Ethical Dilemmas in Information Technology: Data Privacy and Breaches

This research report evaluates the ethical dilemmas facing the information technology industry in the present year, specifically related to data privacy and breaches. It discusses the legal resources available in Australia, proposed solutions, and a case study.

Research Topic

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1
BACKGROUND ANALYSIS...................................................................................................1
Defining and explaining the issue..........................................................................................1
Key ethical dilemma in the problem and other ethical and social issues...............................2
Duties and obligations of each stakeholder being involved...................................................2
LEGAL RESOURCE AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA............................................................4
Legal responsibility for the negative consequences...............................................................4
Obligation for ensuring no harm............................................................................................5
Ways to be adopted when no specific law is available to deal with the issue........................5
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS........................................................................................................5
CASE STUDY...........................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Technology industry has attained a tremendous level of growth and success without a
doubt. Its pervasive products along with services has powered the digital community across
the world. Extended omnipresence, gauge as well as influence have compelled the technology
and computer industry to come across with unanticipated and problematic ethical dilemmas.
These ethical issues are not essentially being developed by the information technology
industry, however many in the industry consider themselves at a convergence point wherein
they can not leave these issues at the margins (Goodwin, 2021). Based on this, the main aim
of the current research report is to evaluate the ethical dilemmas facing the information
technology in the present year. The report will determine the list of stakeholders impacts by
the issue and will evaluate its ethical values and social impacts. Further, the legal resources
being available in Australia as a result of the ethical dilemma will also be discussed. The final
section of the report will focus on the proposed solution that might support in solving the
underlying issue along with the case study where the aggregated parties have suffered the
underlying ethical issue.
BACKGROUND ANALYSIS
Defining and explaining the issue
In the present time, all human beings are living in the so-called information age which
can be defined as the time period were the financial activities are majorly data based. This is
mainly because of the evolution and utilization of information technology. Further, the key
features of this period can be summarized as augmentation in the number of knowledge
employees, more open world in terms of communication and rising level of
internationalization. Due to this shift in paradigm, there has been insurgence of different
ethical as well as sustainable issues which are majorly concerned with the issues like right of
accessing the information, right of privacy which is being threatened by the focus on the free
movement of data and the protection of the financial interest of the owners of the intellectual
property (Privacy, 2019). The main ethical issue or dilemma being faced by the information
technology industry in the current years is related with data or information privacy and their
breaches. It is being referred as the capability of an individual for determining for themselves
at what time, in what manner and to what degree the personal data is shred or communicated
with others. This information might include someone’s name, location, phone number, other
contact information and online behaviour.
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With the augmentation in the utilization of the internet in the recent years, there has
been rise in the issues related to data privacy. For offering effective services, websites, social
media platforms and applications makes use of personal information about the users and there
are many platforms and applications that might exceed the expectations of the users regarding
collection of infroamtion and utilization and left the users with less privacy as compared to
what they realize. Information technology (IT) industry is more vulnerable to data breaches
and ethical issues related to data privacy because of the volume and veracity of information
being involved in technology driven industry (Australia - Data Protection Overview, 2021).
Key ethical dilemma in the problem and other ethical and social issues
Talking in relation with the data or information privacy, it is being defined as the
basic human right as well as information protection laws that takes place for safeguarding the
right. Furthermore, data privacy is very crucial for allowing the individuals to be willing to
engage online, they have to believe that their personal infroamtion will be handled with care.
Firms involved in the information technology industry such as Apple, Microsoft, Wipro,
Google etc. makes use of data protection practices for demonstrating to their clients and the
users that they can be trusted with their personal infroamtion. However, with the rise in the
level of digitalization, there has been rise in the level of ethical and sustainable issues and
cybercrimes. One important among the privacy issues related to infroamtion. Personal
information of the users and the customers are misused in variety of manners if it is not kept
private and the companies does not have the capability of controlling the manners in which
their data is being utilized.
Criminals makes use of the personal infroamtion for defrauding or harassing the users
and clients. there might be issues related to selling of personal infroamtion to the advertisers
or other outside parties without the consent of the users. This might lead to receiving of
undesired marketing as well as advertising to the users (Boulianne, 2015). In addition to this,
there are some other ethical issues also involves in data privacy like tracking and monitoring
of the activities of the people which result in restriction of the capability of expressing
themselves particularly under repressive governments. Moreover, there are different ethical
dilemma as well as issues in relation with data privacy such as data breaching, data selling,
user control, personalization and advertisement, confidentiality, hacking and cracking the
computer system and so forth.
Duties and obligations of each stakeholder being involved
List of stakeholders being impacted by the issues and how they are being impacted
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There are different stakeholders who are more likely to be impacted by this issue. The
very first are the users or customers. In information technology industry customers are
required to share their sensitive and personal information to the businesses and many times, it
happens that the information being provided by the users are misused and breached. This data
breach has long term consequences and one of the biggest among the all is loss of trust of the
customers or users. In addition to this, it also leads to reduced level of confidence on the
company and diminished reputation. The second group of stakeholders who are impacted by
the ethical issues related to data breaches and privacy are businesses. Issues and problems
related to data privacy result in destroying of the business. Almost 60 percent of small and
medium companies in the IT sector shut down within six months of data breaches and data
selling (Liu, Musen and Chou, 2015).
