6.1 Data Security: Security, Privacy, and Integrity

This section explains the crucial distinctions between data security, privacy, and integrity. Understanding these concepts is fundamental to protecting information in today's digital world.

Security

Security refers to the measures taken to protect data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. It encompasses a wide range of techniques and technologies aimed at ensuring confidentiality, availability, and authentication of data.

Security is about the 'how' – the methods and mechanisms employed to safeguard data.

• Confidentiality: Ensuring that data is accessible only to authorized individuals.
• Integrity: Maintaining the accuracy and completeness of data.
• Availability: Ensuring that authorized users can access data when needed.
• Authentication: Verifying the identity of a user or device.
• Authorization: Defining what actions an authenticated user or device is permitted to perform.
• Non-repudiation: Providing evidence that a particular action was performed by a specific user.

Privacy

Privacy concerns the right of individuals to control how their personal information is collected, used, and shared. It's about individual rights and the ethical considerations surrounding data handling. While security measures contribute to privacy, privacy is a broader concept encompassing legal, ethical, and social aspects.

Privacy is about the 'who' – the individual's rights concerning their data.

Privacy regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, aim to protect individuals' privacy rights.

Integrity

Integrity specifically refers to the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of data over its entire lifecycle. It ensures that data has not been altered or corrupted in an unauthorized manner. Maintaining data integrity is a key objective of security measures.

Integrity is about the 'what' – the state of the data itself.

Concept	Description	Focus
Security	Measures to protect data from unauthorized access and harm.	Methods and technologies
Privacy	Individual's right to control their personal information.	Individual rights and ethical considerations
Integrity	Accuracy, completeness, and consistency of data.	State of the data

While distinct, security, privacy, and integrity are interconnected. Strong security measures are essential for maintaining data integrity and supporting privacy.

Example

Consider a medical record system. Security measures might include encryption, access controls, and firewalls. Privacy concerns ensure that only authorized healthcare professionals can access a patient's record, and that this information is not disclosed to unauthorized parties. Integrity ensures that the patient's medical history is recorded accurately and has not been tampered with.