Identity-Based Information Systems

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that modern technology has brought many wonderful innovations to our society, but it has also given rise to some new threats. The writer discusses that we are surrounded by identity-based information systems and dataveillance and argues that identity-based information systems pose serious risks to individual Canadians. While the writer concedes there are some advantages, the key problem is that they have become such an inextricable part of our economy and society that one cannot hope to adequately protect oneself against them - although there are some steps one can take to attempt to protect oneself. The writer argues that although there are some measures for protection in place, more are needed. This paper is written from a personal point of view. The writer also details the specific nature of the material discussed in each source.

From the Paper:

"Other institutions do not set out to use information to search for new customers, but they nevertheless collect information, often for security reasons. An example is that of the CIBC, one of Canada's biggest and most trusted banks. In 2004, the Privacy Commissioner had occasion to sternly criticize CIBC, after it was learned that the bank had been accidentally faxing confidential information to a scrap yard in West Virginia - for three years! At the time, the bank promised to tighten up security, so the Canadian public might have felt that their information is now safe with CIBC. But events of the past week have shown that this is not the case. CIBC announced on the 18th January 2007 that it had lost a file that contains personal details of almost half a million clients - those who held investment accounts with Talvest Mutual Funds, a fund under the management of CIBC Asset Management. This file went missing in December, but CIBC clients were only notified in mid-January - according to CIBC, this ignorance was in their best interests. Yet the misplaced information includes these clients' names, addresses, signatures, dates of birth, bank account numbers and social insurance numbers - more than enough to be used by other people to steal their identity, and then fraudulently enter into financial transactions."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brin, David. (1998). The transparent society: Will technology force us to choose between privacy and freedom? Jackson, TN: Perseus Books.
• CTV News Staff. (4 Jan. 2007). Canada Revenue investigates botched mailout. Retrieved from http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070103/tax_info_mistake_070104/20070104?hub=Canada
• Donohue, L. K. (2006). Anglo-American privacy and surveillance. Journal of criminal law and criminology, 96(3), 1059+.
• Froomkin, A. M. (2000). The death of privacy?. Stanford law review, 52(5), 1461.
• Goss, J. (1995). 'We know who you are and we know where you live': The instrumental rationality of Geodemographic systems. Economic geography, 71(2), 171+.

More papers on Identity-Based Information Systems:

• Term Paper # 131552 : "The Risks of Identity-Based Information Systems"
• Term Paper # 125498 : "Systems Thinking in Information Systems"
• Research Paper # 45554 : "Technology and the Government: The Mark of the New World Order"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: