With the growing use of information, the trustworthiness and dependability of information has become a critical factor for person and organisation.
Information can be structured (e.g., accounting transactions), partly structured (e.g., object-oriented data bases) or unstructured (e.g., raw data such as a string of digits).
Information integrity is often confused with data integrity.
Data integrity refers to the validity of data, but it can also be defined as the accuracy and consistency of stored data.
Information integrity can be defined as the dependability and trustworthiness of information.
When the integrity of data is secure, the information stored in a database will remain complete, accurate, and reliable no matter how long it’s stored or how often it’s accessed. Data integrity also ensures that your data is safe from any outside forces.
For the information to be useful, it is important to describe the purpose of the information and other contextual information necessary to make use of the information.
In using information, users need to assess their level of confidence in the integrity of the information.
Otherwise, they may place unwarranted reliance on the information.
To make the best decisions, users need to have confidence in the integrity of the information.
Confidence in information integrity can come from many sources, including:
i. Additional information supplied by the party responsible for the information, such as a description of the process that produced the information.
ii. The reputation of the responsible party.
iii. Knowledge possessed by the user, whether pre-existing or specifically obtained for the purpose of evaluating the integrity of the information.
iv. Validation of the information by a third party with knowledge sufficient to evaluate the integrity of the information, which may or may not be in the context of a professional engagement.
v. Obtaining a report from an independent third-party based on procedures performed to evaluate the integrity of the information provided by the responsible party.
There are also four facets about information integrity, which are the content, process, system, and environment.
Content and Process have informational interpretations. Environment includes the relevant domain-specific objects that represent the context of and influence the content, process and system.
Lack of information integrity can have a negative impact on the health of an organization. If not identified and corrected early on, erroneous information can contaminate all downstream systems and information assets.
Poor information quality results in loss of revenue, loss of productivity, loss of brand image, potential legal problems, and loss in market value
