Personal and Private Data Security Issues in Professional and Technical Writing

As a professional and technical writer who is also a student of the field of writing, my career takes me to reporting and writing about not just events, things, and places, but people. Many professional and technical writers enter the writing and reporting fields of journalism, data compilation, and research writing. These are prime areas for personal security breaches because professional and technical writers are often entrusted with personal - even confidential - data.

Think of it this way: for every news story, statistic, and research study, there is information that can be linked to specific individuals. As news writers, there are stories which cover crime victims, suspects which have not been formally charged with a crime, and juveniles - all of whom should be protected from having their names exposed to public scrutiny, spotlight, and even infamy. Yet, with the digital era in full swing, personal information which can be linked to rape victims, suspected individuals who have not even had their first appearance in court, and juveniles who are involved with both sides of the law are at risk of having their identities revealed to the public through unsecured fax transmissions or emails between news editors and news writers that have been intercepted by hackers and crackers.

My Security Goals and Concerns as a Writer

As a writer, I take the risk everyday that any documents containing personal information (either my own or that of somebody else) will be picked up by an unscrupulous individual waiting to intercept the transmission, harvest data, and either release it to the public or use it for his or her own personal gain (monetary or otherwise). Another issue professional writers face every day in their career is the issue of having news stories leaked to the public before the intended releases date. This is often the case when editors, writers, and other collaborators on a project are building a headlining story for release in a publication and must use email to communicate elements and facts for a story.

Though firewalls can protect communication within a closed network of computers, attacks can still infiltrate, and hackers still have the ability to breach the communications. When this happens, the hacker has at his or her disposal enough "inside" information to bring to the public (either via a blog, hint to the news media, or otherwise) taking the commercial punch away from the publication waiting to release the story they were working hard to complete.

Important it is to mention, too, that when such information breaches occur, the risk of there being fallacious information reported by the hacker is possible, especially if the emails were retrieved before all facts could be verified and other vetted information could be obtained prior to the intended release of the story.

Of course, though, one of the major areas of weakness when facing the issue of privacy in writing is with fax transmissions. While email comprises the bulk of day-to-day transactions now, fax machines still transmit a large number of documents, particularly those which cannot be or have not been scanned into a computer system. Many of these documents include legal forms, personal financial information (such as those of the writer's project, if the subject involves people), and other sensitive records, including health, employment, civil, traffic, criminal, and personal (such as ancestry and character assessment).Résumés are another area where I, as a writer, must be careful.

Never Feel "Comfortable," Even When You Think Information is Secure

My services as a professional writer potentially include writing résumés for other people. Compiling résumés for others means having stores of personal information in my database, and sharing this with potential employers (if I offer a résumé data-sharing service as well) means leaving the data exposed to both authorized and unauthorized eyes; firewall breaches by hackers and crackers leaves the personal information of others exposed to malicious eyes (Sukiennik, et al. 267)

As a writer, the risk of security breaches puts me in a very difficult spot. I pledge to use ethics in my writing, especially when I must use my skills to handle any communication involving people and property. While many "private" records are actually (and legally) "public," I still have a sense of duty to protect people from having any of their data released to other, uninvolved parties. Take, for example, the issue of social security numbers. Social security numbers can be obtained by anyone online (Krim). Does that mean I no longer have the duty to conceal another person's social security numbers when they are in my files? I am in a position where I, as a writer, may have to prepare documents which are drafted based on information I retrieve from other sources.

However, if I were to ever claim that any and all information in my possession is "confidential," then the risk of a security breach then puts my "public" information (social security numbers) into a "private" classification. Should my computer files ever be intercepted by a hacker, I then find myself in the position of being potentially liable for any losses or damages the person suffers.

Of course, that is the big conundrum of being a writer in the digital era - the computer has greatly opened up my career possibilities, yet the very devices which have made my job much easier have also allowed personal and/or private information (once available only by personal inquiry at a court house, police department, bank, or credit reporting bureau) to be freely transmitted on the internet, allowing both harmless and malicious eyes to peer at and harvest whatever information they care. Obvious concerns include identity theft and bank account tampering.

I therefore being to wonder what tools are available in my field for protecting private and personal information I have to use and file away and realize that, beyond firewalls, I do have a few options. Using anti-viral and anti-spyware software is one of my primary means of self-defense against hackers, crackers, and cybercriminals (Britt). Does the use of any such software mean that the data I may keep within my files is safe? Perhaps, though I ensure best protection with continual system and software updates which will make my data impregnable.

Yet, for every possible anti-virus protection program, firewall, and attempt to avoid downloading pernicious material to my computer, the truth remains that my computer and the data within is always at some risk of being infiltrated. This chilling fact illustrates exactly the major pitfall of open-information, open-access philosophy of the digital era.

In Conclusion

As much as we as a society have benefited from having information at our fingertips, we have also put ourselves at a great disadvantage because virtually everyone who is "in the system" is now at risk of having their information used for purposes which could destroy their lives if certain data gets into the wrong hands. Clearly, I as professional and technical writer need to be up-to-date in any privacy protection software applications which become available for use in my field.

Works Cited

Britt, Phillip. Information Today, Inc. "Protecting Private Information." Vol. 22 No. 5 May 2005. November 1, 2009. http://www.infotoday.com/IT/may05/britt.shtml

Krim, Jonathan. The Washington Post. "A Matter of Public Record." May 25, 2005. November 1, 2009. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/24/AR2005052401347.html

Sukiennik, Diane, William Bendat, & Lisa Raufman. The Career Fitness Program: Exercising Your Options 8th Ed. Pearson: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.