Database privacy and Legal Issues :: essays research papers

Database privacy and legal issues Data privacy law regulates data management, and information systems manage data. Therefore, data privacy assurance must consider system assurance. An IT department should streamline its functions with the industry standards and privacy regulations in order to avoid any disruption. In order to achieve those objectives, the IT department should assess the risks, design a strategic plan to achieve privacy compliance, implement required policies and procedures, and monitor and audit the procedures to ensure privacy compliance. Gavison, in his article "Privacy and the Limits of the Law", describes privacy in terms of controlling access to our physical person, and to our information. In one phrase, it is the "protection from being brought to the attention of others" struck us as particularly relevant to the census problem (1995). In his article "creating the Privacy Compliant Organization", Parker mentions that there are other forms of privacy to consider, includes: privacy of persons, privacy of personal behavior, privacy of personal communications, privacy of personal information, and privacy of territory (2001). Risk Assessment An IT department should identify and document the information systems that are subject to privacy requirements includes computer files, databases, archives, microfilm, personal records and copies wherever located. Moreover, it should perform a risk assessment and gap analysis of controls and procedures that are in place. The gap analysis will reveal the deficiencies between the current status and the legislative requirements and regulations under which the organization must operate. Additionally, the risk assessment must be applied to the likely risks that an organization may experience from a breach in privacy which include damage to the corporate reputation, damage to business credibility, financial loss, negative publicity, and fines and criminal records for employees. The result of this phase will be the basis for developing a strategic personal information privacy plan (Parker, 2001). Design a Strategic Plan Designing a privacy plan involves planning, and implementing a set of direction, methodology, and tools to address number of issues in order to achieve privacy compliant, which includes: †¢ Establishing the required infrastructure, including the required positions and appointing key privacy personnel. †¢ Establish the methodologies, which include team members, deliverables, activities, critical path, resources, skills, timelines and approaches to addressing the privacy gaps †¢ Introduce the privacy policies, standards, guidelines and procedures required to meet compliance requirements. †¢ Identify the changes required in the systems, procedures, forms, etc. †¢ Formulate the changes required to address the gaps, and †¢ Train the individuals to ensure that they fully understand the requirements of the legislation and the organization's objectives and deliverables to be created (Parker, 2001).

Buddhism vs. Hinduism

Both Buddhism and Hinduism are widely practiced religions of the world. No one is completely certain of where Hinduism was started and by whom it was led. However, today Hinduism is the third largest religion of the world. And with the passage of time many changes and alterations have been made in this religion. Most importantly, Hinduism includes many different beliefs and dominations that have arisen. Even though there are many common things exist in different Hinduism sects and their beliefs are tied to some extents.The â€Å"Vedas† is considered the oldest written document of Hinduism and it was being written in 1000 B. C but had existed orally long before. On the other hand, Buddhism is a transformed version of Hinduism. Buddhism was founded by Gautama the Buddha. Buddhism is known for its Middle Path that which neither promotes extreme asceticism nor absolute hedonism yet still leads to nirvana. In addition, the Buddha promoted the 8 fold path, that of right thinking, ri ght effort, right speech, right of understanding, right of livelihood, right of concentration and right of mindfulness.Though the Buddhism or the middle path discouraged the concept of and external God waiting to mete honour or punishment, besides, it strongly believed in the cycle of reincarnation finishing which a seeker could achieve nirvana, the ultimate enlightenment. Both Hinduism and Buddhism arose in South Asia, and thus stem from a similar culture and philosophy. Difference between Buddhism and Hinduism Buddhism believes in soul and matter and there is no place for God, besides this Hinduism considers God as the creator of the universe.In contrast, Buddhism denies the Vedas authority and dislikes animal sacrifice, while Hinduism believes in the authority of Vedas and attaches special significance to the Vedic rituals. â€Å"Buddhism does not believe in the superiority of the Brahmans or any caste distinctions, while Hinduism puts emphasis on the caste system and considers the same bed rock of the whole social system. Buddhism is missionary religion which aims at converting entire mankind to the doctrines of Buddha; while Hinduism never seeks converts and it has no definite organization like the Buddhist sangha.A personal element is introduced by Buddhism in the form of Buddha as the saviours, while there are no such personal elements in Hinduism†. (Nerox, pg, 1) On matters of social structure Hinduism and Buddhism differ greatly. The two religions also distinguish because Buddhism emphasizes and Hinduism omits individual freedom to progress socially and spiritually in the current life. In comparing the two religions, one can easily find why it is that Hinduism has showed the more stable and Buddhism