Privacy in the Information Age This is the Information Age, the age of gathering information. People are introduced to all types of information from print and broadcast media, and they themselves are the object of information collected on an increasing scale. Computers have be come so entrenched in people's lives that they have come to take computers for granted, and usually stop to complain on occasions when these machines fail them. Computers collect our paychecks, pay our bills, dispense our cash, send our orders, and save our data. While computers may only contain bits and pieces of our personal information, collectively computers know us better than many of our friends and relatives. The use of the information highway by marketing firms, law enforcement agencies, the me dia, financial and educational institutions to collect and compile personal information is making may consumer advocates and privacy experts uneasy. However, many Americans, even though concerned about privacy invasions, simply accept the loss of their p rivacy as a consequency of the Information Age and are not willing to give up the benefits and conveniences which information technology has provided them (Long 19). British novelist, George Orwell, may have been accurate in his novel, 1984, envisioning a future where citizens are constantly monitored, but he never imagined how or to what degree this would be done. Today, a citizen's personal informatio n is everywhere: processed, manipulated, stored, and sold. In the last 10 years, data collection has escalated (Mossberg B1). There is nothing that doesn't create a pool of data that can be used in creative ways. Computers can collect personal data t o find patterns that reveal a citizen's habits, preferences, and personality. What is particularly surprising is the extent in current years to which this personal data about citizens can be obtained and made available to many interested parties. The is sue, therefore, affects everyone. Privacy and the consumer, privacy and the workplace, and privacy and medical records in the Information Age are all issues of privacy that people must deal with today. In the 1990's, the Internet has virtually changed the lifestyle of the consumer. One-to-one marketing and advertising has become very popular on the Internet, and the personal service it gives a consumer can save him time and effort. A growing nu mber of people, including children, are using digital networks for all kinds of personal transactions, exposing much more of themselves, via E-mail or chat-lines or even Web sites, by completing forms filled with personal data in order to get the service they need. For example, the DoubleClick Netowrk, an ad agency, is very popular with consumers, especially the young. If a consumer clicks onto one of its many Web Sites, like "The Dilbert Zone," the DoubleClick Network records into its private database whatever information it can get about its new shopper: the zip code, area code, business address, even the type of computer the consumer is using. At the same time, DoubleClick can also start collecting information about action the consumer ta kes online (Is 62). For example, if I am a student who likes baseball, I might start seeing on-line ads and offers, receiving e-mail solicitations for the newest state-of -the -art baseball equipment. All I have to do is take advantage of this easy and convenient way to shop, is to fill out a detailed personal questionnaire about myself, so that DoubleClick can target through the Internet. This is customized service for me, the consumer, so I fill out the information which will include my name, address , credit card number, hobbies and interests. Automatically, I have results, as online ads for goods and services, accompanied by order forms, appear on my screen. There is nothing wrong with such one-to-one marketing, and consumers may want to be on the receiving end. But once a consumer puts information about himself on the Web, the threat exists for an invasion of privacy. Often the consumer is not aware that his privacy is being invaded as this personal information is given away, or sold to, other companies. For example, Cybergold, a new and popular on-line marketing company, will continue to make this personal data on the consumer available to more co mpanies on the digital network (Mossberg B1). As the consumer continues to take advantage of these companies; goods and services offered via the Internet, and, as he fills out more questionnaires for them, further information is collected about him in th e database. His credit file, work history, health reports, bank balances, family statistics, and personal lifestyles may now be available. Soon, this bank of information expands the capability of checking up on a consumer's background which becomes publ ic information to anyone, reputable or not, on the Internet. Thus, for the convenience of shopping on-line, the consumer is threatened by the loss of personal privacy. On June 4, 1996, the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection sponsor ed a public workshop in Washington called "Consumer Privacy in the Global Information Infrastructure." This government workshop addressed the issue of the emerging on-line marketplace and the various ways that personal data could be protected, allowing consumers to exercise choice about how their personal information could be used (Is 6). The workplace in the Information Age has taken on a new look, especially in the area of high-tech advances. As information technology expands, so does the productivity of