Ethics Information Technology essays

Ethics Information Technology essays With advancements in technology such as the Internet and wireless capabilities, the act of storing photos, documents, and other personal information in the cloud has increased as well. In the past, we stored all of this data in physical form in our homes or offices or, at most, data was stored locally rather than on the internet. Since this data is no longer stored solely in your possession at a physical location, the security and privacy surrounding who can access this information and on what basis has become a concern. Different companies have their own policies regarding these issues as well as varying countries and territories having their own sets of laws and regulations on the matter. The reach of some of these laws has grown more and more distorted as new laws and regulations are enacted or altered. The most main-stream of these issues being the varying laws and transparency surrounding cloud storage privacy and data disclosure in the United States versus Europe. In the United States, the restraint or willingness to turnover personal information about a customer when it comes to cloud data varies company to company. For example, Google publicly releases a Transparency Report annually which shows details of when Google is forced to release data to investigators or any type or a government authority. The Patriot Act can forbid companies from disclosing information regarding these requests, Google's legal director, Richard Delgado explains, "The FBI has the authority to prohibit companies from talking about these requests. But we've been trying to find a way to provide more information about the National Security Letter requests we get. Google revealed that from July to December 2012 it adhered to more than 5,700 subpoena requests for information on individuals, nearly 1,900 search warrants and 758 court orders issued under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act seeking user data. Google said about 90 pe...