the more humanitarian philosophy.The caste system is the outstanding instance of Hinduism's establishment tendencies. If casting among Hindus sects they can be divided into four major classes, Shudra, Brahman, Vaishya and Kshatriya, or people outsid e of all the classes. However members belong to different castes have different duties. In Hinduism usually the Caste is determined by birth, and it does not allowing individual freedom, social advancement and career choice. Moreover, the castes are socially ranked, forming an upper as well as lower social division.Caste, then, determines one's potential education, one's profession, one's social position, even defining these limitations for your children. These social restrictions are reinforced by the idea that caste is determined by sins or virtues in a previous life: how well one satisfied his dharma in the past. In addition, the responsibilities of one's current caste also constitute the dharma which will further punish or advance one in your next life. Put differently, exceeding one's dharma in not only unnecessary, but likely will hurt your dharma, causing you to fall into a lower caste in your next life.â€Å"This intertwining of social strata with religion creates a fatalis m derived from inevitable destiny, guilt complexes of past life caste determination, a philosophy of acceptance, and fear of punishment for transcending one's dharma. In this light, Hinduism becomes a tremendous force for stagnation, eliminating the initiative for progress in a philosophy of acceptance which breeds apathy for social justice. Such a pervasive philosophy becomes an asset to the status quo and ruling stratum, stabilizing the social structure at the expense of individuals†.(Hinduism and Buddhism† a comparison) In contrast, in the social or political structure of a society Buddhism plays little role. Buddhism in reality began as a reaction to the violence of Hindu society, including the viciousness of the caste system. Buddhism focuses not on the society, but on every single person, hence divorcing religion from the interests of the ruling stratum. Even though the Buddhism does see life as pain and suffering and renascence as a renewal of this suffering, ther e is a possible escape.If one resigns his attachment to hope and self, Nirvana, or escape from the cycles of suffering, is not impossible. The most significant aspect of Nirvana, nevertheless, is its unobstructed access to people of any social background. Put differently, although a Hindu â€Å"untouchable† cannot perhaps advance in this life through any extraordinary attempt of his own. In this regard, any Buddhist can attain Nirvana through the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, realizations essential of suffering and the methods to remove all suffering.A significant indicator of the contrast between Buddhism and Hinduism arises in their historical relationship. Buddhism, naturally, arose as a reform movement out of Hinduism. This in itself inclines to put Buddhism in a more convinced light as the religion that incorporated Hindu beliefs while excluding the negative aspects of Hinduism. Certainly, this turns out to be the case when the caste system can be studied thorou ghly. While Hinduism not only perpetuates, but is itself the caste system, Buddhism absolutely rejects any system of caste.During the rule of Ashoka Buddhism in reality reached high levels of support, which followed the Buddhist concept of ahimsa, or non violence, and its tendency toward greater equality. The good looks of a philosophy/religion of peace and general freedom, including a refusal of the social stigmas of caste for â€Å"untouchables† and lower caste members, brought thousands of converts. Again, nevertheless, the historical relationship of Buddhism and Hinduism depicts the inherent malleability and intensity of Hinduism.Furthermore, the Buddha was made an avatar of Vishnu in order to incorporate the Buddhist movement into Hinduism. â€Å"The Buddhists consider the world to be full of sorrow and regard ending the sorrow as the chief aim of human life. The Hindus consider that there are four chief aims (arthas) in life which every being should pursue. They are dh arma (religious duty), artha (wealth or material possessions), kama (desires and passions) and moksha (salvation. )† (Hinduism vs Buddhism: Hinduism and Buddhism Compared) ConclusionThe two Buddhism and Hinduism religions are very alike, and yet very different. They strive for an inner peace and at last to reach heaven through either moksha or nirvana. Culture plays a tremendous role in determining your beliefs. Both Hinduism and Buddhism religions seem to have components which would do the West good to learn, but only Buddhism religion lacks any large scale negative repercussions for its followers. Furthermore, Hinduism and Buddhism are two major religions, firmly planted in their cultures, and It looks that they will remain for a long time to come.Works Cited Hinduism and Buddhism† a comparison http://sc. essortment. com/hinduismandbud_rtqs. htm Accessed, June 15, 2007 Hinduism vs Buddhism: Hinduism and Buddhism Compared http://www. experiencefestival. com/a/Hinduism_v s_Buddhism/id/54137 Accessed, June 15, 2007 Nerox (11 May 2007), Journal Article What are the similarities and differences between Buddhism and Hinduism, (page, 1) White, Sharon. (n. d. ), Journal Article â€Å"Buddhism and Hinduism: Differences and Similarities, (page, 1)

Gender Segregation in the Swedish Labour Market Essay

