School of Information Systems

Ethics, Privacy, and Information Security

18 Oct 2023

The technology that is currently developing indeed has its positive and negative sides. With the development of technology, we can easily access many things. However, the negative side is the frequent occurrence of digital crime (cybercrime), which can harm many parties. According to Aldo.D, pengantar teknologi informasi (2020) cybercrime is a crime caused by using internet technology. These crimes are usually used to achieve illegal things such as fraud, trafficking in pornographic content, identity theft, and invasion of privacy. According to cermati.com (2022), there are six types of harmful cybercrime. 

1. Identity Theft 

Identity Theft is a cybercrime that often occurs. This crime takes the form of stealing someone’s identity and will misuse that person’s identity. The identities commonly used in this crime are names, telephone numbers, identification numbers, and even credit card numbers that can be used to take out loans and insurance claims. Crimes like this often occur because of our negligence as users of information technology in maintaining the confidentiality of personal data. 

 2. Phishing 

Phishing is a cybercrime in the form of fraud by tricking the victim. Usually, these crimes are committed via personal social media, email, and even telephone. The perpetrators will also send fake links to victims. After the victim receives the link, the victim will be asked to fill in personal data starting from email, password, pin, and OTP, which can finally be seen by the perpetrator and misused for purposes such as paying bills. Crimes like this can be avoided by not answering or responding to communications made by strangers. We can download applications to get contacts to see numbers and keep us safe as technology users. 

 3.Ransomware  

Ransomware is a type of cybercrime that can infect computers but also hold user data hosting. Usually, the perpetrators will ask for ransom with threats to delete and even corrupt the data so it can no longer be used. 

4. Cyberstalking 

Cyberstalking is a cybercrime usually used to harass its victims through computer or internet devices. This crime is in the form of “terror” to someone by sending photos and harassing words. This crime usually occurs because the victim distributes personal photos/data on social media, and the perpetrator can commit non-verbal sexual violence. 

 5. Cybersquatting and typosquatting 

Cybersquatting is a cybercrime that a company usually experiences. This crime is committed by registering the company name’s domain address to another party, then selling it to another party at a higher price. In contrast, typosquatting is the crime of making a company name like someone else’s company (plagiarism). 

 6. Cyberterrorism 

This type of cybercrime takes the form of threatening a party, such as the government or citizens. For example, this crime occurred in Indonesia around January – September 2022. According to Tempo.com (2022), this hacker named Bjorka broke in 7 times in 9 months. It has forced the Indonesian government to do many things, such as tracing the whereabouts of miscreants, backing up data, and tightening the security of people’s data. 

Of the six cybercrimes above, we, as technology users, need to protect our data. All can be maintained by holding principles and one individual choice to make decisions that guide individual behavior, commonly referred to as ethics. Three basic ethical principles can be applied. The first is a responsibility, meaning we are ready to accept the consequences of every action we take. Second is accountability, meaning everyone must understand who is responsible for the actions taken. Third, liability means that everyone must be able to recover losses done to him through other people, such as reporting to the obligatory party. Ethical issues can also involve IT applications, namely:  

1.Privacy Issues 

These Privacy Issues usually involve data from individuals, such as names, addresses, storage, and data collection on IT applications. 

2.Accuracy Issues 

This accuracy problem usually refers to the authenticity and accuracy of the information collected and processed in IT applications. 

3.Property Issues 

The property issue is a matter of ownership and the value of the information provided. Original information is one of the ethics in IT applications. 

4.Accessibility Issues 

Accessibility issues usually ensure access to information and whether they must pay to access it. 

In addition to maintaining ethics, we technology users must protect our privacy. Privacy is the right to determine when and to what extent our personal information can be given to others. According to kominfo.go.id, several things make personal data necessary to protect.

1.Personal data concerns the protection and privacy rights that must be protected listed therein

– Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) 

– UU Nomor 12 Tahun 2005 about legalization International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 

The court decision has also followed two rules regarding the right to privacy: 

  1. The right to privacy is not absolute. Individual privacy must be balanced against the needs of society.  
  2. The public’s right to know is higher than the individual’s right.

2. Data is a high-value asset or commodity in the era of big data and the digital economy

– AI data-based applications are predicted to contribute US$13 trillion to the global economy in 2003 (McKinsey,2018).

3. Violations of privacy and misuse of personal data are increasingly common.

– Activity example: digital file direct sales location-based ordering. 

– Activity case: Cambridge Analytica (2018).

4. The public is not fully aware of the importance of protecting personal data

– Total of internet users in Indonesia continues to increase. But not all of them are aware of the importance of personal data protection 

– More than 30% of Indonesian internet users are unaware that data can be retrieved (APJII.2017).  

Individuals and organizations must also maintain information security for their customers and employees. There are two models where the company maintains the code and privacy policy. Opt–out model: Consent from the customer to allow the company to collect personal information until the customer specifically requests that the company not collect the data. Opt–in the model: Organizations are not permitted to collect data or information unless the customer expressly permits the organization to collect such information. 

Apart from individuals and organizations who must maintain ethics and privacy, of course, many parties also must improve information security. Security is protection against criminal activity, damage, and even loss. Meanwhile, information security refers to processes and policies to protect information from user access, interference, or unauthorized destruction.  

There are many threats to information resources that are harmful and can result in loss and damage if they interfere with those resources. However, these threats can occur intentionally or unintentionally. Unintentional threats are usually the result of human error and social engineering. Meanwhile, intentional threats are caused by espionage or Trespass and Information Extortion.  

 

Reference 

Devina Anandhita Hantara