On the other hand, in regards with the large information technology companies, they
generally don’t have to shut their doors but they face huge consequences as well. other than
this, there is one group of stakeholders who are impacted by the issues related to data privacy
and these are government. Based on the kind and type of infroamtion being involved, the
consequences on the government might encompass destruction or corruption of the databases,
leaking of the confidential information and theft. In all these situations, highly confidential
information is being exposed to foreign parties. In addition to this, military operations,
political details and dealings on necessary national infrastructure might pose a great threat to
the governments and their citizens. Last but not the least, individuals might also be impacted
by this ethical issue. The personal lives of the individuals might also be impacted by the data
privacy problems such as economical loss, discrimination, humiliation, physiological or
psychological damage and so forth.
Duties and obligations of each stakeholder
Each of the stakeholders being determined and defined above have their own duties
and obligations and some of them are being described in the subsequent paragraph:
Key stakeholders Duties and obligations being involved
Users or customers In regards with the ethical dilemma in case of data privacy breaches,
it is important on the part of the users and the customers that they
must have knowledge and comprehension of their duties regarding
keeping the passwords, reporting changes and suspected security
violations (Jensen, Tazi and Das, 2021).
Businesses The companies and businesses have the duty and obligation to have
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cyber security plan in place for protecting the issues arising from
data privacy, breaches and must execute a plan for preventing
cyberattacks
Governments It is important that the government should take an active role in
cyber defence. They are also responsible for enforcement of law
regarding this issue so that they can be prevented effectively.
Individuals It is important on the part of the individual that they must follow the
necessary procedure. It is also crucial that the individual must
describe the situation, type and kind of data breach and must take
essential steps for minimizing the influence breach of data (Daly,
2018).
LEGAL RESOURCE AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA
If any individual is being suffered seriously because of the utilization of technology
within the selected topic that data or information privacy and breaches, there are different
legal resources available in Australia. The very first thing is to have detailed breach response
plan which must encompass different things such as holding as well as investigating the
breach, relieving the breach, giving notifications of the insurers, notifications to regulators
and third parties and making improvement in the securities and practices for making sure the
breach does not take place again. There is a legal resource being available to the individual
that is Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the The Privacy Act 1988 which helps in
setting out the obligations of the entities for the management of the personal data.
Legal responsibility for the negative consequences
When any type of issues or problems related to data privacy and breaches takes place
than the legal responsibility for the negative consequences is on the companies and the
businesses whose officials makes the financial decisions. This is due to the fact that this type
of issues related to data privacy and breaches takes place when the companies in the IT
industry does not have enough amount of budget for information technology security
solutions, encompassing big data encryption, the fault of the information breach can
comprehensibly fall on those who takes the economic decisions (Gouldson, 2021). They
might comprise anyone from the business line managers to all the way to the chief executive
officer. On the other side, if the data privacy issues and breaches still take place in the firm
even after budgeting as well as spending suitable amount on cyber attack prevention
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measures, the next line in the chain is the chief infroamtion security officers. In most of the
cases, the information security professionals hold these officers liable in the event of ethical
issues of data privacy and breaches, coming in the second position after the chief executive
officer. In addition to this, it is important to note that breaches which takes place not because
of the human errors normally forgive the CISO of accountability.
Obligation for ensuring no harm
The Privacy Commissioner is the pertinent controller under the Privacy Act or
Australian Privacy Principles. They are established within the Australian Information
Commissioner have different powers, duties and responsibilities right from resolving and
solving the complaints, conducting own investigations, issuing direction in relation with
interpretation as well as enforcement of the Privacy Act or APPs.
Ways to be adopted when no specific law is available to deal with the issue
Without even a trace of an information security regulation or any form of privacy act,
courts have, for example, taken differentiating positions comparable to the extent of basic
features of protection, for example, the option to be neglected. The shortfall of an information
insurance regulation makes it difficult to understand what freedoms are explicitly accessible
to us, delivering the basic right generally unimportant (Resources and guides, n.d). The
shortfall of a uniform reason for qualifications likewise compounds confusion across various
courts and in our normal comprehension of such a right.
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
It is important on the part of the information technology companies to make sure that
their information of the customers, suppliers, government and other important stakeholders
are adequately protected for preventing the loss or theft. However, in case of any ethical
issues or problems related to data privacy and breaches, it is important on the part of the
organizations to give notifications to the individuals and users and might have to face
negative influence on the brand, loyalty and reputation of the companies. Other than this, it is
also possible to minimize or prevent the risk of infroamtion breaches through considering
different best practices and these are being explained underneath:
 Up-to-date Security Software – It is important on the part of the firms involved in the
IT industry to make sure that the software is updated and patched on a regular interval
for avoiding weak spots for hackers to exploit.
