Managing Information 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing Information 2 - Essay Example As a result there are a number of IT-related issues that have arisen in the recent past; some of them are discussed herein after. IT-related Issues Protecting information confidentiality certainly ranks among the most pressing IT-related issues. This relates to how an information professional or any other person who has access to privileged information should treat it and handle it to ensure it does not get into the wrong hands and become detrimental to others (Strassman, 2000). It is therefore logical that information presented as confidential should be treated as such. A lot of people are required to provide their personal information such as full names, residence, age, gender, social security number, personal identification card numbers and a lot of other private information when applying for credit cards, visas and other legal documents; if not handled with the required confidentiality this information can be used by fraudsters and impersonators to siphon cash from the unsuspecti ng public. An information technology professional should ensure that confidential information is handled with confidentiality. For instance, by not tapping other peoples’ phones or conducting surveillance that intrudes the privacy of others. The other issue is privacy. Traditionally, everyone is legally entitled to reasonable privacy. Under the privacy rights a person is entitled to reasonable secrecy, anonymity and solitude (Payne and Landry, 2006). Anonymity guarantees that the person is not subjected to undesired attention; secrecy ensures that personalized information is not distributed to other people who are not privy to it while solitude allows one to physically be away from other people. This has not changed even in the face of the fast changing technological environment. These days, with the closed circuit television cameras, one can gain access into another person’s private life and know every little detail of it. The dilemma arises when determining whether i t is ethical and legal to do so (Davis, 2010). The determination is however not easy as the subject is complex and multifaceted and depends on the circumstances or the environment. For example, there are countries that will allow the infringement of privacy rights for the purpose of national security. At the same time there are proponents that argue that one’s’ privacy rights should never be violated for any reason. Information professionals are mandated to handle privileged information. With this privilege comes a responsibility; that of ensuring that that information does not cause harms in their way of creation, organization, dissemination and use (Jana, 1998). The ethical and moral codes governing human conduct should be observed. This information need not necessarily affect individuals directly; they may affect a country’s security or economy. A case in point is that of Julian Assange, the editor of WikiLeaks who released classified information of different countries to the public. Assange is an informational technologist and an accomplished computer programmer. He got in possession of some sensitive information, some that directly impact on the national security of the US yet he went ahead to disseminate that information without considering the harm it could do (Burstein, 2012). IT innovation has enabled rapid dissemination of