Introduction Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries are widely known for their strong commitment to equality between men and women. During the development of the welfare state the government supported women’s participation in the labor market. This resulted in a high rate of female employment in Sweden today. Regarding this, it is striking that the Swedish labor market has one of the highest degrees of gender segregation in the world and considerable gender inequalities. The roots for this segregation can be seen in the growing welfare state with women starting to work overall in the public and service sector in areas like health care and child-care while men still dominated in the private sector. Policies for women’s integration and several other government measures to desegregate the labor market were implemented and performed in the last years. However, today the gender segregation in Sweden is still at a higher level than in the majority of the other countries in Europe. Th is paper offers an analysis of the Swedish labor market regarding gender with an economical perspective. Occupational Gender Segregation Gender Segregation is one of the most discussed topics in Europe especially in Sweden. The segregation that will be analyzed in this paper can be seen as a result of multidimensional process which is manifested in differences in gender patterns of representation within occupations as well as within different employment contract groups and employment status (http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/cete/papers/dp0302.pdf , p. 2). â€Å"Gender segregation means that women and men to a certain extent work in different occupations or in different sectors or under different contractual terms and conditions† (ibid p. 2). The gender-based occupational segregation is both the â€Å"tendency for men and women to be employed in different occupations†, which is the horizontal segregation and the tendency to be employed in â€Å"different positions within the same occupation or occupational group†, the vertical segregation (http://ilo-mirror.library.cornell.edu/public/english/suppo rt/publ/pdf/women.pdf#page=198, p. 191). To measure segregation, the Index of Dissimilarity (ID) is most widely used in the research literature and also in this paper. Its value ranges from 0, which is â€Å"no segregation with equal percent of women and men in each and every occupation† to 1, which is â€Å"complete segregation with female workers in occupations where there are no male workers† (idib., p. 196). It is important to include a discussion of division of work in the households when looking at gender segregation. In Scandinavian countries a two-bread-winner model is the norm with subcontracted work in the households. At the same time, the former typical women’s household work like caring for children, elderly and disabled people was and is more and more taken over by the public sector. This expanding public sector leads to new employments for women and has an impact on the gender segregation which is also worth to be examined (http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/cete/papers/dp0302.pdf , p. 2). Facts and figures Sweden has one of the highest female employment rates and a high female education level. At the same time, data indicate that Sweden’s gender segregation is decreasing in the labour market, but still at a high level (http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/cete/papers/dp0302.pdf, p. 4). While the gender segregation for the European Union as a whole is still relatively high, the Mediterranean and eastern countries have a rather low segregation in comparison to the high-segregated Nordic countries (http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=4028&langId=en, p. 7). A closer look on the Swedish labour market reveals that, especially in the private sector, women are under-presented in jobs at a higher level and they usually have lower positions. Instead a great number of females is employed in the public sector and working part time. Moreover, women still perform two third of all their unpaid work at home (Gender equality and occupational segregation in Nordic labour markets, p. 190). In 1992 one half of all employed female employment worked in the public sector. Whereas, men employment was represented with one-quarter. In general, the labour force participation of women in Sweden is quiet strong. Already in 1990, female participation was at a level of 49,5% in comparison to lower levels in North America (45%) and to other European Countries (39% Gender equality and occupational segregation in Nordic labour markets, p. 194f.). Research proves that Sweden has a relatively high level of occupational segregation by sex. Although the ID decreased from 0,731 in 1970 to 0,641 in 1990, it is still higher than in other countries. The U.S.A. had an ID of 0,55 in 1990 and France 0,60. Furthermore the average of 14 non-Nordic OECD countries was 0,55 (idib, p. 197ff.) A later study of 15 EU members in 2000 shows the same tendency. It ranked Sweden on the second place after Finland according to the ID segregation index (http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/cete/papers/dp0302.pdf, p. 32) Further research indicates a proportion of females in female-dominated occupations, which is relatively and absolutely high in comparison to the rest of the European countries except for Norway and Finland, which show a similar labour market structure as Sweden. While the percentage of female employments in occupations with more than 70% females decreased slightly from 72,9% to 69,2% from 1970 to 1970, the proportion of females employed in occupations with more than 90% female dominance even increased in these years from 37,5% to 42,2%. This female dominance is not typical for the rest of Europe. In 1990 the other 14 OECD countries had a percentage of 22% in the occupations with more than 80% females. This is significantly lower than the 58,2% in Sweden (idib, p. 199ff.) The examination of male employment in male-dominant