Information Technology Act

The advances in information technology have resulted in new ethical issues necessitating the creation of many important acts. Two in particular acts are Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Children’s Internet Protection Act (2000). Both of these acts were implemented to protect humans from harmful content and healthcare information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) was established in 1996. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services created HIPAA to protect healthcare information from being disclosed such as addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, insurance information, health related information, and any other personal information. Before this privacy act was implemented healthcare providers were not required to protect their patients personal and health information which resulted in identity theft and sharing of patients healthcare records without permission. HIPAA required that all paper charts are kept in a room that has a lock on the door and if the practice uses electronic records they are required to have locks on the computers that require a username and password to log in.

The software that the electronic health records (EHR) are kept on the computer is also required to have a secure log in, in order to access it. Children’s Internet Protection Act was implemented in 2000 to protect children under the age of 18 from pornographic and other harmful material that is in the internet. Schools and libraries that agreed to install the protection would receive a discounted internet, telecommunications, and internal connections services through the E-rate program. In 2011 CIPA, passed an order requiring schools and libraries to monitor the online activities of minors U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2012).

The teachers are required to educate their students on what appropriate online behavior consists of and how to interact with others while online. Educating the minors on what proper online behavior is like is aimed to reduce cyber bullying and inappropriate talk on social networks. The internet can be a dangerous place often children are exposed to adult material whether they meant to or not. Anyone can be at danger while putting things online such as personal information, pictures, credit card numbers, and so on. Technology is continuously enhancing and we cannot change that but we can do our best to prevent things like such from occurring by being aware and cautious. These two acts were implemented to protect people in one way or another from harm.

References

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/summary/index.html Arizona Department of Education. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.azed.gov/educational-technology/e-rate/childrens-internet-protection-act-cipa/