ITIS 1210 Introduction to Web-Based Information Systems Ethical & Social Issues

Objectives  What ethical, social, and political issues are raised by information systems?  Are there specific principles for conduct that can be used to guide decisions about ethical dilemmas?  Why does contemporary information systems technology pose challenges to the protection of individual privacy and intellectual property?

 How have information systems affected everyday life?  How can organizations develop corporate policies for ethical conduct? Objectives

 Moral risks of new technology  Technology change = individual choice change  Risk/reward balance shifts  Corporate ethics policies that include information systems issues Objectives

Ethics and Society  What are computer ethics?  Moral guidelines that govern use of computers and information systems  In what situations?  Unauthorized use of computer systems  Information privacy  Intellectual property rights  Software theft  Information accuracy  Codes of conduct

Ethics and Society What do you think about ethical issues?

Ethics and Society What do you think about ethical issues?

Ethics and Society What do you think about ethical issues?

Ethics and Society  What are the ethics of using computers to alter output?  Alteration could lead to deliberately misleading photographs

Ethics and Society

Ethics and Society

Ethics and Society

 Principles of right and wrong  Can be used by individuals  Acting as free moral agents  To make choices to guide their behavior  IT provides opportunities for rapid social change that threaten existing balances of power, money, rights, etc. Ethics

 Illustrates the dynamics connecting  Ethical, social, and political issues  Identifies the moral dimensions of the “information society”  Across individual, social, and political levels of action A Model for Thinking About Ethics

 Information rights and obligations  Relative to personal information  Property rights  How is intellectual property affected by IT?  Accountability and control  Who is liable?  System quality  What standards should society demand of data/systems?  Quality of life  How does IT affect our culture? A Model for Thinking About Ethics

 Information systems proliferate because:  Computing power doubles every 18 months  Dependence on computer systems  Rapidly declining data storage costs  Easy maintenance of individual databases  Datamining advances  Analysis of vast quantities of data  Networking advances and the Internet  Remotely accessing personal data Key Technology Trends

 Responsibility  Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations for decisions made  Accountability  Mechanism to assess who took (or should have taken) responsibility for decisions made and actions taken Basic Concepts

 Liability  Extends responsibility into the legal area  Permits individuals to recover for damage suffered  Due process  Laws are well-known and understood, with an ability to appeal to higher authorities to ensure the correct application of laws Basic Concepts

 Golden rule  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you  Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative  If an action is not right for everyone to take, then it is not right for anyone  If everyone acted like this, would society be better? Candidate Ethical Principles

 Descartes’ rule of change  If an action cannot be taken repeatedly, then it should not be taken even once  Slippery Slope theory  Utilitarian principle  Take the action that achieves the greater good. Assumes: (1) Choices can be ranked and (2) Can understand the consequences of various courses of action Candidate Ethical Principles

 Risk aversion principle  Take the action that produces the least harm or incurs the least cost  Balance failure cost and probability of occurrence  Ethical “no free lunch” rule  All tangible and intangible objects are owned by a creator who is due compensation for their work Candidate Ethical Principles

 Information system may create ethical dilemmas where one set of interests is pitted against another  Minimize drains on productivity  Voice recognition systems eliminated thousands of operator positions  Prevent wastage of resources for non- business activities  Monitoring employee activity Real-World Ethical Dilemmas

 Moral Dimensions of IS  Information Rights  Property Rights  Accountability, Liability, Control  System Quality  Quality of Life  Ethical, social, political issues Information Rights

 Privacy  Claim of individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other individuals, organizations, or the state  Fair information practices  Set of principles governing the collection and use of information on the basis of U.S. and European privacy laws Information Rights

 Freedom of Information Act, 1968  Privacy Act of 1974  Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986  Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988  Computer Security Act of 1987  Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act of 1982 Privacy Laws

 European privacy protection based on informed consent  Consent given with  Knowledge of all facts  Needed to make a rational decision Privacy Laws

 Opt-out model  Informed consent permitting the collection of personal information  Consumer must take an affirmative action specifically requesting the data not to be collected  Without this action, information will be collected, possibly without the user’s knowledge. Challenges to Privacy

 Opt-in model  Informed consent prohibiting an organization from collecting any personal information  Individual has to approve information collection and use  Without this specific approval, companies may not collect information Challenges to Privacy

 Under what conditions should the privacy of others be invaded?  Under what conditions is it legitimate to intrude into others’ lives through unobtrusive surveillance, through market research, or by whatever means? Challenges to Privacy

 Do we have to inform people that we are eavesdropping?  Do we have to inform people that we are using credit history information for employment screening purposes? Challenges to Privacy

   Downtown Charlotte, Christmas 2006 Downtown Charlotte, Christmas 2006 Downtown Charlotte, Christmas 2006  Via cell phone Via cell phone Via cell phone

 Concerns the development of “expectations of privacy” or privacy norms, as well as public attitudes  In what areas of life do we have the expectation of privacy? Social Issues

 Surveillance Equipment Surveillance Equipment Surveillance Equipment  School bus School bus School bus

 Concern the development of statutes  Govern the relations between record keepers and individuals Political Issues

 Intellectual property  Intangible creations protected by law  Inventions, writings, and works of art  Protected under three legal traditions:  Trade Secrets  Copyrights  Patent Property Rights

 Trade secret  Intellectual work or product belonging to business, not in public domain  Copyright  Statutory grant protecting intellectual property from getting copied for 28 years  Patents  Legal document granting the owner an exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years Property Rights

 Digital media are:  Easy to reproduce (physical media not necessary)  Easy to alter  Hard to establish ownership of Property Rights

 Ethical issues  Protection of intellectual property (Is it OK to copy for personal use?)  Social issues  Current intellectual property laws breaking down (easy to break a law). Does this discourage creativity?  Political issues  Creation of new property protection measures Challenges to Property Rights

 Information technology challenges existing liability law  Who is liable if a software-controlled machine injures someone? The machine manufacturer, the programmer, someone else?  Is AOL responsible for offensive content distributed by AOL but not necessarily under AOL’s direct control? Liability

 Ethical issues  Who is morally responsible for consequences of use?  Social issues  What should society expect and allow?  Political issues  To what extent should government intervene?  Where is the balance between service providers and users? Liability

 Three major causes of system failures  Bugs  Hardware failures  Poor input data System Quality

 Ethical issues  At what point do you release the software?  Social issues  Should people be encouraged to believe systems are infallible  What are the potential consequences if they do?  Political Issues  Who sets laws of responsibility and accountability: Congress or marketplace? System Quality

 Maintaining boundaries  Family, work, and leisure  “Do anything anywhere” environment blurring boundaries between work and family time  Dependence and vulnerability  No regulatory or standard-setting forces for the Internet as there were for telephones, electrical utilities, radio, television, etc. Quality of Life

 Computer crime  Commission of illegal acts through the use of a computer or against a computer system  Computer abuse  Commission of acts involving a computer that may not be illegal but are considered unethical Quality of Life

 Employment  Trickle-down technology and reengineering job loss  Causes millions of middle-level managers and clerical workers to lose their jobs  Equity and access  Increasing racial and social class cleavages  Society of computer literate and skilled, versus computer illiterate and unskilled Quality of Life