Privacy of Digitized Personal Information Essay -- Private Privacy Inf

Privacy of Digitized Personal Information Privacy of personal information is a fundamental right of any person. No one wants his/her private details to be known to other people, especially ones who they are not familiar with. However, human society is based on cooperation between people. Society simply cannot function without this vital interaction between two human beings. No one is that capable or skillful enough to fulfill his/her daily requirements alone. The very fabric of society exists because a person has to depend on other people to get things done. Whenever one person talks to another, he/she unknowingly reveals a certain amount of personal information such as physical features, personality, character, etc. It is impossible to hide this information as revealing of this information to other people is unavoidable. In order to fulfill has/her daily wants and needs, a person has to trust quite a number of individuals with some unique information. The process is reciprocal, i.e., the individuals have to also reveal certain information to build an atmosphere of trust. However, human avarice knows no bounds. People always face incidences where their private information is revealed to unscrupulous individuals, who take undue advantage of this information for their own ends. In most cases, this results in loss of credibility or harm to the victims. This is called as identity theft. Therefore, the pros and cons of releasing one's personal information have to be carefully weighed and examined before any hasty so-called remedial actions can be taken. Technology has revolutionized the realm of commerce and industry that we know today. The Internet is the central axis around which all these financial and marketing activ... ...use and propagation of this information to respect the privacy of the individual. Only time will tell if an innovative solution is found to balance the two. Personally, I would prefer the utilitarian approach, as lack of privacy is not going to drastically affect anybody. As a matter of fact, it could mean saving thousands of lives. I wouldn't bother too much if anybody could access my personal information, unless it is used to malign or denigrate me in any way. The Utilitarian approach is not perfect, as it can still be misused. But, it still appears as the best choice. Sources Cited: http://www.nasscom.org/download/Data_Privacy.pdf http://ethics.acusd.edu/theories/Rights/index.html http://ethics.acusd.edu/theories/Utilitarianism/index.html http://ethics.acusd.edu/theories/Aristotle/index.html http://www.stanford.edu/~hammond/SienaLect.pdf