The privacy of personal information related to the data stored on the computer systems is termed as Information privacy. The information privacy is related to the privacy of personal data that is collected by various organizations for personal use. The private information can be stored in medical records, political records, criminal records, financial data, data on website or any information related to the business which needs to be protected and kept secured. The type of information that can be found is usually social security number, date and place of birth, and the place of domicile just to name of few. The invention of technology has caused many to lose sight of the definition of privacy .
The advancement of technology is causing an increase in vulnerabilities in information privacy which is the reason why most companies had to adapt a code of ethics to protect consumers, employees and the company itself. According to (Ashurst, 2011) “Sensitive data in the right hands is vital, in the wrong hands it can cause offence, destroy reputations and cost businesses”. Thus to protect the personal data, information privacy can be applied in various ways such as encrypting the data, data masking and authentication by which only the people who are legitimate users can have access to the data of the organization with authorized access.
When it comes to information Privacy the focus cannot be kept strictly on businesses, another major key player is Social media. Merriam Webster defines social media as forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and micro blogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content ( such as videos).Social media can impact lives in many ways. It can impact things as public as a business that grosses billions of dollars every year, to something as small as your personal life. It has been known to greatly improve an image or it can tear it apart from the inside out. One of the many ways social media can impact someone is through the information that is shared and how it is being used and also perceived. There are several ethical issues that arise when referencing to Information Privacy. Ethics is the fact that a human is able to distinguish between right or wrong when it pertains to our actions. When referring to Information Privacy computer ethics or information ethics comes to mind; according to (P., 2007)“Computer ethics analyzes moral responsibilities of computer professionals and computer users and ethical issues in public policy for information technology development and use”. Therefore setting a form of guideline that everyone will be able to use not only to protect themselves but also make a decision on what information they want to divulge to different companies or allow those companies to share. Due to the extent to which most employees and the general public have access to sensitive information and to non-sensitive information, a number of societal ethical changes have become mandatory. These changes would include accessing private information for personal gain such as identify theft, reverse engineering software to gain trade secrets and using information technology to cyberbully or cyberstalk individuals, crimes against children. These ethical concerns have led to the development of laws and security measures that are intended to protect people and companies from the vulnerabilities caused by the mass usage of information technology. Because of all the unethical possibilities an individual or a company can do, a code of ethics had to be developed in order to minimize the damage as much as possible.
Companies, just like individuals, are finding multiple ways to protect their information and the information of their clients. Although hacking and other unethical usage of information will never go away because of its profitability, laws and punishments should be put in place to protect everyone. Companies should put their resources together to develop a law that will not only protect themselves but also the consumers. Consumers and the general public should become more educated of the type information that they are providing to different websites and companies in order to minimize their digital footprint. According to (Yardonn, 20125) ” Governments and organizations have to create social norms that make hacking too risky for the hackers, much like they have with attacks in the physical world”.
As technology progresses, Information Privacy and Security will always be an issue and the forefront of every discussion when it comes to dealing with national security. Since a baby is born, he will forever have a digital footprint because all hospitals are digital now. But it will be ultimately up to him how much information he is willing to give to the digital world. In hindsight as a nation we should take the proper steps to ensure that we are protecting ourselves from the different malicious ways that hackers can harm us.

Bibliography
Ashurst, A. (2011). Can you handle all of the information. Nursing & Residential Care.
P., B. (2007). Ethical Aspects of Information Security and Privacy. Security, Privacy and Trust in Modern Data Management , 21-36.
Yardonn, D. (20125, April 19). Retrieved from wsj: http://www.wsj.com/articles/five-simple-steps-to-protect-corporate-data-1429499477