Information Protection Law and Privacy Essay

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protect the privacy of the individual via EU Directive for Protection of Personal Data

The internet revolutionized the human life as we know it. It established a culture of liberty aided by not just ingenuousness but also standardized protocols. This was achieved by transmitting the essential products for business-related growth, adopting a model of governance with no formal existence of regulations along with free availability of abundant software packages. This internet revolution can't be underestimated as it has its pros and cons, which also comes under discussion in this paper. With the surging popularity of internet, there happen to be a plethora of new dilemmas knocking at the door. There are tons of merits of Internet for that matter while its demerits have been ignored and hidden along the sidelines. These issues have materialized in the preceding decade and the demand is urgent to solidify a legislation which is tasked in dealing with social and lawful issues connected to the internet (Gellert and Gutwirth, 2013). Keeping in mind public security, laws need to be drafted which not only criminalizes new forms of information breaches but also presents regulations that make companies and organizations place measures that prevent breaches to take place in the first place (Brown, 2012).

The time when professional hackers hacked their way into government agencies and big shot corporations for their personal gains have taken a back seat. Times have changed now and the responsiveness of the common populace in this matter is highly important. Most people think that internet has become a safe medium for their personal info-transmission provided relevant assurances are given, which is a highly inaccurate and imprecise (Gellert and Gutwirth, 2013). This is because cybercrime has now become highly prevalent and is ingrained in societies where IT and Internet has found solid ground (Yar, 2006).

The illegal activity has captured the attention of computer technology. Sensitive and confidential information, for case in point, competitive edge of firms are filed electronically. In these cases, the information system's security can indicate the market standing of a company, its market share and financial solvency. Information is highly usable for companies and people who can exploit it irrespective of other person's loss. The online white collar criminal gangs and hackers can certainly utilize this private information. It's common knowledge now that information system of a company is its strongest and weakest link. These days it's safe to assume that small companies / medium companies / big companies employ internet for their marketing. They are targeting the common frame of mind. The highly seasoned and well protected software can't offer security if certain fundamental values aren't followed by the book (Gellert and Gutwirth, 2013).

Citizen's Privacy for government organizations and data security for private firms, both are two sides of the same coin (Asinari and Poullet, 2004). Laws need to be defined which would articulate not only what needs to be done but also how things have to be carried out. Guidance and guidelines for best practices need to be presented to both companies and governments (Andrew, 2011). Some of these rules have been stated within EU Directive for Protection of Personal Data (from this point onwards PPD) enacted in 1995 (Mikkonen, 2014):

1: The private information will be taken for one/two objectives, not more than that. It will be treated for the said purposes only.

2: The private information ought to be updated and accurate.

3: Private information will be processed lawfully and suitably.

4: The personal information ought to be provided only to the point it is necessary; irrelevant information demands are unlawful.

5: Private information won't be kept longer as long as the required objective has been achieved. No hidden motives ought to be involved.

6: Private information will be processed for the purposes necessary with due consideration of the rights info-subject's basic rights.

7: Technical as well as organizational steps must be taken so as to avert illegal info-theft and confidential information. Safety precautions must be taken regarding info-theft, info-loss and any kind of harm to sensitive information.

8: No transmission of confidential / personal information is allowed exceeding the European Economic Area. In any case otherwise, the nation or the province should be having appropriate safety measures so as to safeguard user information while processing the subject's private information (Mikkonen, 2014).

The policies for PPD have been quite imperative yet subjective, because each and every firm has a distinct set of requirements to fulfill and gather information so as to offer cutthroat services.

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There are so many forms of information that can be compiled and gathered. On one hand, standardized security packages have been extremely pricey to buy and implement, there might be potential lawsuits in the event things go south resulting in huge amount of monetary losses (Mikkonen, 2014). Therefore, the need for a solid and reliable data protection and privacy policy for the whole of the EU is imperative (Council of the European Union, 2010). Pertinent laws need to b drafted that keep the privacy of the individual in mind; reliable technology tools that needs to be applied to protect data; and along with the integrity of the community's social life (Nissenbaum, 2010).

Apart from increasing relevance, it's quite imperative to keep in mind that social and philosophical reasons for the rights of internet security and privacy have been hard to attain as they are changing constantly with the alteration in laws. Privacy is a complex issue which has many different as well as distinct meanings. The usage of legislation is sometimes quite flawed in principle. The confusion and intricacies generally result in public's error in perception and judgment (Hallinana et al., 2012).

Section 2: The needs of the state or of public interest and the Erosion of this Right

The boundary between snooping and safeguarding has been completely discolored. The case is severe in case of internet where the freedom of the user is unprecedented resulting in completely disorder; and security has reached a point of vulnerability. Privacy is a basic human right however off late it has struck a deadlock with liberal democratic systems to protect them. In order to avert and thwart future attacks from hackers, the security agencies have got to gather tons of information from the internet and analyze it for possible patterns, relationship, potential suspects as well as linkages. The breach of privacy can be completely rationalized by working for a higher purpose (Aquilina, 2010). The common populace should be able to trust their governments however there are uncertainties when secrecy hides information for other purposes as well. During the preceding century, when the digitalization transpired, many companies launched a fought hard against illegal sharing of pirated content on the internet such as movies, TV shows and music. The law, if implemented might have affected the internet users all across the world. The traces of the campaign still remain for abandoning the neutral position taken in case of Internet privacy. European legislation is currently concentrating on developing legislation on this. There might been be monitoring systems installed where user's services will be noted for which an infrastructure can be easily developed (Guarino, 2013).

The citizens have fundamental rights to be aware of their rights along with government responsibilities. For instance, Russian and Chinese governments have total control on their Internet space. They are also attempting to convert to and shift away from the presently prevailing stakeholder's model. Opponents of privacy law argue that the internet usage has enhanced obsene pornography and other vices in the society and they are increasing day by day which requires strict monitoring. Concurrently, internet gambling needs to be taken off the internet as well (Gellert and Gutwirth, 2013). With information on people' banking records defaulters and frauds can be caught as well. Financial transaction can be kept track of as tax evasion is a frequent crime all over the European Union strip. In one EU member state, without anyone's permission over 200 data-files had been scooped up and mined thoroughly so as to gather information and keep records. This was done so that the government has the necessary information about their population which helps a lot in such cases. These instances and events have been put forward by the opponents of privacy law and have become reason to use someone's confidential information (Guarino, 2013).

Section 3: How does the current PPD Act achieve balance between state's responsibility and individual privacy?

Prior to indulging in the debate of whether the current PPD maintains a balance between personal privacy and government's duty of national security upholding, the job description of security managers is important to ponder first. Their methods of protecting and processing information should be taken in consideration as well. What is the function of an Information Security (IS) manager? Or what role does an information security department or unit play in an organization? The IS managers and IS departments consist of individuals and team.....

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