Personally Identifiable Information (PII) : Ethical Implications - Research Paper Example

Therefore, this paper shall seek to explain the importance of Personal Identifiable Information, as well the challenges and ethical implications that may arise from its usage. It is worth noting that Personal Identifiable Information is extremely important in the modern technology. Some of the most commonly used data to identify individuals include; social security numbers, ID and driver numbers, date of birth, face recognition, biometrics, vehicles registration number, private phone numbers, home address, private e-mail address, among others.

If by any chance PII was not in existence, then it would be extremely difficult to hunt down and identify individuals since one name is shared by many people. There are several advantages brought by PII when it comes to differentiating identity of individuals. Big companies employ the use of PII to identify their members of staff (Kim & Solomon, 2010). For instance, most companies issue their employees with ID cards that are unique with every employee. On the other hand, government officials use PII when searching, identifying, as well as distinguishing individuals in their massive data base.

For instance, every legal residence of the United States of America has a social security number used to identify him or her 1. This number is unique to every individual. It is also essential to note that PII plays an integral role in Forensics. This is attributed to the fact that it helps to hunt down and identify lawbreakers. This identity can be achieved through finger prints and facial recognition which selectively reveals one’s identity. This is achievable since finger prints are distinctive with every person.

In as much as there are advantages of using PII, so are there disadvantages. At this point in time, almost everybody is technologically savvy and have tendencies of using the internet in their everyday life. For instance, the internet has become an important tool for shopping, banking, studying, applying for jobs, accessing medical records, as well as accessing medical records (Lubbe & Heerden, 2003). However, to access the sites that provide these services, an individual has to disclose his personal details.

In most cases, this information is collected by these websites so that they may deliver the services requested. Additionally, the personal information collected may be used to inform individuals of the other services or products available. These websites are not supposed to disclose personal information belonging to any individual to a third party; unless it is prerequisite of the law, or they are doing so in good faith as a compliance to the law or legal process served to them. It is essential for those who have access to personal information of people to maintain a high level of confidentiality.

This is attributed to the fact that personal information if let in the public domain may cause harm to individuals (Dhillon, 2003). This is because such information can be used by one’s enemies to bring them down. For instance, CIA agents tracking down terrorists normally operate undercover. The terrorists should not have any access to their Personally Identifiable Information such as face recognition or places residence. This is because the terrorists can harm them to the extent of even eliminating them.

On the other hand, fraudsters can access an individual’s Personally Identifiable Information and use the information to defraud a hardworking citizen of his or her hard-earned