Kyrah Saunders

Describe four ethical issues that arise when storing electronic information about individuals.

There are many ethical issues that could arise when storing electronic information about individuals. For starters fraud and theft, when information is stored digitally it is accessible to many different types of fraud or theft. For example, it can be done internally by system fraud or by someone stealing information which is also considered an insider threat. People may also impersonate others in order to gain confidential information. Those are both examples of privacy issues which are ethical.  When information is stored electronically it also makes it able to be hacked. While security measures should be in place, a Malicious Hacker knows their way around systems and may still be able to get in and access whatever they are after. Another issue that could arise when information is stored electronically would be Malicious Code or viruses. Viruses have been known to be used to wipe computers and other systems of all of their information as well as steal information from the system it attacks. Which could cause an issue with accessibility to information when it is needed which is an ethical issue like potentially delaying patient care. Another ethical issue could be your ability to implement the plan of cyber safety. Say you wanted to do something you are, it could be against someone’s religion to use their body to lock and unlock technology for example some religions believe using a chip in your arm is a sign of hell returning.  Finally, I would like to point out that when storing information electronically the system is subject to errors and omissions. Systems glitch all the time and that makes there room for errors in accuracy like one patient’s information being stored under a different patient. Accuracy issues are ethical because not providing correct information or providing information that is correct to the wrong person can delay care or be a HIPAA issue.