ICT Human Laws and Ethics

TEST 4

What is Ethics and what dilemmas does it cover?

Ethics is a system of moral principles — derived from the Greek word ethos meaning custom

What are the three branches of ethical theory?

Philosophers divide ethics into: (1) Meta-ethics — deals with the nature of moral judgement and examines the origins and meaning of ethical principles (2) Normative Ethics — concerned with the content of moral judgements and the criteria for determining what is right or wrong (3) Applied Ethics — examines controversial real-world topics such as war

What are the proposed sources of ethics according to philosophers?

Philosophers have proposed six sources of ethics: (1) God and religion (2) human conscience and intuition (3) a rational moral cost-benefit analysis of actions and their effects (4) the example of good human beings (5) a desire for the best outcome in each unique situation (6) political power

What is the practical value and limitation of ethics?

Ethics provides useful tools for thinking about moral issues but does not always produce a single right answer — as illustrated by debates around COVID-19 vaccines. Because humans often act on gut instinct rather than rational reasoning ethical theories can fail to change behaviour. Ethics is best understood as a set of principles that clarify choices in particular cases. Some philosophers argue that all ethics can do is eliminate confusion — after which each individual must reach their own conclusions. Ethics also carries the risk of being weaponised — where groups label others as immoral to justify attacking them

What is the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and what does it do?

POPIA (Act 4 of 2013) is South Africa's data privacy law grounded in Section 14 of the Constitution which guarantees the right to privacy. It aims to: (1) protect personal information processed by public and private bodies (2) set minimum requirements for how data is collected

What does POPIA say about direct marketing and what are opt-in and opt-out?

Under Section 69 of POPIA a direct marketer may only contact someone if they have shown interest in a product or given explicit permission. Two mechanisms apply: (1) Opt-out — the individual indicates they no longer wish to receive marketing from a company typically by clicking unsubscribe or messaging STOP — and the company must stop all contact (2) Opt-in — the individual actively consents to receiving marketing — this is the approach required by POPIA making it unlawful to market to someone electronically without first obtaining their consent. Data collectors are also obligated to keep data accurate

What are the limitations of POPIA?

POPIA has two key limitations: (1) Implementation gaps — though passed in 2013 regulations were only published in 2018 and direct marketers have resisted enforcement of opt-in rules meaning annoying marketing persists in practice (2) Jurisdictional limits — POPIA cannot regulate foreign-based internet services that have no legal presence in South Africa — large multinationals with a local presence will comply but offshore services fall outside South African law

What is PAIA and how does it relate to POPIA?

The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) of 2000 is grounded in Section 32 of the Constitution which guarantees the right of access to both public and private information. PAIA provides the legal mechanism for individuals to request information they are entitled to — including personal data