businesses. The advanced technology has also allowed employers to monitor t heir employees for "good business." For employers in the workplace, electronic monitoring is one way they can protect their company's interests and prevent employees from taking advantage of them. Companies can monitor for quality control, wor kplace safety, and health care cost containment using sophisticated technology. Dan Yager, general counsel of the Labor Policy Association, a lobbying group that represents business interests, states "To some extent, legitimate electronic monitoring offers an opportunity to detect people whose workplace behavior indicates a serious problem. It is appropriate when it is done to protect work that affects the success or failure of business (Clavin 82)." In the workplace, employers can continue to monitor workers with relatively few restrictions. One form of electronic monitoring, done by computer, may include searches of employee computer files, voicemail, E-mail, and other networking communicati ons. It is estimated that more than 60 million workers currently correspond via E-mail, sending approximately two billion messages every month (Posch 55). A recent case occurred in the Nissan Motor Corporation in Southern California where two employee t rainers were coordinating their efforts by keeping in touch via E-mail. At time, their messages contained negative remarks about upper management. They did not realize that their boss was monitoring their E-mail remarks, until they were called in and re primanded. The two women sued Nissan for invasion of privacy, but the court ruled in favor of the company because Nissan owned the computer system (Clavin 76). Because of the threat to individual privacy, the growth of E-mail litigation is one of the fa stest growing areas in the United States. Federal and state laws have not kept up with the varied use of E-mail (Posch 54). Besides computer monitoring in the workplace, other forms of electronic monitoring include video surveillance, closed circuit television, and tracking devices. Workplace surveillance becomes more sophisticated and more effective in monitoring work ers' activities. A camera as small as a thimble can be installed in workers' offices or lounges to record what they are doing and talking about; many times surveillance cameras are used in industries to track down thefts and record questionable behavior. At a Surveillance Expo show, a salesperson demonstrated the latest in sophisticated video cameras: body video. Wearing a tiny camera hidden in a pair of glasses, the salesperson strutted about the stage as the image of his audience was produced on a n earby video monitor. This camera is being marketed to industries in the United States this year (Frankel 12). One of the most controversial developments in the line of tracking devices is the "active bridge." A small card that looks like an i dentification badge is clipped onto the worker's clothing, transmitting a signal every ten seconds to a central computer. Employers say the devices will allow workers to make more efficient use of their time. The badge will tell supervisors exactly wher e an employee is located in the building, eliminating the time and effort taken to hunt them down. Privacty rights activists forsee that the badge will invade the employee's privacy, because every step he takes will be monitored. They insist that employ ees will become less productive if continuously scrutinized under surveillance, and it will harm worker morale (Long 57). The Information Age has suffered especially in health care as the privacy of medical records is being invaded. Technology of computer-based patient records is beginning to improve in terms of results and costs. Traditional paper medical records a re typically incomplete and often illegible, so physicians turn to electronic medical records for quick and relevant information on the injured and ill, especially necessary in emergencies. The health care industry spent $15 billion on information techno logy in 1996 for the following: electronic medical records, billing systems, internal networks and agencies, and public networks, such as the Internet, to distribute health-related information and data. Types of organizations that collect and store elec tronic health information include members of the direct health care provider teams such as doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and groups such as insurance companies, government and private agencies (Why 24). As medical and health information becomes more accessible through electonic sources, medical records of patients will be made available to many people. While the health care information superhighway has brought such benefits as detailed health and medical information and has increased the efficiency of managed care organizations in data collection and analysis, outsiders who have access to patient s' medical histories are using them as tools of discrimination in employment, promotions, insurance coverage, and even politics. Dr. Denise Nagel, president of Coalition for Patient Rights of New England, state, "The traditional right of medical pri vacy, protected by the Hippocratic Oath, is being eroded as our medical records become transformed into commodities desired by insurers, employers, researchers, and yes, even police." She goes on to give the example of a woman, who with only average computer skills, was able to access information abou ther psychiatric condition from her medical record in an insurance company's database. Concerned that future employers would obtain it as