Technological Achievements that Led to FISMA and COPPA - Essay Example

This can be seen clearly from the enactment of various legislations that are aimed at protecting security and privacy such as the Federal Information Systems Management Act (2002) and the Children’s Online Privacy protection act (1998). FISMA and technological advancement leading to its creation FISMA in general aims at mandating basic security standards for government information technology systems. It requires that government agencies detect and report security vulnerabilities in computer systems.

It also requires of them to improve the information security framework that is the plan of how they will improve the networks and finally the act includes a set of directives that govern agencies’ security responsibilities and how to adhere to the law (NIST, 2002). There are a few advances in information technology that resulted in the formation of this act. The first advancement is the move from mainframe computers to networked computing. The mainframes were originally large machines used for processing data by the federal government.

Most of these were stand alone and therefore the risk of accessing information was greatly reduced. The move to networked computing where agencies could share information over a network increased the risk of exposing information to unauthorized persons. Secondly it also increased the chances of the computers being hacked into and data being used for malicious purposes. These advancements therefore led to ethical issues such as privacy and security concerns that had to be addressed necessitating the creation of this act (Dark, 2010).

The second advancement was the move from the networked machines between government agencies to the internet. Networked computing enabled agencies to share information whereas the internet enabled agencies and individuals to access basic services online without having to go to the government offices. With this move privacy and security concerns increased as government departments became prone to cybercrimes such as the hacking of websites and this meant someone could hack into a government website, modify information or even collect information from citizens and use it for malicious purposes.

Such necessitated regulations to be enacted to ensure that government information as well as individual privacy is protected (Dark, 2010). COPPA and technological advancements leading to its creation The second act, the COPPA act in general aims to give parents the control over what information is gathered from their children who are below the age of 13 online. The dynamic nature of the internet necessitated the creation of this act which applies to operators of commercial websites and online services that collect make use of or disclose personal information from children under the age of 13.

it is also directed at operators of general audience websites and online services that know they are collecting, making use of or disclosing information that is of personal nature from children under the age of 13. It requires operators to issue comprehensive privacy policies, provide parents with notices for consent, provide parents access to information collected from children, give parents authority to prevent further use of internet and ensure confidentiality security and the integrity of information they have