Posted: February 20th, 2023
Legal and Ethical Recommendations Brief
Legal and Ethical Recommendations Brief
Instructions
Data security and data privacy protection are key aspects of the cybersecurity domain. To address the concerns of data security and privacy, a practitioner must account for a number of competing drivers, including regulatory compliance, operational impact, cost, as well as customer and employee satisfaction.
As a practitioner, you will be called upon to identify requirements and make recommendations for technology-, policy, and workforce-related approaches to ensure that appropriate measures are in place to adequately secure data and protect individual privacy in a constantly changing threat environment. In this project, you will recommend an approach to address the legal and ethical aspects of a security-relevant business decision.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course competency:
· Make recommendations regarding legal and ethical issues in cybersecurity appropriate for the organizational environment
Scenario
Fit-vantage Technologies is a quickly growing competitor in the personal fitness-tracking industry. As the companygets closer to launching its newest device, the Flame watch, the Fit-vantage executives have been approached byHelios Health Insurance Inc. to form a partnership. This partnership proposes a program allowing Helios subscribersto purchase a Fit-vantage Flame at a discount in exchange for access to the anonymous data collected fromparticipating customers.
An internal stakeholder board has been formed to determine whether the partnership is in the best interest of Fit-vantage. Discussions at the stakeholder meetings have raised the following questions for consideration:
What are the concerns around the privacy of customer data, including the data of Helios subscribers and Flame owners who are not part of the Helios program?
As health insurance companies are considered covered entities under HIPAA, what new legal compliance requirements does this partnership require?
How profitable will this partnership be? What is the likely effect on the company’s value to stockholders?
What effects will this partnership have on the current customer base?
How would this partnership align with Fit-vantage’s mission and core values?
In this scenario, you will assume the role of an executive-level security consultant with the primary responsibility ofadvising senior management in cybersecurity matters. Since you are a member of the internal stakeholder board forthe proposed partnership, your input is essential. A customer survey and financial outlook have been prepared to helpinform your recommendations.
To complete this project, review the following documents, which have been provided by your instructor:
(attachment below)
Fit-vantage company profile, which contains the mission statement, core values, and draft of the Fit-vantage privacy statement
Financial outlook based on the Helios partnership
Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule
This scenario places you back in the role of an executive-level security consultant for the organization. The scenario will provide you additional details surrounding the organization’s decisions on the proposal you addressed in Project One.
To complete this task, you will prepare a legal and ethical recommendation brief for the internal stakeholder board in order to identify an approach to meeting the privacy protection, data security, and ethical needs of the scenario.
Write a brief memorandum to the internal leadership board outlining your recommendations for meeting the needs of the scenario.
Be sure to address the critical elements listed below.
Recommend an approach to protecting data privacy. Support your recommendation with evidence from applicable laws or the corporate mission and values.
Recommend an approach to ensuring data security. Support your recommendation with evidence from applicable laws or the corporate mission and values.
Describe how ethical considerations about data use influenced your recommendations for security-enhancing safeguards.
Guidelines for Submission: Your submission should be 1 to 3 pages in length and should use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style.
Legal and Ethical Recommendations Brief
With the rapid increase in cyber threats and adversaries’ information security is a priority for many organizations today. Fit-vantage Technologies and Helios Insurance have gone into partnership. The two companies rely on information to function fully. Both companies should uphold and adhere to proper procedural protocols while handling the client’s report for the partnership to succeed. Legal and ethical considerations need to be considered to prevent the companies from landing a lawsuit. Clients’ data privacy and security are imperative in any organization (Haqaf, 2018). A breach of confidentiality and security can result in legal fines, reputational damage, and a consequential loss of clientele. Thus, ethical guidelines when handling information needs to be followed to prevent any room for privacy and data breach that could cause detrimental effects to both the company and clientele. Since the partnership will be essential for information dissemination from one party to the next, some necessary rules and standards must be set and followed to protect data privacy and overall security.
Following the successful partnership between Fit-Vantage. There are several approaches that the Fit-Vantage company can adopt to prevent privacy breaches while upholding the partnership. Customers’ health information has legal compliance specifics that should be adhered to. Data privacy compliance with HIPPA standards is imperative. HIPPA standards mandate that personally identifiable information should not be disclosed to a third party without the individual’s consent. Notably, the standard rules state the stipulated scope agreed by both the company and the client regarding the use of the data(Moore, 2019). Therefore, before sharing the information with Helios, the first approach is to ask the customers if they are willing to share their data with their partner Helios through the opt-in and opt-out policy. Customers should freely opt out of the arrangement if they feel uncomfortable with sharing their data.
The customer will be notified by sending a well-defined and written manner containing the agreement outlining the speciation of the intended use of their personal information. This supports the company’s mission and core values to comply and gain clients verification. For the clients in agreement, the data shared with Helios must be stripped of all personal identifiers. The information will not be traced back to any clients and will breach their privacy. While doing so, we must adhere to the HIPPA rules regarding information transfer which mandate data backup plans, security awareness and training, network security, and data security management (Moore, 2019). Secondly, incorporating a solid cyber security infrastructure protects the information collected.
The company’s previous working infrastructure will undergo necessary upgrades to improve data security management to suit the nature of data transmission. This includes data backups, encryption, and an updated encryption system, especially for data in transit between Fit -vantage and Helios. In my opinion, I suggest that all data transferred to Helios remain anonymous to strengthen its privacy. It would damage our company’s reputation if the data from the customers leaked out. Furthermore, it will be unethical for the company, thus the importance of securing the data and adhering to the proper procedural practices to secure the valuable information. It is the role of Fit-vantage to uphold its mission by ensuring the wellbeing and health of every customer is secured for them to enjoy the best experience possible.
References
Haqaf, H., & Koyuncu, M. (2018). Understanding key skills for information security managers. International Journal of Information Management, 43, 165-172.
Moore, W., & Frye, S. (2019). Review of HIPAA, Part 1: history, protected health information, and privacy and security rules. Journal of nuclear medicine technology, 47(4), 269-272.