Reference no: EM133944966
Problem
Consider the Pennsylvania contact tracing data breach, in which sensitive surveillance information leaked out to the general public. More specifically, in April of 2021, COVID-19 cases were going down and vaccinations were being administered. Part of the reason for this was a successful contact tracing program. Contact tracing had been instrumental in ensuring that chains of transmission can be controlled sufficiently for COVID-19. Suppose you find out that someone from the State Department of Health leaked 72,000 individuals' private information, including infection status and sexual orientation. What would be your reaction?
From this information, you see that there is a discrepancy between actual policy and what is occurring.
With this news flash information, post a response in which you:
Reevaluate your earlier position, considering: "The ethical conflict between preserving individual identity and protecting public health is intricate. Ethically, I think preservation of the public's health should come first, especially in a state of public health emergency. The common good of minimizing harm to the community whether it's through monitoring infectious disease, preventing epidemics, or planning a vaccine distribution strategy will often involve sharing health data in ways that could otherwise violate individual privacy (Viladrich, 2021). Get the instant assignment help.
That being said, this should be carried out transparently and accountably. Public health professionals should seek to anonymize where possible, aggregate data, and make available only as much data as is absolutely needed for public health reasons. The dangers of not sharing essential information like the transmission of a highly lethal infectious disease generally outweigh the dangers of disclosure. But this must always be balanced against ethical supervision to avoid unjustified harm or exploitation of people's personal data (Ramaswami et al., 2018).
A. If it is more important, from an ethical standpoint, to protect an individual's identity or to protect the community's health.
B. How HIPAA was violated by the public health departments during surveillance activities.
C. How to address the data breach situation.