Some of the most crucial concepts in understanding the opportunities and challenges of information systems technology include data security, anonymity, and privacy. While security, anonymity, and privacy are often said with the same breadth, they do not imply the same thing. Furthermore, depending on the needs of an organization and an individual, they can prioritize one over the other. This brief paper explores contemporary information systems technology and the internet and how they pose challenges to protecting individual privacy and intellectual property. It discusses the difference between anonymity, privacy, and the ethical issues of increased anonymity. Similarly, the paper distinguishes between cloud computing, green computing, and quantum computing and further describes the services that comprise I.T infrastructure beyond physical devices and software applications. Beyond that, it explores the issues underlying the failure in the case study: How Reliable Is Big Data?

Contemporary Information Systems Technology and the Internet and the Challenge to Individual Privacy and Intellectual Property

Information communication, technology, and the internet have significantly grown, and recent developments pose significant challenges to individuals’ privacy and intellectual property. According to Laudon and Laudon (2019), the digital appearance conveys much more data on individuals, including the most intricate elements of their lives. When an organization gets access to personal data, it is not just the privacy, but the individuals losing control over their information too. Privacy laws anticipate that personal data are stored and processed accurately and safeguarded against unlawful and unauthorized processing, damage, destruction, theft, or loss. On the other hand, intellectual property laws allow creative owners to exercise their monopoly on intellectual property rights. These comprise a series of exclusive rights that exclude others from making, replicating, or using particular intangible creations for a set timeline.

Modern data storage and analysis allow organizations and individuals different ways to collect personal information from various sources and analyze it to create a comprehensive electronic profile of individuals and their behaviors. It is common to find websites and online systems that require personal data to access information and services. These sites normally store cookies, save this personal information, and later use them for different purposes (Mai, 2016). While cookies and other web monitoring functionalities closely track the activities of website visitors, there have been cases of information mishandling. Data that flows through these the internet can be monitored at different points.

In most cases, this information is not encrypted and can be accessed by anyone. Similarly, it follows that not all websites have strong privacy protection policies, and they barely allow for informed consent concerning the use of personal data. Traditional copyright regulations are limited to protecting against software pryany as digital material can be replicated easily and shared across different locations simultaneously over the web.

Anonymity and Privacy

One of the distinct features of the internet is its ability to make individuals express themselves anonymously through made-up usernames. At the same time, some people argue that anonymity is meant to ensure their privacy. Studies have developed reports to separate the two. Khalilov and Levi (2018) noted that anonymity and privacy do not mean the same thing; while the two are often used concurrently and can be censused, it is important to tell one from the other. Anonymity is described as keeping one’s identity private but not actions. For example, individuals have often used pseudo-accounts to express their opinions on social media platforms. Anonymity is hiding or concealing an individual identity, not one’s actions. Individuals can be anonymous physically by covering their faces and fingerprints. In the digital world, they can maintain anonymity by preventing online entities from collecting or storing the information that can be used in identifying them. Both anonymity and privacy should be individual rights. This is particularly due to the significance of anonymity in the freedom of speech and in the case of whistleblowers. Anonymity is necessary to safeguard individuals in cases where their opinions can jeopardize their privacy or work. Nonetheless, anonymity often overlaps with privacy and allows an individual to browse the internet without fearing anyone tracking their logs.

On the other hand, privacy can be described as keeping things to oneself, including an individual’s actions. For example, an individual can message their friend privately on social media, so they know who is engaging,