Free Essay on Protecting Personal Information (PPI)

Technology has been the leading factor in the enhancement of development. The Internet has been the core point of technology development. The Internet has allowed people to access information from any point of the globe and faster. Internet is a social place where everyone and anyone can have access to. However, one should consider several strategies in accessing the information. These include; what right we have to privacy of this information, whether legal or moral. Therefore, people may argue differently; whether the information should be protected or not, and should claim ownership of the information or not. This paper will examine the ways to enhance protection of personal information, problems associated with the technology use in accessing information, impacts of technology based on ethical issues and recommend the solutions to the ethical problems associated with the technology.

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Development of technology has increased access of information. It has made it very easy for us to access all information that we may think of, even the simplest that we may think cannot be found in the internet. According to J.J. Britz (2000), internet has led to development of the information access. He further describes this period of easy access of information as information age where every economic issues are solved by the internet.

Internet allows everyone to have easy access to information at any point, but this raise attention to the ethical use of the internet. Ethics determines how people behave and how they relate with others in the environment. Ethics helps people to behave honorably and have the primary values that make them have more human characters. Internet is a public platform where everyone can access the information. However, people can even access information not intended for them and this may lead to manipulation of information.

Everyone has right of protection this include their person information. However, this right may be violated when a persons information is accessed without their consent. Privacy of information is very important. Private information is of different types; first, private communication- this includes all the conversation that a person may wish to be private. Secondly, the privacy body- this includes the medical information. This is legally protected by the law. The third category I the personal information- this includes the bibliographic and the financial information of the person. And lastly is the property information- this includes information that is associated with the property right.

Claiming ownership of the information in the internet implies that one can control the access of the information to only the intended persons. Although technology promotes the access of information, its impacts associate majorly with the manipulation of the information. Manipulation of information involves changing of the information content, changing the format of the information and lastly integration of information (J. J. Britz, 2000).

The impacts of the use of technology include; the electronic monitoring of people in work place. Technology has enabled companies to watch over their employees and keep their records. This however is aimed at enhancing the productivity of the company products. But this has not been taken very fairly with the public or the employees. According to J. J. Britz (2000), watching over the employees threatens their privacy because they feel insecure.

Another impact of the technology on peoples privacy is the integration of the personal information to a databank. This means that personal information of people is merged into a single database. The challenge with this integration is that a persons information can be integrated in the databank without their consent.

The impact of these is majorly on the individual concerned rather than public. If someones information is accessed and manipulated or tampered with, this will be violation of the persons right of privacy. This right however can further be threatened when a persons information is accessed with those the information was not intended to reach. For example if someones private information is accessed with those not supposed to view the information, the persons dignity might be violated (J. J. Britz, 2000).

In order to prevent such problems from occurring the following should be considered; first, everyone is concerned with their private information and this should be treated with great care. Before accessing someones information, the concerned party should be involved. Their consent should be considered and if they agree for their information to be accessed or not. This will create trust between the service providers and the clients.

Secondly, internet is a social area where several people have access to. However, in order to ensure maximum protection of the information, the person can use security codes which enhance the security to access of information. With the security code or pass words, no one can access the information without the consent of the owner except in the cases of hacking which cannot be protected.

Herman T. Tivan (2005) recommends that public awareness should be enhanced to reduce the cases of ethical issues with the internet access. According to Tivan, people especially the students should courteous in the way they use the internet. The technology has assisted people to obtain crucial information. However, if this is not controlled it can result to some other unwanted issues such as cybercrimes. Students are very eager to find out things in the internet and they use every means to fulfill their desire. Therefore, they should be taught ethical values and norms such as; truth, freedom and human rights.

In conclusion, everyone is entitled to freedom of privacy and property ownership. This includes the information. Personal information is a private property of the person and should be protected equally like any other property. The internet has played a major role in the development and access of information. However, when accessing the internet or using any electronic information access, one should put into consideration the ethical values and norms. This will guide the person accessing the information to protect other peoples information.

Reference:

Grodzinsky, Frances S., and Herman T. Tavani (2004). Ethical Reflections on Cyberstalking. In R. A. Spinello and H. Tavani, eds. Readings in CyberEthics. 2nd ed. Sudbury, MA:Jones and Bartlett, pp. 561-570.

Moor, James H. (2004). "Towards a Theory of Privacy for the Information Age." In R.A. Spinello and H. T. Tavani, eds. Readings in CyberEthics. 2nd ed. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, pp. 407-417.

Tavani, Herman T. (2004). Ethics and Technology: Ethical Issues in an Age of Information and Communication Technology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.