integriteetti

Integriteetti is a Finnish term equivalent to the English word "integrity" and denotes the state of being whole, unimpaired and consistent with a set of principles. The concept applies across moral, legal, technical and organizational domains, where it describes honesty, reliability, and the preservation of essential characteristics.

In an ethical or personal context, integriteetti refers to adherence to moral principles, truthfulness and consistency between stated values and actions. A person with integriteetti acts transparently, accepts responsibility and resists corrupting pressures. In social and professional settings it underpins trust, credibility and accountability.

In legal and human rights discourse, integriteetti can denote physical and psychological wholeness, which is protected against abuse, degradation or invasive practices. It is related to concepts of human dignity and bodily autonomy.

In information technology and data management, integriteetti means maintaining accuracy, completeness and unaltered state of data. Measures to ensure data integriteetti include validation, checksums, error detection and correction, transaction atomicity and secure storage. System integriteetti refers to protection against unauthorized modification of software, firmware or configuration, commonly enforced through controls such as access management, integrity checking and secure boot mechanisms.

Challenges to integriteetti arise from fraud, negligence, corruption, technical failures and cyberattacks. Preserving integriteetti typically requires clear standards, technical safeguards, oversight and a culture that values consistency between principles and practice.