Reference no: EM133340626

Question: An example of an unethical use of data collected would be to sell it, unbeknownst to the provider, to collection agencies who would not use the data for the purpose it was collected for. We have seen this when a person subscribes to a vendor's email advertisements or when a person enters a drawing using their email for a prize that is sponsored by a company for marketing purposes. We'll start receiving correspondence from vendors that we've never heard of because our information has been sold. An ethical example would be medical data. With our medical industry becoming increasingly more digital, often patients who utilize a patient portal run by a medical provider are given the option to share the statistics of their medical data for the potential use of advancement or to help the industry provide better care.

I feel that we have an obligation to be aware of the potential for harmful use of our data (collected in any manner) and to be very protective of it. The more diligent we are, the harder it will be for someone to use our data for nefarious purposes.

I feel that a user should weight the pros and cons of a company potentially using their data for the sake of convenience. While I may not feel that letting Apple products track my activity across my apps will provide anymore convenience to my experience, others may disagree. However, regardless of the pros and/cons for one person compared to the next, I do feel that everyone should hold the data collectors to a high standard of ethical responsibility. Just because consent is given to collect data, that doesn't automatically mean that they are able to share it with whomever they choose.