Whose Responsibility Is It To Safe Guard Against Identity Theft

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Ethics is based on the principle of right and wrong that individuals, acting as free moral agents, use choices to guide their behaviors (Laudon & Laudon, 2014). In this age of information technology, companies, locally and globally, are faced with the challenge to not only maintain their share of the market, making profits and keeping abreast with the changing technology, but to safe guard and secure customers, employees and patients information from being stolen. Technology has redefined how people function in today’s society. We are required to adapt to new knowledge that is consistently evolving in order to live and do business in this changing world. Prior to the 1990’s, in order to transact business, one had to physically go to the …show more content…

As individuals, we entrust business entities we share our information with that these entities are acting in our best interest. Businesses today have not only a legal responsibility, but an ethical responsibility to its customers to ensure personal information is kept safe and secured and that their customers does not become a victim if Identify …show more content…

In particular, medical identity theft. With most medical facilities going digital, and as previously mentioned, patients entrust their personal information to these medical personnel, after being assured under The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 1996 (HIPAA). It is therefore the responsibility of medical practitioners to ensure they safe guard their patients’ medical records and other personal information, so patients don’t become a victim of Identity theft. However, the reality is not everyone exercises due diligence in the medical industry. Employees are careless with medical records. Information Systems are not secured and doctors, as well as their employees, are not as ethical as they could be. In fact, employees of a facility or even doctors, are at times involve in organized crime rings or corrupt billing services. For Example, Richard Skodnek, a Boston Psychiatrist, was convicted of fraud after falsely billing insurance companies for treatment sessions involving false diagnosis, treatment sessions, and medical histories. He diagnosed one victim’s children, whom he had never seen, and then billed the insurance company for his services (Lafferty,

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