of the ubiquity of the technology-driven and information-intensive environment. There are so many socio-techno risks which emanate from technology. These include cyber terrorism, identity theft, information warfare, extortion, phishing scams among others. Lack of data privacy would create an opportunity for sophisticated cybercriminal to exploit. Therefore, in an era where the personal and private lives of the individual are becoming more public and accessible online, personal privacy is greatly reduced or breached.

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Ethical Framework

It is important to utilize technology in a manner that is in full consistent with ethical principles. According to me, there is a need to achieve data privacy through technical and social solutions. The solutions should ensure security because privacy and security are always intertwined."Security, therefore, is the interface layer between information and privacy" (Bambauer, p.676). People need both privacy and security, and therefore the two needs to be balanced. A technical solution is the one that involves data safeguarding from accidental access. The social solution involves creating both awareness and acceptability with customers about how and where the data would be used. This process should remain transparent and confidential. All employees are supposed to corporate private rules.

The other solution that I propose is to fully comply with data protection laws and regulations. The U.S congress should create a single comprehensive data protection framework. "Any surveillance program should comply with a certain set of procedural and substantive standards"(Bignamiand Giorgio, p.7). The federal laws should cover the best procedural and substantive standards when it comes to surveillance. Surveillance should not breach the privacy of individuals. If such important federal laws are and regulations are passed, the difference between the current legal rights and federal laws would easily be resolved. This move would simplify the compliance for the companies within the country and strengthen the country in line with data protection norms that are emerging. The state or congress ought to implement a baseline that is effective by coming up with laws with the best qualities. The best quality law regarding privacy should cover all organizations and institutions. The law should also be in a position to harmonize the inconsistencies and fill all the gaps that are created by the existing laws.

Balancing the Rights of the Individual with the Need for Security

There is always a need for balancing the right of privacy for any individual. However, by doing so, we should give way to the government to provide security for the citizens. Citizens should always get notified whether there is online information collected on them. According to Barrios (p.425), "national security agency intercepts 1.7 billion emails, phone calls, instant messages, bulletin-board postings and other communications". The government should be responsible for this data that it collects from people. It should ensure that there is no breach of privacy for the information owners. Therefore, people deserve the right to know who, when and why their information shared online. In case the information collected is required by the government or by law enforcement, they still need to get notified whether their information is required urgently and why. Any information about individuals that is collected should be open and transparent to the owners. They should be allowed to correct or delete if some details are not correct. In case personal information is no longer needed, it should be deleted to avoid misuse.

In case the private companies collect data or information about their consumers, it should only serve the purpose to which it was collected. "Activities such as uploading photos to Facebook, sending emails, chatting or communicating via any social networks, browsing on the internet, or even making a phone call contributed to the accruement of big data"(Laidey p2).Therefore, any activities that we do daily expose our personal information. Almost everybody makes calls daily. He or she browses almost every day. Therefore, there is a possibility that there is no privacy for almost every person in the world. But privacy can be maintained for to some extent only if the private and public sector takes responsibility for our data. Each person deserves the right to get notified how and where their information is stored. If such information is compromised, they should be notified with immediate effect. More so, no unlawful collection of personal information by state agencies should be carried out. Personal privacy can be best protected when they have total control over their private information. More so, they should be in a position to know how their information is used by third parties. This way, privacy can be maintained and at the same time, the government can utilize such information to provide security to the citizens. Such a balance is important since it favors the two sides; the individual and law enforcing agencies.

How Privacy Has Changed and How It Will Change In The Future

Privacy has been changing over time. Currently, the personal data has been the main driver to the economy. The emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) has added a new rich source of information that can be gathered, transmitted and stored online at a relatively low cost. On the contrary, privacy has been violated with the emergence of this technology. We have to accept the fact that privacy might become obsolete in future. We have become more open as a society, especially in the digital world. We mainly share identities, interests, views as well as personalities through the technology.

The point at which we are today shows a clear indication that the internet cannot operate correctly unless we sacrifice some of our privacy. For instance, everything from twitter, facebook to telephone requires access to our information, GPS location among many more. It is, however, unclear how such companies store or utilize such information. There is a clear indication that in future, the internet of things is likely to put the whole of our life online. Everything, from medical implants to washing machines is likely to be put online.

The Role of Private Sector in Privacy Changes

The private sector plays a great role in reducing our privacy. The private sector usually collects and stores the data for employees, customers and competitors. For instance, companies like Google, facebook, Twitter, Youtube among others collects information from users worldwide. "Private sector manipulation of personal data has glided from a side-show to the big screen" Tikk, p.3). Currently, the private sector collects massive personal information from customers. To sign in to apps or website, one is required to provide personal information like email, location, phone numbers and much more. Also, companies and other private organizations collect information from competitors so that they can monitor any steps and progress for competitive reasons. The data from employees is used for management, monitoring and remuneration purpose."In the panopticon,of course, transparency would not be limited to the governments" (Barrios p.431). The reality is that most of the information is collected by the private sector. So, other than the government, private sectors have a responsibility of ensuring that consumers' data is secure. They should also remain transparent on why, when and how they utilize this personal information. Consumers should always be notified about how their personal information would be used. Therefore, the private sector plays a vital role when it comes to the technological revolution.

The Role of the Government in Privacy Changes

Government plays an important role in technological advancement and data revolution. The government currently has data from almost all citizens."Since 2001, the number of US government organizations involved in spying on our citizens, both at home and abroad, has grown rapidly"( Barrios,p.425). Therefore, following that quote, there is a clear indication that the government has continuously gather information from citizens. Moving forward, there is a clear possibility that the government would have gathered all the personal information around the globe. The data is utilized for commercial decisions, innovations, and public policies among others. Most of the government services can now be accessed online. The registration of such websites requires that you provide personal information to access. In fact, in future, most of the government services will be provided online. Also, job applications, registration of births, driving licenses among many other services can be done online today. It, therefore, means that the government is playing a vital role when it comes to the data revolution. The misuse of such data is possible. Also, the privacy of individuals is highly compromised.

Conclusion

One can conclude that the current period is characterized by mass collection and storage of personal data by both the public and private sector. In such an era where the personal and private lives of the individual are becoming more public and accessible online, personal privacy is greatly reduced or breached. At the same time, information is required for surveillance, offering government services and for advertising purpose. There should, therefore, be a balance between privacy and security of the people. The owners of such information are usually not aware of how their data is used. It can easily be misused. It can also be used for ill motives like cybercrimes, terrorism, among others. Therefore, there should be clear laws regarding information privacy which should be used by both the public and private sectors. Transparency on why, how and when information is collected should always be emphasized.