Discuss why the department needs to infringe on the community’s privacy.

You will need to discuss the fragile balance between the need for public health agencies to acquire data and the demand for security of sensitive information. Review the article Ethics in Public Health Research.

As public health director in a small county, you must maintain records that track diabetes rates, the incidence of HIV, and immunization records. Recently, there have been at least two breaches when computers were stolen from employees or an outside hacker broke into the system and downloaded data.

Now you must write an open letter addressing the community and explain how the department is going to protect the information. In your letter, address the following questions.

1. Explain why the health department collects this information conveying the idea of how it serves the greater good.

2. Discuss the public’s interest in privacy and why this is important in our society.

3. Discuss why the department needs to infringe on the community’s privacy.

4. Explain how the department might ensure greater security.

5. Be sure to identify at least one applicable regulation, statute, or source that supports the ability of the department to collect this information.

Assignment Expectations

1. Limit your response to 3 pages, not including title and reference pages.

2. Be sure to utilize at least 3-4 scholarly references to support your discussions.

3. Be sure to properly cite your references within the text of your assignment and listed at the end.

4. Be sure to apply critical thinking skills to the write-up of your assignment, especially for numbers 1, and 2 above.