Reference no: EM133577217

Assignment:

Public health databases and surveillance are essential for understanding current trends of disease prevalence and to develop relevant and effective public health interventions. Many datasets are conveniently available electronically. However, in recent years there has been a rising concern about the security and logistics of collecting and storing demographic information. According to Novick et all "Government agencies are creatures of statute or of constitutions that were written before the electronic age. Therefore, the present laws lack guidance for establishing a uniform public policy regarding the ownership of intangible information assets" (Novick, L. F., Morrow, C.B., & Mays, G. P., 2008).

Every US citizen has rightful access to public records and a number of legal notions had tried to create a delicate balance between an individual's privacy and public's right to know. What measures are taken to establish this balance? As a decision maker's seat, what improvements would you take to protect individual's privacy yet collect and disseminate data that is essential to public health?

References:

Novick, L. F., Morrow, C.B., & Mays, G. P. (2008). Public health administration: Principles for population-based management (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.