ETHICS and COMPUTERS An Overview 23/04/2017

What ethical and legal issues affect ICT and its users? FOCUS QUESTION What ethical and legal issues affect ICT and its users? 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

Ethics Ethics are the moral principles which determine the rightness or wrongness of particular acts or activities. Being ethical means selecting a right action over a wrong one. Being unethical means intentionally acting in a wrong or bad way. Ethics are based on value systems. Ethical dilemmas require choices. 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

THE ISSUES Privacy and Personal Information Encryption Trust : reliability, failures, dependency, computer models Freedom of speech Intellectual Property Computer crime Computers and Work Impact and control of computers Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

Solving Ethical Dilemnas There are two main approaches to solving ethical dilemmas: 1. utilitarianism greatest good for the greatest number of people 2. deontology based on following personal or societal values, rules, or duties 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

What Is Computer Ethics? The moral guidelines that govern the use of computers and information systems. 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) People in business must make ethical decisions. Some areas of CSR include selling products that are not harmful conducting business with positive impact treating employees fairly not engaging in deceitful practices Companies now hire ethicists to help with CSR. 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

BUSINESS ETHICS Businesses have a “social responsibility” to act in a manner that is in the best interests of society in general, as well as the best interest of a company Stakeholders watch businesses to ensure that they uphold their social responsibility 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

VALUE SYSTEMS Individual value systems are the result of many factors – race, religion, cultural background, education, family values and our own experiences throughout life These factors help shape what we believe is right or wrong Sometimes the choice is straightforward Sometimes you are asked to make decisions based on your own value system These conflicts are called ethical dilemmas 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

How Do Ethics Apply to ICT? The following are examples of ethical dilemmas in ICT: What is the responsibility of an employer regarding ergonomic health risks? Should an employer be able to stop an employee from sending a personal e-mail? Should an employer be able to monitor employee computer activity? Should insurance companies be able to use ethnicity data when establishing rates? 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

LEGAL VS. ETHICAL LEGAL: actions or behaviour that are carried out according to the law Relationship between something that is “legal” and something that is “ethical” not necessarily “cut and dried” Ethical and legal may not always be the same thing 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

LEGAL VS. ETHICAL LEGAL NOT LEGAL ETHICAL It is both legal and ethical to protect customer privacy when a customer makes online purchases at your e-commerce site. It is not legal, but could be considered ethical to leak information that appeared on your employer’s Intranet to the media in order to stop illegal activity within the company. NOT ETHICAL It is legal but not considered ethical to call in sick to you company message centre when you are not really ill. It is neither legal nor ethical to sell the e-mail addresses of your customers without their permission. 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

Legal and Ethical Issue in ICT Legal and ethical are not necessarily the same thing. Sometimes it takes laws a long time to catch up with the way society views situations. The law is constantly evolving to keep up with issues of cybercrime. 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

Codes of Conduct A code of conduct is written guidelines that help determine whether a specific computer action is ethical or unethical 10 Commandants of Computer Ethics 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5

Basic Rules of Online Safety for Teens Keep your identity private Never get together with someone you “meet” online Never respond to e-mail, chat comments, or newsgroup messages that are hostile, belligerent, inappropriate, or in any way make you feel uncomfortable Talk with your parents about their expectations and ground rules for going online Know the rules of online security 23/04/2017 BTT – UNIT 5