Dirty laundry: privacy issues for IT professionals

Individual online privacy, already a hot button in the political landscape, is no less important for IT professionals. In 1999, the authors distributed a survey to 500 data workers in the healthcare and financial fields. The results of the study suggest that privacy concerns are not confined to consumers, but the employees who access and collect the data are concerned as well. The survey posed 15 questions regarding the responders' attitudes about the organizational practices at their organization. The data collected from the survey reveals that healthcare workers are concerned about organizational practices causing errors in patient information, as well as unsanctioned use of patient information. Similarly, the survey research indicates that employees of financial institutions are concerned with organizational practices that allow improper access to customer information. Given the results in these two fields, IT workers and managers in all fields must be prepared to deal with this issue, for it is likely to confront them soon.