easily as she had, she requested its removal, but was turned d own by the company (Nagel A13). When a confidential list of 4,000 AIDS patients wound up in newsrooms in Tampa, Florida, last year, it was discovered that the computerized medical records had been tapped by a major pharmaceutical company (Butler 8). Th ese examples arouse concern about how private medical data really is. Patients have the right to keep their medical history private for their own protection, but that privacy is increasingly being threatened by the growth of the information superhighway. Securing electronic medical records needs to be done on two levels. The first is protecting confidentiality of medical information as it is held and used by individual health care providers. The second is protecting the information as it moves fr om a doctor's office to outside parties such as insurers, employers, and health care managers. Introduced before Congress in January 1997 was the Fair Health Information Practices Act, written by Representative Gary Condit of California, incorporating th e two levels into a legal document which is yet to be passed by Congress and signed into law by the president (Electronic A22). To add privacy, the government has invented a chip to deal with the growth of electonic eavesdropping. The Clipper Chip is a cryptographic device used to protect private communications in today's technology. Inserted into a telephone or computer, it is used to encrypt voice mail messages, while a similar chip known as a Capstone would encrypt data. It uses a code to scramble the information put into the computer so outsiders cannot read it. The Clipper has a built-in back door that allows the U .S. government to use a special key to unlock the code. The government developed this chip in order to protect the privacy of people. Privacy groups, however, feel the Clipper will turn the nation's phone system into a vast surveillance network that coul d be easily abused (Buchsbaum 12). A major problem of the Clipper Chip deals with the Law Enforcement Access Field (LEAF) and escrowed keys. The LEAF allows government agencies to investigate wrong doings by criminals and terrorists. They must first obtain a search warrant, then p resent the warrant to government offices obtaining the keys, and finally use the key to obtain information about the parties. People see escrowed keys as a way to prevent eavesdropping while they see the LEAF field as a violation of their freedom of spee ch and personal privacy. If the government passes the Clipper Chip, then the government would have access to everyone's personal information (Rosen 2). The Information Age is growing by the second. Many people realize this and are for technology advancing. Because of this many people do not know that their privacy is being invaded. The Clipper Chip is a device that might help people who want their privacy. The government would hold the key to access a person's computer or telephone, but they must have a court order before they can use the key to tap into a person's computer. People are leaving their privacy in the hands of the government. The issues of privacy and the consumer, privacy and the workplace, and privacy and medical records have forced the government to investigate encryption as a way of deterring the invasion of personal privacy in the Information Age. Work Cited Buchsbaum, Herbert. "No Secrets in Cyberspace?" Scholastic Update 2 Sept. 1994: 11-13. Butler, Robert N. "Privacy in the Electronic Age." Geriatrics Jan. 1997: 8-9. Clavin, Thomas. "Is Your Boss Spying on You?" Ladies' Home Journal April 1995: 82. "Electronic Threats to Medical Privacy." New York Times 11 May 1997: A22. Frankel, Mark. "Corporate Snooping 101." New Republic 20 May 1996: 11-12. "Is Your Computer Spying on You? Consumer Research Magazine May 1997: 6. Long, Robert Emmet. Rights to Privacy. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1997. Mossberg, Walter A. "Threats to Privacy on-line Become More Worrisome." Wall Street Journal 24 Oct. 1996: B1. Nagel, Denise M. "The End of Personal Medical Privacy." Wall Street Journal 7 June 1996: A13. Posch, Robert J. "E-mail and Voice Mail: Basic Legal Issues for Corporate Management." Direct Marketing Jan. 1996: 54-57. Rosen, Dan. "Is the Clipper Chip Necessary?" [http://acm.cis.udel.edu/~rosen/cscc2.html] Sept. 18,1997. "Why Your Health Privacy is Threatened." Consumer Research Magazine April 1997: 24-27.
...). Privacy and Health Information Technology. Journal of Law Medicine, 37(2), 121-149. Retrieved January 28, 2011 from CINAHL database
This paper will examine the privacy rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996
In the Engineering and Technology Journal, two engineers, Gareth Mitchell and Guy Clapperton, gave their thoughts on both sides of the privacy issue. Is gathering information violating personal privacy? They made their arguments using currency as a metaphor for personal information and online services a product. Mitchell argues the case that giving out personal information is “too high a price to pay” (Mitchell, 2013, p. 26). He says that despite the option to opt out of cookies and certain information, many sites are more covert and make their opt out option less accessible than a pop up asking to opt out. The site makes it hard for the Internet user to say no to being tracked. Mitchell warns the reader to take more consideration into what information they are giving away and that “privacy is not to be taken for granted” (Mitchell, 2013, p. 26). Getting information from the Internet would mean tra...
