During the course of ethics, I had to work on applying ethical dilemmas to different situations. Below you find my final paper discussing Blackbaud’s data breach, class action cases coming their way, and evaluation ethically.
The Ethical Debate of Blackbaud’s 2020 Data Breach
Introduction
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of confidentiality? Secrecy? Confidence? Trust? Mistrust? It really comes down to what experience a person has had with the subject matter as to what their perception may be. According to Dictionary of Ethical and Legal Terms and Issues: The Essential Guide for Mental Health Professionals, Confidentiality can be defined as “the requirement, with some exceptions that practitioners would not reveal to others the content of information communicated by the client…” Confidentiality can come in several forms, from practitioner-client privileged communication, the duty to warn, and the responsibility to protect. The latter has exceptions, such as mandatory reporting laws, physical and sexual abuse, and exploitation or neglect. Many professions would have strict guidelines on how and when confidentiality must be upheld and procedures necessary if one of the previously mentioned exceptions were to apply to a situation (Sperry, 2006).
In this day and age, when technology not only surrounds us but is also integrated into most of our day-to-day activities, confidentiality is more important than ever. We always have to stop and consider questions like, should I enter my credit card information on this website? What permissions is this app really asking for? Why are they asking for my social security number? More often than not, we shrug our shoulders and give consent or submit our information to whatever source is requesting it and we move on. However, what happens when there is a breach of confidentiality? What do we do when our trust is violated, and the domino effect of such a violation is felt for years to come? We like to think laws like HIPAA and HI-TECH protect our information, but what happens when the system fails? Who should be held responsible and made to pay the price? We cannot sacrifice our security and peace of mind because technology is at the forefront of our existence. Confidentiality is more important than ever before, and the penalty for breaking this ethical code should decide with that importance in mind.
The complete paper can be downloaded and read here….
At the end of the course we had to work on a training video about your ethical situation. You can find mine linked below
