Comparison of Australia and Canada in terms of Productivity - Coursework Example

Comparison of Australia and Canada in terms of productivity Your name Class Affiliation/ University Course name Professors’ name Date Introduction The first part of this paper is a comparison of Australia and Canada with specific reference to productivity as a means of comparison. While Australia and Canada pursues the same economic activities of importing machinery and assets, they export primary products. However, there is divergence in standard of living which is attributed to variance in labour productivity and utilization. The paper will then discuss Privacy as a policy issue within the field of Information Technology. This will lead to a deliberation on policy response taken by Australia and Canada and their effectiveness. Privacy is a concern in the present age of information and it affects not only customers but also businesses. Comparison of Australia and Canada Australia and Canada are analogous in many facets. The first instance is with respect to population and standard of living. As per OCED (2001), Australia and Canada had a population of 20 and 30 million respectively. In the same vein, Canada had a GDP of $28,900 compared to Australia’s $27,300 thus demonstrating a comparable standard of living. The second aspect to illustrate similarity is economic structures. Specifically, both countries import machinery and other assets from United States. Thirdly is abundance of natural resources as a result these countries concentrate on exporting primary products in form of raw materials while importing machinery and other assets. Finally, the two countries run their statistical system in line with productivity performance of other countries in OECD. Notwithstanding the similarities in the two countries, productivity growth and labour utilization has contributed to changes in standard of living in the long-term basis. OECD (2001) presented an outline of labour productivity and utilization in Australia and Canada. Looking at the effect of labour productivity and utilization, GDP in Canada grew by 1.9% and 2.4% in Australia between 1983 and 2000 (OECD, 2001, pg 12). The difference was attributed to productive gains of 1.7% for Australia against 1.2% for Canada. The determining factor for productivity in the two countries is therefore the labour market. In relation to labour utilization, Canada registered high score between 1995 and 2000. This was attributed to employment rate of 1.9% in Canada as compared to zero rates in Australia during that period of time. Policy issue in Information Technology Privacy has been identified as one of the issue within the field of Information Technology. Basically, privacy is control over personal data and the ability to prevent unauthorised access. This is a critical issue for a business that has invested in e-commerce and also consumers who make their purchase through the internet. Where privacy and security is not well addressed, consumers will shy away from the site while the organization register low returns from investment. Current business practices in addition to fear of how consumer’s personal information is used makes privacy an issue in e-commerce and the entire filed of Information Communication. The business environment today is regularly changing presenting new opportunities for businesses. Digital systems for example allow a business to exercise fast data capture and in large quantities. Essentially, businesses running e-commerce are in a position to collect large amount of data covering personal preferences besides shopping and information search patterns of consumers. The new digital world therefore allows data mining revolving around buying behaviour and other essential trends. The data obtained from mining have been instrumental in improving customer experience during e-commerce, enhancing customer service, and improving customer interaction with the particular e-site. Even though this usage of personal data earns benefits to both the organization and individual, it raises privacy concerns. Fisher (2001) shaded light on organizations that have misused customer’s personal data. This has led to two specific privacy concerns. First is the unauthorised access to personal data due to security laxity or deficient internal control. Secondly is the use of customer’s personal information for company’s selfish gains without notifying the customer of such intention. This is classified as secondary usage of customer information where a company may share customer data with a third party without notifying the consumer. Secondary usage further entails compiling personal data to create a new profile. Other privacy concern was inability of a person to rectify faulty personal information. The use of technologies for surveillance and data capture has the effect of endangering personal information. Clarke (2001) observed that technologies ranging from data trails, data mining and warehousing to biometrics frequently culminates into a scenario where personal information is not used by a single party but by several parties. However, privacy enhancing technologies, often termed PETs, have been introduced to address the issue of surveillance and tracking information. Some companies use company seals while others restrict themselves to labelling protocols to exemplify the fact that they follow privacy practises strictly. Canadian policy response to privacy concerns Privacy in Canada is protected by law. An office has been formed to ensure that laws are followed to the latter. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, OPC, is mandated with this role of ensuring compliance with privacy act. This commission looks into ways in which federal government departments and agencies handles personal information. Canada also developed the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act, PIPEDA, to regulate collection, usage, and disclosure of personal information during any business activity including e-commerce (Geist, 2000). Even though PIPEDA applies to personal information in federal works, undertakings, and businesses, the act guides online businesses on the use of personal data in tracking, profiling and targeting, and cloud computing. The central focus of Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada is to guard infringement of private rights. To achieve this end, OPC has been on the forefront promoting and educating people on privacy rights and obligation. Collaboration with all stakeholders including private institutions, federal agencies, individuals and the general public has been indispensible. By monitoring trends and linking up with global partners to address privacy issue it has yielded substantial success for Canada and its people. Australian policy response to privacy concerns According to Rotenberg (2001), protection of personal information is termed as privacy of personal information or information privacy. Australia has made insurmountable effort in limiting the use of personal and this is evidenced by initial enactment of Privacy Act of 1988. This provision regulated how Federal government agencies collected, stored, used, and disclosed personal information. In December 2001, Privacy Amendment Bill of 2000 became effective and applied to health organizations in addition to businesses whose turnover was under AUS$3 million (Moghe, 2003). The amendment bill laid down ten privacy principles that private organizations were required to comply with. Among these principles are collection, use and disclosure, data security, access and correction, and anonymity. The Spam Act of 2003 came into effect in 2004 and served the purpose of regulating unsolicited commercial electronic messages. The act provided that electronic messages should be sent while paying attention to consent and information accuracy. Shannon (2004) specified that the Spam Act illegalized the supply, purchase, or use of address-harvesting software since this software was used by businesses to send unsolicited messages. All these actions has to a large extent minimised exploitation of customer privacy consequently giving a levelled playing ground. Conclusion This essay began by comparing Australia and Canada then advanced to discuss policy concern in the field of information technology. Privacy issue was identified as a policy concern in information technology and by extension, the field of software engineering. In response to this concern it is apparent that Australia and Canada enacted laws to guide on collection, use, and sharing of personal information. From the study of the two countries, it surfaced that governments have the ultimate aim of ensuring fairness or rather fair play in the business environment. References Clarke, R. (2001). Of Trustworthiness and Pets: What Lawyers Haven't Done for e-Business. Retrieved April, 15 2012, from http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/PacRimCL01.htm l. Fisher, S. (2001). Privacy by Design. InfoWorld, 23 (27): 20-22. Geist, M. (2000). Consumer Protection and Licensing Regimes Review: The Implications of Electronic Commerce. Toronto: Queen’s Printer. Moghe, V., 2003. Privacy management – a new era in the Australian business environment. Information Management & Computer Security, 11(2), 60-66. OECD. (2001). OECD Economic Surveys: Australia 2001. Paris: OECD. Rotenberg, M. (2001). The Privacy Law Sourcebook 2001: United States Law, International Law, and recent developments. Washington. DC: EPIC Publications. Shannon, L. (2004). Public urged to comment on new draft eMarketing Code of Practice. ADMA Press Office, 11 August. Read More