Computers, tablets, cellphones and all modern tenchnology has decrease our expectations of privacy in this digital age. People don't care anyone for their privacy, they only want the benefits that modern technology has brought to them. In the essay, “Privacy is Overrated” by David Plotz (2003), argues that it is sometimes good to be open and not be bother by privacy. In Jack Shafer's (2010) essay, “The Invasion of the Cookie Monster” he argues that we are the ones to be blame for the lost of our online privacy. The didgital age has created an extremely big problem of privacy for people.
XBRL, the eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is an open standards-based reporting system built to accommodate the electronic preparation and exchange of business reports around the world. XBRL started back in 1999 with 12 organizations as the founding members. There are now in excess of 450 organizations worldwide in over 30 countries involved in its development. It provides major benefits in the preparation, analysis and communication of business information. It offers cost savings, greater efficiency and improved accuracy and reliability to all those involved in supplying or using financial data. The idea behind XBRL, eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is simple. Instead of treating financial information as a block of text - as in a standard internet page or a printed document - it provides an identifying tag for each individual item of data. This is computer readable. For example, company net profit has its own unique tag. The introduction of XBRL tags enables automated processing of business information by computer software, cutting out laborious and costly processes of manual re-entry and comparison. Computers can treat XBRL data "intelligently" as they can recognize the information in a XBRL document, select it, analyze it, store it, exchange it with other computers and present it automatically in a variety of ways for users. XBRL greatly increases the speed of handling of financial data, reduces the chance of error and permits automatic checking of information. Companies can use XBRL to save costs and streamline their processes for collecting and reporting financial information. Consumers of financial data, including investors, analysts, financial institutions and regulators, can receive, find, ...
Ever since day one, people have been developing and creating all sorts of new methods and machines to help better everyday life in one way or another. Who can forget the invention of the ever-wondrous telephone? And we can’t forget how innovative and life-changing computers have been. However, while all machines have their positive uses, there can also be many negatives depending on how one uses said machines, wiretapping in on phone conversations, using spyware to quietly survey every keystroke and click one makes, and many other methods of unwanted snooping have arisen. As a result, laws have been made to make sure these negative uses are not taken advantage of by anyone. But because of how often technology changes, how can it be known that the laws made so long ago can still uphold proper justice? With the laws that are in place now, it’s a constant struggle to balance security with privacy. Privacy laws should be revised completely in order to create a better happy medium between security and privacy. A common misconception of most is that a happy medium of privacy and security is impossible to achieve. However, as well-said by Daniel Solove, “Protecting privacy doesn’t need to mean scuttling a security measure. Most people concerned about the privacy implications of government surveillance aren’t arguing for no[sic] surveillance and absolute privacy. They’d be fine giving up some privacy as long as appropriate controls, limitations, oversight and accountability mechanisms were in place.”(“5 Myths about Privacy”)
Nowadays technology has created a difficult environment for an individual’s privacy. The authors of “Privacy Under Attack” argue that an individual’s personal information is compromised by the different ways they can be tracked by corporations and the government. This can be very dangerous due to the amount of identity theft out in the world today. The government’s usage of surveillance cameras and wiretapping, along with product tracking through the usage of Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs) by big corporations allows identity thieves easy access to one’s personal information. Although, all of these encroachments may be beneficial to society by preventing some crimes, in the end they facilitate identity theft and violate one’s privacy.
Technology is constantly changing, growing, and evolving but with each change in technology we risk our own privacy. With each new update we get we are told it improves our network or life but in reality it makes it easier to invade our privacy just like in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. There are many parallels between 1984 and our present day like the over watchful eyes of the government for our own good.
