Data Security Breaches

Yes, companies can be held liable for data security breaches. When it became apparent
that the cases of identity theft had increased and information contained in the HRIS could be
hacked and personal information leaked, several states passed the privacy laws. According to
Kavanagh et al. (2017), the privacy laws prevent unauthorized use and assessment of personal
information. The privacy laws were passed in the States of Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii,
and Illinois to mention but a few.
The employees of the companies in the states that passed the privacy laws can be held
liable for the data security breaches on account of the privacy laws that were passed. Not all the
companies in the said states have put the security measures in place to safeguard the employees’
data from unauthorized access. They can be sued on the basis that they did not alter their internal
policies to safeguard the employees’ data or put proactive measures in place to safeguard the
personal data of their employees.
The HR needs to be involved in creating a security protocol for HRIS because HRIS is all
about the human resources and information technology by making use of the human resource
software.
The HRIS can be only defined as the intersection between information technology and
human resources via human resource software. Since he is the human, who will be interacting
with the human resource software that contains the private data of the employees. He should be
involved in the creation of the for the HRIS since he will need to provide the appropriate
encryption (Kavanagh et al., 2017). This will also safeguard the data since he will not need to
hire different personnel to assist him on some technical aspects of HRIS.

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Human error and natural disasters are threats to employee data and data security. The
natural disasters like the floods or storms can damage infrastructure which might lead to server
failure. Human error can also compromise the employees’ day which might end up in the wrong
hands (Kavanagh et al., 2017). Extra measures should thus be taken to validate the employee
data to prevent human error.

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References

Kavanagh, M. J., Thite, M., & Johnson, R. D. (2017). Human resource information systems:
Basics, applications, and future directions. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE.