The impact of Technology on Informational Privacy

In today’s world, Information Technology is playing a key role in the transaction of information to public. Information can be Personal information or Public information. Personal information is the personal identity, financial status, personal records like credit history, medical records, driving history etc., friends, contacts, significant calendar dates like birthday, anniversaries and appointments etc. pertaining to that particular person. This information can not be revealed publicly to everyone against their will. Personal information is easy to steal, and once stolen, it’s harmful to the cost of the concerned individual. The ability of computers to surf through personal information can make one’s life look like an open book.


If the personal information is made publicly available to everyone, then it can be called as Public information. Public information can be records, such as voter registration lists, Department of Motor Vehicle records, arrest and conviction records, court proceedings and judgments, bankruptcy records, and lists of births, deaths and marriage licenses etc. due to innovations in technology like the Internet, they bring enormous efficiency to the collection, sorting and distribution of public information.


If a curious neighbor wants to know something about that person, it takes some expense and effort to correlate information and develop a profile of somebody using computer databases and the Internet and, it's getting easier day by day. Many records that we think confidential today, such as credit reports, social security records, bank account records, and medical records etc. are publicly accessible without our knowledge. So, it is very important for an individual to protect his informational privacy.


It is up to the individual’s choice whether to make their personal information public or not. It really depends on the type of data they want to make public like what they buy, where they travel, their likes and dislikes etc. i.e., as long as their privacy is not disturbed. For instance, individuals can create their profile in a social networking website like Facebook , Myspace etc. and display the information they want to share publicly.


Consequently, sharing information proved very useful for commercial purposes. For example, a consumer product based company like Wal-Mart keeps track of the information about what types of products are bought at which store, when and how often. This can be used for inventory and production, to make sure that the store can have the products available when they are needed. Also, many consumers appreciate having products and services are provided according to their individual needs.


However, to protect privacy, access should be denied to people who don't have a legitimate reason for the information they seek. The way to protect privacy in this age of information technology is to develop respect for the privacy of personal information. We can not ban the collection of personal information as it is practically impossible in the present situation or even stop organizations from the benefit of using these databases. It really takes the role of a software engineer in designing the technology to define the appropriate uses for specific kinds of information and figure out ways to confine the use of that information. It is not that easy, but it is possible.