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 Regular Risk Assessments – Other than the above, it is also equally crucial that the
organizations must perform vulnerability assessments for reviewing and addressing
any alterations or novel risks in data protection. Taking into account all the aspects,
for example storing of infroamtion and remote accessibility for the workers and
making sure that the policies along with the procedures are passable (Data Breach
Prevention, 2019).
 Encryption and data backup – Further, all the personal information must be encrypted
encompassing on work laptops being given to the staff members. Rather than utilizing
back up tapes which can be lost or stolen, information needs to be backed up to
remote services utilizing internet.
 Staff training and awareness – One of the best practices for preventing these ethical
issues is staff training in regards with the significance of information security and the
ways in which the mistakes can be avoided that might result into breaches. Moreover,
awareness in relation with the sensitive infroamtion should be a sub-section of the
culture of the firm.
 Making sure that the sellers and associates maintain high data protection standards –
At times of working with the other firms that might be managing the information of
the clients, it is important to ensure that acceptable system should be in place for
protecting information (Mtaho, 2015).
 Third party Data Security Evaluations – If third part is being involved than risk
analysis will enable the firm to view the present breach risks. In regards with reducing
the risk of breaches, best advice for the solutions can be taken by the data security
expert. This also helps in explaining an important intention of making sure effective
protection of infroamtion.
CASE STUDY
In the year 2018 in the month of December, one of the leading multinational
information technology companies has announced that near about fifty-two million personal
infroamtion economising the name, email addresses, age and other details of the users was at
the risk of data disclosure because of the security bug. This happened while the company was
sunsetting the Google+ and its APIs due to the important issues being involved in
maintaining an effective product that fulfils the expectations of the clients along with the low
utilization of the platform. because of this software update, some of the users of the company
got affected. In addition to this, the bug has influenced the users or the customers that are
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connected with the Google+. The users of the applications of the Google+ can have
accessibility of the public infroamtion of their friends, however this bug has allowed them to
access information that they have not registered as public data (Thacker, 2018). As per the
company, it has discovered the bug at the time of carrying out standard test and has also fixed
this issue related to bug within one week. Further, even though Google has made plans to
shut down Google+ services for the clients in the year 2019 in the month of August due to
low utilization as well as discovery of same kind of security bug in the month of March, it
has taken decision to close this service in April 2019 after the incident took place.
There are different solutions which would have supported and assisted the company
from the underlying ethical issues related to data breaches. The most important among them
is cyber security strategy and proactive management. the company should have plan of
actions for improving the security as well as safety and resilience of infrastructures and
services. In this they should have created a secure cyber ecosystem along with the assurance
framework. Other than this, proactive management which involves establishment of security
hygiene practices, replacing of outmoded point security technologies and must have
employed signature-based detection tools (Willett, 2021).
CONCLUSION
Thus, from the above evaluation of the report it can be concluded that with the rise in
the level of technological advancement in the information technology industry, there has been
increase in the level of ethical dilemma. There are different stakeholders such as customers,
suppliers, governments etc. who are more likely to be influenced by this issue and this,
effective measures are required to be undertaken for preventing and avoiding these ethical
issues. In addition to this, it has been found out that the information and technology industry
is now being asked to perform more in range of areas and if effective policies and guidelines
are not being prepared and adhered then the industry will more likely to face biggest ethical
concerns and will fail in preparing for tomorrow.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Boulianne S (2015) ‘Social media use and participation: A meta-analysis of current research’
Information, Communication and Society, 18(5), 524-538.
Daly A (2018) ‘The introduction of data breach notification legislation in Australia: A
comparative view’ Computer Law & Security Review, 34(3), 477-495.
Goodwin C (2021) Privacy: Recognition of a Consumer Right. Journal of Public Policy &
Marketing, 10 (Spring), 149–66.
Gouldson B (2021) ‘Australia: Data breaches – Your legal reporting obligations’ Clifford
Gouldson Lawyers.
Jensen K, Tazi F and Das S (2021) ‘Multi-Factor Authentication Application Assessment:
Risk Assessment of Expert-Recommended MFA Mobile Applications’ Proceeding of
the Who Are You.
Liu V, Musen MA and Chou T (2015) ‘Data breaches of protected health information in the
United States’ JAMA, 313, 1471–1473.
Mtaho AB (2015) ‘Improving Mobile Money Security with Two-Factor Authentication’
International Journal of Computer Applications, 109(7), 9–15.
Willett M (2021) ‘Lessons of the Solarwinds hack’ Survival, 63(2), 7–26.
Online references
Australia - Data Protection Overview (2021), Accessed on 16thAugust.
https://www.dataguidance.com/notes/australia-data-protection-overview
Data Breach Prevention (2019), Accessed on 16thAugust 2022.
https://www.gdpr.associates/data-breach-prevention/
Privacy (2019), Accessed on 16thAugust. https://treasury.gov.au/privacy-policy
Resources and guides (n.d), Accessed on 16thAugust 2022.
https://consumer.gov.au/resources-and-guides
Thacker D (2018) Expediting changes to Google+, Accessed on 16thAugust 2022.
https://www.blog.google/technology/safety-security/expediting-changes-google-plus/
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