Chapter 3 : Ethics and Privacy IS-300

Ethics

principles of right and wrong guiding behavior

Red Sox Case

Case: Boston Red Sox caught using watches to steal signs from opponents. While sign-stealing is traditionally accepted if done manually, using technology violates MLB rules and raises ethical concerns regarding fair competition

Problem: unfair competitive advantage, violation of MLB Rules

Solution: Raised significant ethical concerns, compromised fair compeittion & MLB rules, strong enforcement and integrity are essential to maintain trust in professional sports

Student Tracking Application Ethics

What it does:

• use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to monitor student behaviors, track attendance and engagement, claim to improve success and retention, raises privacy and ethical concerns

What schools use them?

• Syracuse Uni: uses SpotterEDU to track attendance; expanded from athletes to large courses

• Xavier Uni: piloted Bluetooth beacon tracking in athletics alerts coaches of missed classes

• Abilene Christian University: adopted Spotter EDU campus wide: automates attendance and boosts engagement 

Degree Analytics

• uses wifi check-ins to analyze student movement

• claims to detect risks such as isolation and stress

• Students can get out at some schools

• raises questions of consent and data reliability 

Life360 and Parental Tracking case

• parents use the app to monitor college-aged children

• tracks driving, location, and phone use

• promotes safety but limits independence

• some student feel over-controlled

Ethical/Legal Concerns

• responsibility

• accountability

• liability

• balancing safety and privacy is essential

Five Widely Used Standards for Ethical Issues

• Utilitarian Approach: greatest good for the greatest number

• Rights Approach: respect individual rights

• Fairness Approach: treat all equally

• Common Good Approach: focus on community benefits

• Deontology Approach: duty-based ethics

Five Steps in Ethical Decision Making

1. Recognize an ethical issue

2. Get the facts

3. Evaluate alternative actions

4. make a decision and test it

5. act and reflect on the outcome of decisions

Ethics in Organizations

Code of Ethics: corporate guidelines on conduct

Tenets: responsibility, accountability, liability

*unethical does not mean illegal

Four general categories of ethical issues related to IT

1. Privacy issues

2. Accuracy issues

3. Property issues

4. Accessibility issues

Privacy & Information Privacy

• Privacy Def: the right to be left alone and to be free of unreasonable personal intrusions

• Information Privacy Def: the right to determine when and to what extent information about you can be gathered and/or communicated to others

Court Decisions in Many Countries have followed two rules

1. The right of privacy is not absolute. Privacy must be balanced against the needs of society

2. The public’s right to know supersedes the individual’s right of privacy 

digital dossier

data integrated from data gathered about you n a typical day (surveillance cameras, credit card transactions, phone calls, queries to search engines, government records)

Profiling

the process of forming a digital dossier

data aggregators

• companies that collect public data such as real estate records and published telephone numbers

• in addition to nonpublic information such as Social Security numbers; financial data; and police, criminal, and motor vehicle records (LexisNexis, ChoicePoint, Acxiom)

Electronic Surveillance

• Using technology to monitor individuals as they go about their daily routines

• is conducted by employers, governments, and other institutions

• Ex: surveillance cameras in airports, subways, banks, and other public venues

Case: Clearview

Case: AI facial recognition app letting users upload or take a photo to find matches from billions of scraped online images, identifying people without consent. Has been used my law enforcement and select client and aided in crime-solving.

Problem: Raises major privacy, ethical and legal concerns over data scraping, misuse and inaccuracy. Tech companies and the ACLU have challenged Clearview, and critics warn it enables mass surveillance, urging stronger federal regulation

Personal information in Databases

• Personal data/ record keepers

• credit reporting agencies

• banks/financial institutions

• utility companies

• employers

• hospitals

• schools

• government agencies

Database and Record concerns

• data accuracy

• security

• unauthorized release

• changes

• resale

Internet and social media issues

• free speech vs privacy conflict

• Dereogatory info can influence hiring decisions

  • Little to no recourse for victims

Case: India’s Aadhaar system

Case: a biometric identification system that assigns unique 12 digit number to every resident of India. The # is linked to an individuals's biometric data. Largest biometric ID system and has been praised.

Problem: raises ethical and legal concerns particularly regarding privacy, consent and data security

Privacy Codes and Policies

1. An organization’s guidelines for protecting the privacy of its customers, clients, and employees

• Opt-out model: data collected unless you refuse

• Opt-in Model: explicit consent required

2. Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P): 

• a protocol that communicates privacy policies between a website and its visitors 

3. US Federal Trade Commission’s Fair Information Practices Standard

4. European Directive on Data Privacy

International Aspects of Privacy EU and US

• EU stricter than US

• Safe Harbor: the US department of Commerce in consultation with the EU developed safe harbor framework to regulate the way that the US companies export and handle the personal data of European citizens

• The European Community Commission (ECC) (1998): issued guidelines to all of its members countries regarding the rights of individuals to access information about themselves

• approx 50 countries have data-protection laws

  • inconsistent standards from country to country

  • transborder data flow

Case: Facebook Cambridge Analytical Scandal

Case: used the data to create psychographic profiles of votes these profiles were allegedly used to influence political campaigns including Brexit and 2016 US Presidential Election

Legal/Ethical Fallout: Facebook faced global scrutiny for failing to protect user data, mark zuckerberg testified before US Congress admitting Facebooks failure, fined $5billion by the FTV for privacy violations

Ethical Issues: privacy violation and lack of transparency