Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems (Definitions)

Accountability

The mechanisms for assessing responsibility for decisions made and actions taken

Cookies

Tiny file deposited on a computer hard drive when an individual visits certain websites. Used to identify the visitor and track visits to the website

Copyright

A statutory grant that protects creators of intellectual property against copying by others for any purpose for a minimum of 70 years

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Adjusts copyright laws to the Internet Age by making it illegal to make, distribute, or use devices that circumvent technology

Due Process

A process in which laws are well

Ethical No

Free

Ethics

Principles of right and wrong that can be used by individuals acting as free moral agents to make choices to guide their behaviour

Fair Information Practices (FIP)

A set of principles originally set forth in 1973 that governs the collection and use of information about individuals and forms the basis of most U.S. and European privacy laws

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Legislation effective May 25, 2018 that updates and unifies data privacy laws across the European Union, focusing on making businesses more transparent and expanding the privacy rights of data subjects

Golden Rule

Putting oneself in the place of others as the object of a decision

Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative

A principle that states that if an action is not right for everyone to take it is not right for anyone

Information Rights

The rights that individuals and organizations have with respect to information that pertains to themselves

Informed Consent

Consent given with knowledge of all the facts needed to make a rational decision

Intellectual Property

Intangible property created by individuals or corporations that is subject to protections under trade secret, copyright, and patent law

Liability

The existence of laws that permit individuals to recover the damages done to them by other actors, systems, or organizations

Non

obvious Relationship Awareness (NORA)

Opt

In

Opt

Out

Patent

A legal document that grants the owner an exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years; designed to ensure that investors of new machines or methods are rewarded for their labor while making widespread use of thier inventions

Privacy

The claim of individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other individuals, organizations, or the state

Profiling

The use of computers to combine data from multiple sources and create electronic dossiers of detailed information on individuals

Responsibility

Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations for the decisions one makes

Risk Aversion Principle

Principle that one should take the action that produces the least harm or incurs the least cost

Safe Harbour

Private self

Slippery Slope Rule

If an action cannot be taken repeatedly, it is not right to take at all

Spyware

Technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge

Trade Secret

Any intellectual work or product used for a business purpose that can be classified as belonging to that business, provided it is not based on information in the public domain

Trademarks

The marks, symbols, and images used to distinguish products in the marketplace

Utilitarian Principle

Principle that assumes one can put values in rank order of utility and understand the consequences of various courses of action

Web Beacons

Tiny objectives invisibly embedded in email messages and web pages that are designed to monitor the behaviour of the user visiting a website or sending email