BUSBIS 1060 - Ch. 4 (Ethics and Social Issues in IS)

ethics

principle of right and wrong that individuals, acting as free moral agents, use to make choices that guide behavior

ethical issues affecting IT

• Misuse of personal information

• Deep fakes

• Lack of oversight and acceptance of responsibility

• Use of AI

• Autonomous technology

• Environmental impact

Information rights and obligations

What information rights do individuals and organizations possess with respect to themselves?

What can they protect?

Property rights and obligations

How will traditional intellectual property rights be protected in a digital society in which tracing and accounting for ownership are difficult, and ignoring such property rights is easy?

Accountability and control

Who can and will be held accountable and liable for the harm done to individual and collective information and property rights?

System quality

What standard of data and system quality should we demand to protect individual rights and the safety of society?

Quality of life

What values should be preserved in an information and knowledge-based society?

Which institutions should we protect from violation?

Which cultural values and practices does the new information technology support?

Doubling of computer (Moore’s Law)

More organizations depend on computer systems for critical operations

Dependencies on systems and vulnerability to errors and poor data quality have increased

Laws have not adjusted to ensure standards for accuracy and reliability

Rapidly declining data storage costs

Organizations can easily maintain detailed databases on individuals at lower cost

Made routine violation of individual privacy inexpensive and effective

Networking advances and the Internet

Copying data from one location to another and accessing personal data from remote locations are much easier

profiling

combining data from multiple sources (public and non-public data) to create dossiers of detailed information on individuals

non obvious relationship awareness (NORA)

combining data from multiple sources to find obscure hidden connections that might help identify criminals or terrorists

mobile device growth impact

tracking of individual cell phones and devices locations and their data

(trend) Computing power doubles every 18 months

More organizations depend on computer systems for critical operations and become more vulnerable to system failures

(trend) Data storage costs rapidly decline

Organizations can easily maintain detailed databases on individuals. There are no limits on the data collected about you.

(trend) Data analysis advances

Companies can analyze vast quantities of data gathered on individuals to develop detailed profiles of individual behavior. Large-scale population surveillance is enabled.

(trend) Networking advances

The cost of moving data and making data accessible from anywhere falls exponentially. Access to data becomes more difficult to control.

(trend) Mobile device growth impact

Individual cell phones may be tracked without user consent or knowledge. The always-on device becomes a tether.

Snowden Effect

Edward Snowden, a whistleblower of the NSA, that talked about how the illusion of data and privacy which talks about data being sold and disseminated to governments

Summary:

1. illusion of protection and privacy from the government & Big Tech

2. Should the NSA be allowed to perform surveillance on citizens?

Ethical choices

decisions made by individuals responsible for consequences of actions

Responsibility

accept potential costs, duties, and obligations for decisions you make

Accountability

mechanisms are in place to determine who acted and who is responsible

Liability

lawfully allows for recover of damages from other actors, systems, or organizations

Due process

laws are known and understood, and able to be appealed to high authorities to ensure proper applications of laws

ethical analysis of IS

• Information technologies are filtered through social institutions, organizations, and individuals

  • do not have impact by themselves

• Responsibility for consequences of technology falls on who uses technologies

  • accountable for consequences of actions

• Individuals and others can recover damages done through set of laws characterized by due process

steps for ethical analysis

1. Identify and clearly describe the facts

2. Define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher-order values involved

3. Identify the stakeholders

4. Identify the options that you can reasonably take

5. Identify the potential consequences of your options

Golden Rule

• Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

• Fairness

Immanuel Kent’s Categorical Imperative

If an action is not right for everyone to take, it is not right for anyone

Slippery slope rule

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

Utilitarian Principle

Take the action that achieves the higher or greater value

Risk Aversion Principle

Take the action that produces the least harm or potential cost

Ethical “No Free Lunch” Rule

Assume virtually all tangible and intangible objects are owned by someone unless there is a specific declaration otherwise

Professional codes of conduct

Promulgated by associations of professions like: AMA, ABA, AITP, ACM, PMI, IEEE

Promises by professions to regulate themselves in the general interest of society

privacy

claim of individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from others

Fair information practices (FIP)

• Set of principles governing the collection and use of information about individuals

• Based on notion of mutuality of interest between record holder and individual

• After information is gathered, the record may not be used to support other activities without the individual’s consent

notice/awareness

Websites must disclose their information practices before collecting data. Includes identification of collector; uses of data; other recipients of data; nature of collection (active/inactive); voluntary or required status; consequences of refusal; and steps taken to protect confidentiality, integrity, and quality of the data.

choice/consent

A choice regime must be in place allowing consumers to choose how their information will be used for secondary purposes other than supporting the transaction, including internal use and transfer to third parties.