Even where there is a highly competitive market where everyone wants to be the best and retain their customers in order to keep gaining more. The InterContinental Hotel & Resort never stayed behind competition with more than 50 years of been opened and its one of most acknowledgeable brands worldwide. The hotel caters everyone’s luxury needs, and investing in their employees to make it a very welcoming environment for guests to keep returning to the hotel and for new guests to try out their services. Their high investment in developing leaders in their employees and new tools that will build their capabilities in order for them to do their job with their highest performance and dedication. The biggest investment a company can do is investing in
The Wyndham Hotel Corporation was founded in 1981 by Trammell Crow in Dallas, Tx. Its first hotel was opened in 1982 and by 1985 they had successfully held 14 upscale properties in their portfolio. Wyndham continued to grow throughout the years until in 1997 they agreed to be acquired by Patriot American Hospitality Inc., under a Real Estate Investment Trust or REIT. After the acquisition, they began an aggressive campaign to purchase several smaller companies to increase their holdings. Some of those companies included Williams Hospitality, Carefree Hospitality, and Summerfield Suites. Due to these major acquisitions, Wyndham experience an eruption in growth and profit, but that would become short lived. The REIT structure was going under increased pressure federal regulators as well as several of Wyndham’s competitors. They claimed that under the REIT structure, companies were receiving an unfair advantage over premiums for both lodging properties and real estate. In light of this information, their stock value began to decrease significantly and had lost over 80% of its value. For several years Wyndham struggled to pay down its debt and was forced to lose it REIT status and turn into a C-Corporation under the new title Wyndham International Corporation. The next several years involved major changes and IT incorporation in a process to restructure the company.
I have decided to pursue the career of a network system administrator or IT professional. Over the last ten years or so computers have become fundamental parts of everyday life, used for a variety of reasons at home, in the workplace, and at schools. Of course every computer user runs into obstacles from time to time, whether it is the blue screen of death, the forgotten password, or the loss of important data. The explosive use of computers has created a high demand for specialists to provide advice to users, as well as for day-to-day administration, maintenance, and support of computer systems and networks. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-07 Edition, Computer Support Specialists and Systems Administrators, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos268.htm (visited September 24, 2007). That makes me ask what are career possibilities and overall future Job Outlook of a Network System administrator.
The Wyndham has executed a compliance program to strengthen ethics throughout the company. They have drafted a thorough Code of Business Conduct that has received top scores from the Ethisphere Institute for its comprehensiveness and availability to stakeholders. Another way the Wyndham contributes to customer is creating a customer relationships. When consumers think about and associate the Wyndham hotel company the first thought that should come to hand is an upscale hotel chains that targets high end consumers. However, the Wyndham targets travelers from across the world and social status. For example, they have different hotels that expend the reach of consumers some of them include Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Wyndham Garden, and Wyndham Grand Collection, Days Inn, Super 8, Travel Lodge, and others. This strategy allows Wyndham to avoid brand confusion but also set apart with having a wide variety of consumers. Ending with Availability of products and customer care services: The products of the Wyndham are always available in markets and keeps on changing customer requirements. Their customer care service is also effective that help customers in making right and quick
The History of Windows servers started in the early 1970’s. Bill Gates and Paul Allen who were college students at the time were motivated and inspired after reading an article about a group of inventors featured a public periodical. The subject that inventors were discussing was the creation of a microcomputer, now known as Altair 8800. The two young future pioneers continued to read the article and the wheels of their inner genius started began to s...
The Marriott Corporation (MC), had seen a long, successful reign in the hospitality industry until the late 1980s. An economic downturn and the 1990 real estate crash resulted in MC owning newly developed hotel properties with no potential buyers in sight and a mound of debt. During the late 1980s, MC had promised in their annual reports to sell off some of their hotel properties and reduce their burden of debt. However, the company made little progress toward fulfilling that promise. During 1992, MC realized that financial results were only slightly up from the previous year and their ability to raise funds in the capital market was severely limited. MC was left with little choice, as they had to consider some major changes within the company if they wished to remain a successful business. Thus, J.W. Marriott, Jr., Chairman of the board and president of MC, turned to Stephen Bollenbach, the new chief financial officer, for ideas and guidance.
“Network Administrators are often responsible for keeping an organization 's network up to date and running smoothly” (7). Network Administrators can often identify problems and hiccups in the networking environment and create solutions to fix them. Today there are a lot of different organizations that use computers and networking as a way to stimulate the company 's growth and as a result it is essential to have someone who can identify and fix any problems as they rise. Network administrators often are expected to have great oral and written communication skills, as well as keep organized, and have prior experience in the field (8). For many jobs Network administrators are required to have a bachelor 's degree in Computer science as