IT Managers, Data Access and Privacy Research Paper

IT Managers, Data Access and Privacy - Research Paper Example Formally speaking, â€Å"protection of  data  from unauthorized (accidental or intentional) modification, destruction, or disclosure† is the definition.† (Its, 2012) as quoted at the Institute of Telecommunication Science Colorado. Data is everywhere around man. Present in different forms, it becomes of utmost importance when it holds value as information. The data pertinent to an organization needs to be kept from any alterations or maltreatment so as to prevent it from being damaged or being misused by unauthorized personnel. Thus the security that needs to be associated with all forms of data is referred to as data security. Privacy â€Å"Freedom from unauthorized intrusion† (Merriam-webmaster, 2012) is the formal way privacy may be explained. It may well be used interchangeably with data security as data also needs to be kept private in order to be secured. It is this Privacy that keeps the level of data and knowledge management at distinct levels within a n organization. The discussion further proceeds with how data security and privacy issues are catered with the IT managers and Project Managers respectively. Bottom of Form IT MANAGERS VERSUS PROJECT MANAGERS: Project managers as compared to IT managers bear limited responsibility. The main role of project managers is to manage and handover a working project to a company, Afterwards the IT managers take over the running and overall execution of that project. Both the managers can be compared in terms of employee volume as project managers maintain and manage a very limited crew throughout their task whereas IT managers manage and fulfill the IT needs of whole organization. The main activities performed through the information system of an organization are always monitored and tested under IT managers. The requirements of business process re-engineering are initiated by the IT management and it always seeks a better IT system for an organization. Project managers on the other hand te nd to reduce the workload by keeping the new requirements from springing up. IT managers are responsible for chipping in and processing the data of whole organization. This role demands imposition of certain ethical obligations regarding data sharing and security. The issue of data security is related to both i.e. organizational data (internal data, like personal data of employee etc.) and business data (external data like trade volumes and bidding details etc.). IT managers are responsible for safeguarding internal and external data. Regarding personal data of employee various hazards can easily be anticipated in case of any mishandling of data. For example all or few of the employee information like, employee history, increments, promotion evaluations, compensation offered by the company, previous employment record, salary amount, social security number and account information if leaked out, can not only be misused against that employee, but would also create a significantly negat ive impact on the whole organization. The usage and sharing of such information must be done under tightest scrutiny. The system designed for the purpose may be highly secure but the usage and sharing of data highly depends on the authorized IT personnel. There may be Standard Operating Procedures for data management and security but what if those rules are not properly enforced or followed.