4/17: Ethical & Social Issues in IS Define ethics, responsibility, accountability, liability, due process Technology trends that raise ethical issues Ethical analysis An ethical dilemma to consider Four moral dimensions of the information age Information rights & obligations Property rights Accountability & control System quality Computer crime

Definitions Ethics: Principles of right & wrong used by free individuals to make choices in their behavior. Responsibility: Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations for one’s decisions. Accountability: Ways of assessing responsibility for decisions made and actions taken. Liability: Laws that permit individuals to recover the damages done to them by others. Due process: Laws are known & understood, and decisions can be appealed to higher authorities.

Trends raising ethical issues Increased dependence on computers Companies shut down if their hardware, software, or networks shut down. Multiplying databases Remember Infospace.com? Profiling: Use of computers to combine data from multiple sources to crease electronic dossiers of detailed information on individuals. Is this an invasion of privacy?

Ethical Analysis Identify & describe clearly the facts. Define the conflict or dilemma, identify the higher-order values involved. Identify the stakeholders. Identify the options that can be reasonably taken. Identify the potential consequences of your options.

Ethical Perspectives to Consider Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If it’s not right for everyone to do, it’s not right for anyone. If an action cannot be taken repeatedly, it’s not right to take it at all. Take the action that achieves the greatest good. Take the action that incurs the least potential cost. There’s no free lunch. Everything, unless specified otherwise, is owned by someone.

An Ethical Dilemma to Consider Employee monitoring on the Internet Overtime is up at your small insurance company. Network analysis shows the following: Apply ethical analysis User Minutes online URL visited Kelly, Chris 45 57 96 www.stltoday.com www.yahoo.com www.insuremarket.com Miller, Bob 112 43 www.travelocity.com www.sharperimage.com Talbot, Erin 123 27 73 www.e-trade.com www.wine.com www.ebay.com

Four Moral Dimensions of the Information Age Information rights & obligations Property rights Accountability & control System quality

Information rights & obligations Privacy: The claim of individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from others, including the state. Fair Information Practices Privacy Act of 1974 Internet practices, cookies, spamming Is it legitimate or ethical to keep unobtrusive surveillance?

Property Rights Intellectual property: intangible property created by individuals or corporations that is subject to protections under trade secret, copyright, or patent law.

© Property Rights Trade secret Copyright Patent law Any intellectual work or product used for business classified as belonging to that business, providing that it is not based on information in the public domain. Copyright Protects creators of intellectual property against copying by others for any purpose for 28 years. Patent law Exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 17 years.

Software Piracy “The unauthorized copying or use of software for which you have not paid the appropriate licensing fee” Estimate: $11 billion/year lost to piracy In early 1990s, Lotus estimated that half of its revenue was lost per year to software piracy Estimate: 2 of 5 pieces of software are pirated

Accountability & Control Who is to be held responsible for faulty computers? Software? What are the societal ramifications of doing so?

System quality What is an acceptable level of bugs? At what point should software be released to others?

Computer Crime “Any illegal activity using computer software, data, or access as the object, subject, or instrument of the crime”

Theft: Fraud & Abuse Trojan horses: “insertion of false information into a program to profit from its outcome” Data & time bombs: inserting time- or event-triggered code into programs maliciously Salami-slicing: little bits of theft that add up Data diddling: EX: diverting charges