Computer Matching Versus Privacy :: Private Personal Information Essays

Computer Matching Versus Privacy IntroductionWith the coming of virgin calculating machine technologies, the ease with which new development kitty be discover from aggregating data sources is astounding. This technique is called computer matching. When it comes to doing research this can be an incredible source of new ideas and correlations between mark offs of data. However, this same technique can be applied to information about individual people. Suddenly, by force together disparate sources of data, private information can be conditioned about an individual without their knowledge or consent. If the organization that is capable of computer matching is a establishment, it mails a lot of information in the hand of a powerful entity. A question of whether the government should have this new information is a significant one. What if the government were not allowed to ask you for information that is discoverable through computer matching? Should the government be allowed to work this technique to yield the same information? This ethical dilemma is covered in this paper. Relevant information will be used from the laws in the join States and the European Union to illustrate the different perspectives on the cover of citizens and the approaches each government takes to it.Letter of the Law or Spirit? numerous countries around the world have laws on what information a government can ask from its citizens. These laws typically focus on hold dearing the privacy of individual citizens and interrupting discrimination based upon the collected information. Computer matching could place this same information in the hands of the government.In the United States, US law prohibits the direct collection of certain information. This includes, but not curb to information about ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc1. The European Union (EU) has set guidelines for members of the union. These guidelines set strict rules for the processing of personal information. The EU defines processing as collection, use, storage, retrieval, transmission, destruction, and former(a) actions2. The rules also provide provisions requiring the consent of the individual person forwards this processing can occur.It is apparent that the intentions of the laws for the United States and the EU are to protect the privacy of their citizens. However, loopholes exist in these laws that allow the governments to bend these laws. In the United States, the law prevents the government from asking for certain information, but it does not prevent it from purchasing this information or using matching techniques to discover it.