Access/participation

Consumers should be able to review and contest the accuracy and completeness of data collected about them in a timely, inexpensive process.

Security

Data collectors must take responsible steps to ensure that consumer information is accurate and secure from authorized use.

Enforcement

A mechanism must be in place to enforce FIP principles. This can involve self-regulation, legislation giving consumers legal remedies for violations, or federal statutes and regulations.

GDPR

• Companies must inform people how information is collected and disclose how it is stored and used

• Required informed consent of customer before a company can “use” data about them

• EU members nations cannot transfer personal data to countries without similar privacy protection

privacy shield

all countries processing EU data must conform to GDPR requirements; if not —> Heavy fines: 4% of global daily revenue

cookies

small text files deposited on a computer hard drive when a user visits websites

identify the visitor’s web browser software and track website visits

Ex) purchase a cookbook on Amazon, next time you visit from the same browser, it will recommend other cookbooks for you

Web beacons (web bugs, tracking files)

Programs that keep record of users’ online clickstreams

Report data to whoever owns tracking file

Placed on popular websites by third party firms to monitor behavior of uses

Spyware

Calls out to website to send banner ads and other unsolicited material to the user

Can report the user’s movements to other computers

Informed consent

U.S. allows businesses to gather transaction information generated in the marketplace, then use that information for other marketing purposes without obtaining ____________.

Opt-out

permits collection of personal information until the consumer specifically requests the data not be collected

Opt-in

business is prohibited form collecting information unless the consumer takes action to approve collection and use

Challenges with Informed Consent

• Complexity of information

• Digital literacy

• Changing regulations

• Multi-platform usage

• Time constraints

• Cultural differences

• Interoperability issues

• Miscommunication

Some Technical Solutions

• E-mail encryption

• Anonymity tools

• VPN (Virtual Private Network)

• Anti-spyware tools

• Browser features

• Private browsing

• “Do not track” options

• Etc.

Intellectual property

intangible property of any kind created by individuals or corporations

difficult to protect because computerized information can be easily copied

copyright

Statutory grant that protects creators of intellectual property from having their work copied by others for any purpose during the life of the author plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death

patents

Grants the owner an exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years

congressional intent

ensure that inventors of new machines, devices, or methods receive full financial and other rewards of the invention

trademarks

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

protects consumers, ensure they receive what they paid for

trade secrets

any intellectual work (formula, device, pattern compilation) used for a business purpose

cannot be in public domain

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Illegal to circumvent technology-based protections of copyrighted materials

Reduced response time to competition

rapid-moving global marketplace has reduced normal social buffers that allotted years to adjust to competition

Maintaining boundaries

traditional boundaries separating work, family, and leisure are blurred

time online vs. social relationships

dependence and vulnerability

everything depends on information systems

businesses, governments, schools, private institutions

highly vulnerable if anything fails

computer crime

illegal acts by using a computer or against a computer system

computer abuse

acts involving a computer that may not be illegal but are unethical

spam

junk emails, texts, communications. . . high cost for firms to combat

employment

reengineering jobs causes layoffs

equity and access

certain ethnic and income groups in the U.S. less likely to have computers or Internet access

digital divide

Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI)

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)

Design workstations for a neutral wrist position, proper monitor stands, footrests, ergonomically correct keyboards, frequent rest breaks

Computer vision syndrome (CVS)

Eye strain conditions, 90% of people who spend 3+ hours at a computer per day

Technostress

Aggravation, impatience, fatigue

(Can result from addiction to apps, social media, video games. . .)