User:Elizabeththies

Security and Privacy
Ethical concerns regarding international security, surveillance, and the right to privacy are on the rise. The issues of security and privacy commonly overlap in the field of information, due to the interconnectedness of online research and the development of Information Technology (IT). Some of the areas surrounding security and privacy are identity theft, online economic transfers, medical records, and state security. Companies, organziations, and institutions use databases to store, organize, and distribute user's information—with or without their knowledge. The recent Facebook-Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal (where personal information from Facebook profiles was harvested and sold to Cambridge Analytica) embodies these ethical concerns for users.

Medical Records
The more recent trend of medical records is to digitize them. The sensitive information secured within medical records makes security makes security measure vitaly important. The ethical concern of medical records is great within the context of emergency wards, where any patient records can be accessed at all times. Within an emergency ward, patient medical records need to be available for quick access, however, this means that all medical records can be accessed at any moment within emergency wards with or without the patient present.

International Security
Warfare has also changed the security of countries within the 21st Century. After the events of 9-11 and other terrorism attacks on civilians, surveillance by states raises ethical concerns of the individual privacy of citizens. The USA PATRIOT Act 2001 is a prime example of such concerns. Many other countries, especially European nations within the current climate of terrorism, is looking for a balancing between stricter security and surveillance, and not commiting the same ethical concerns associated with the USA Patriot Act. International security is moving to towards the trends of cybersecurity and unmanned systems, which involve the military application of IT. Ethical concerns of political entities regarding information warfare include, the unpredictability of response, difficulty differentiating civilian and military targets, and conflict between state and non-state actors.