occupations shows similar numbers. This result is, however, not atypical as Sweden is accompanied by the other OECD countries concerning this male dominance (idib, p. 202f.). More recent findings indicate that the female dominance in the public sector is still high. In 2000 the proportion of women’s employment in Sweden’s public sector was 62,1% in comparison to the EU average of 42,7% (http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/cete/papers/dp0302.pdf, p. 28) â€Å"Female† and â€Å"male† occupations Due to the gender segregation some jobs are female dominated and others are known as typically male. The table shows the 10 most â€Å"feminized† occupations in Sweden (idib, p. 204). The occupations are associated with either caring, manual dexterity or are related to the typical household-work. On the first place rank â€Å"Dental assistants and other health workers†; in the second place come â€Å"Telephone switch board operators, etc.† and third are â€Å"House keeper in private service, childcare in families and at home†. Still male dominant are technical occupations like chemists and physicists in comparison to female laboratory assistants. Furthermore, typically female occupations can be found in the nursing and teaching area. However, the number of females in teaching decrease according to the rising level of teaching: 96% of pre-primary teachers are women in Nordic countries, but only 30% are female university teachers. Moreover, in the Nordic countries the same as in industrialized countries in general, women are over-represented in the service area (idib., p. 206ff). Vertical Segregation and wage inequalities Women in Sweden are concentrated in lower-paid and lower-status occupations. For instance only 40% of the shop managers are female, whereas 75% of the shop personnel are women (idib., p. 209). Furthermore, in 2000 women in higher level jobs as share of all women in employment was only 20,8% (http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/cete/papers/dp0302.pdf, p. 27). Gender gap in earnings can be seen as a consequence of segregation. However, in Sweden the gap is lower than in other countries. While Sweden created many occupations in the public sector, the wage differences were compressed due to a huge influence of union federations and employer associations. Also laws have been established to secure equal pay for equal work. For this reason, the women forced into particular jobs do not earn much lower wages than men and the high level of gender segregation goes along with a relatively low wage gap (http://books.google.de/books?id=-7umiJpO_zIC&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=gender+segregation,+sweden&source=bl&ots=WME1izrf2g&sig=qxVvzUAEWzaeMrf4qVXbQatotHQ&hl=de&ei=9KL7TKP4HM_sOcaEndUK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CGAQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=gender%20segregation%2C%20sweden&f=false, p. 20f.). In fact the gap between earnings is significantly smaller in comparison to other countries. In general women’s wages are relatively high, but still lower than men’s. This is also due to many women working in the public sector where the wages are lower than in the private sector. Another analysis by the European Comission in 2002 shows the women’s wages as a percentage of men’s. In typical male occupations like engine man, skilled or garden worker women earn only 95% to 98% of men’s wage. However, inequalities also exist the other way round. In typical female occupations like nurses or child minder men earn less than women. Women earn up to 105% of men’s wage. It can be stated that differences and inequalities exist, but concerning the wages they are not significant (http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=4028&langId=en, p. 80). Impact of increasing female employment on gender segregation The development of the last centuries in the European Union (15 members) does not show a trade-off between increasing segregation and increasing female employment. However, with focus on the short and medium run or with cross country comparison the opposite was found: In particular in the 1990s, there is evidence of a positive correlation between high female employment rates and gender segregation in the labour market on a more or less temporary basis. These study results were also due to the nordic countries including Sweden with their high degree of segregation and high-employment. One reason for this is the common Swedish family which has two breadwinners. With both parents working it is usually the woman who has to work in a â€Å"family friendly occupation† with flexible schedules. For this reason, the positive effect of rising women’s employment in order to drive desegregation may only exist in the long term. (,http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/cete/papers/dp0302.pdf p. 3, http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=4028&langId=en, p. 35ff.). Government measures Concluding remarks and preview Segregation is not only harmful and discriminating for the people affected by it, but it is also undesirable in high developed and progressive societies. Also the efficiency of the labor market as a whole can be affected negatively. It is highly reasonable that Sweden and the EU take measures to improve equality in the labor market. However, segregation also has a positive side. Some argue that it protects women’s employment from male competition and upholds demand for female labor. The public sector also offer more secure employment especially between 1992 and 1994. This advantage for women is now diminished due to reorganization of the public sector. (Gender equality and occupational segregation in Nordic labour markets Von Helinà ¤ Melkas,Richard Anker,International Labour Office, p. 191).