The second half of July this summer was no doubt flooded with great debate over Arizona's controversial new immigration law, SB1070. In that same timeframe a list was circulated with over 1,500 names of illegal aliens along with very personal information including Social Security numbers and women's due dates, according to the Wall Street Journal. After the thorough investigation conducted by the State of Utah, it was determined that two state employees, employed by the Department of Workforce Services, were responsible for the list. Although overshadowed by the outcry over Arizona, this raises huge ethical issues that can easily be felt by anyone.
This should be alarming to all American's since this occurred in the public sector and is very different from this happening within a large private corporation. These government workers were hired to perform civil service and are paid with our tax money. If it were a private entity then the consumer would be able to freely chose whether or not to purchase or engage in their services, but in this case we have very little choice. We place an enormous amount of trust in these individuals and in the heat of the debate unfortunately we see a glimpse of when things turn south. The investigation uncovered these two individuals were responsible for overseeing food stamps as well as other social services used by many citizens today. Subsequently, they had access to extremely sensitive information and abused their power.
We can only hope that when shopping online, performing online banking, or simply sending an email, that our privacy is protected. Surely there have been countless safeguards enacted to protect our data that seem quite effective. The real issue, in my opinion, is when these safeguards do work but are trumped by the immoral behavior of an official put in a position of power. Each company handles the situation differently, and in this example because of the context of the situation it received significantly more press than it otherwise would have. In this digital era where even military service and unemployment records are stored online, how can we be sure peering eyes stay out of our personal information?
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/07/15/list-of-alleged-illegal-immigrants-spooking-some-utahans/
In the telecommunications industry, privacy is a number one concern and priority. Sensitive information that has always been public is simply more accessible and therefore, often misinterpreted. Unfortunately, in many cases, private information is also very easy to access. Everytime I put any type of personal information into an internet page, I can't help but wonder if this information is going to end up in the wrong hands. The fact that such information as personal as women's due dates was exposed is terrifying and introduces a huge flaw in the digital world, but also in the real world. As you stated, people with access to such information are given access with the belief that they will respect their position and not misuse their power. The case of the illegal immigrants shows that often people will divulge information simply because they can. Until this decision is overlooked by everyone with the skill to hack, or the power to have access to sensitive information, there will not be absolute security in the digital world.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment, Claire. We all probably know someone who's been a victim of identity theft online, but does it stop us? Not really. The digital era is here to stay, and unfortunately it looks like it arrived before the proper precautions could be set in place.
ReplyDelete