Poblic Policy: Privacy the Matter

Poblic Policy: Privacy

The matter of privacy as respected or disrespected by the national authorities has been a matter of debate for years now. While there are those who argue that governmental privacy no longer exists, most evidence turn towards the direction of the existence of privacy. But even as this is generally assimilated by the population, some issues are still raised. Some of the most relevant ones refer to the government's use of the information they collect or privacy violations due to improper surveillance from the government.

The government generally has the ability to collect private information and the reasons they forward for this revolve around the safety and well being of both individual and community. First of all, they use the data to supply the members of society with medical services. Then, they also use it to collect the taxes, which in the end return in the community and support the societal development. Finally, it helps the officials to identify crimes, better enforce laws and regulations and increase the safety of the society (Privacilla, 2003). In all, the matter of collection and usage of the data has a positive outcome for the society. In terms of governments, they are better able to control and supervise the actions and operations of individuals and organizations, identify and more easily apprehend criminals. The business communities have often seemed reluctant to collaborating with the government and offering private data on their employees and/or clients. Foremost, they only comply with the requirements when presented with a court order (CBC News, 2007). They often dislike the idea of offering private data to the government as they feel this reduces the trust their employees and clients have in them, which could materialize in their loss, all to culminate with business problems. The stakeholders are also influenced by how the government collects and uses the information. The IRS for instance could receive information on frauds from the government and could as such better conduct their investigations. Then, the DMV could collaborate with the government and reach mutually beneficial outcomes; however the DMV is not "owned or affiliated with any government agency" (Official Website of DMV, 2008).

The second issue is a more stringent one as it comes to threaten the security of government privacy over the personal information of the population. This does not mean that the government is willingly misusing the information, but that, due to numerous forces, the data collected could end up in the wrong hands and hurt the American individual and community. This is often possible due to the complexity of the it system storing the data base, but also the rich imagination of internet pirates (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2007). The matters of privacy violation have become a highly debated issue, with multiple implications. To the society, it could mean even chaos, when considering that the private data fall into the hands of thieves who use it to steal, blackmail and control the members of society. Then, was such a situation to occur, the image and good intentions of the government would be severely affected. The business community would also take a major hit if its transactions and internal affairs became public or entered in the possession of a mal-intended individual. Similar to the government, other stakeholders such as the IRS, the DMV or T-mobile would also lose the trust of their customers and financial results, as well as operational outcomes, would significantly decrease.