Technology in Action - Computer and Information Science

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Technology in Action

Technology in Focus:


Information Technology Ethics

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Ethics Defined

•
Study of morals and moral choices

•
Match established ideas of right and wrong

•
Fairness

•
Equity

•
Guidelines for decision making

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Ethics Defined

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Systems of ethical conduct

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Relativism

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Situational ethics

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Religious traditions

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Ethics Defined

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Societal ethics

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A general set of unwritten guidelines

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Rule utilitarianism

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Espouses establishing moral guidelines
through rules (moral code)

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Unethical behavior

–
Not conforming to a set of approved standards
of social or professional behavior

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Not necessarily illegal

–
Not all illegal behavior is unethical

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Personal Ethics

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Checklist of personal decisions

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May be well defined

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May be applied inconsistently

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Personal Ethics

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How do personal ethics develop?

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Family and cultural bias

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Religious affiliation

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Life experiences

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Define Your Personal Ethics

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Describe yourself

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List your beliefs

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Identify external influences

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Consider “why”

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Prepare a statement of values

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Personal Ethics

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Benefits of ethical living

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Obeying laws

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Less stress and anger

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Increased happiness

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Personal Ethics in the

Worldview

•
Do your ethics match those of your
workplace?

–
Whistleblowers

•
Turn
businesses in to regulatory agencies for
committing illegal
acts

•
Also can expose
unethical (but still legal) acts by
their employers by exposing unethical behavior
through various media
outlets

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Are your ethics away from work a concern
for your employer?

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Technology and Ethics

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Technology is all around
us

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Technology moves

quickly

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Rules governing
technology move more
slowly

•
Use of technology is left
up to personal ethics

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Using Computers to Support
Ethical Conduct

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Charitable organizations use the Internet
for fund raising

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Companies must provide mechanisms to
report unethical behavior anonymously

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Intranets and e
-
mail are used to inform
employees of ethics policies

•
Your personal ethics must guide your
decisions concerning technology

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Social Justice: Can Technology

Be Used to Benefit Everyone?

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Can we use technology to achieve social
justice?

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Can we apply technology in poor areas?

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Solar energy

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Genetic engineering

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Internet access

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Social Justice: Can Technology

Be Used to Benefit Everyone?

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Point: Technology provides economic
opportunity for all

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Could be used to eliminate poverty

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Could improve quality of life in poor countries

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Could be an ethical force

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Social Justice: Can Technology

Be Used to Benefit Everyone?

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Counterpoint: Technology doesn’t provide
economic opportunity for all

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No one can solve the problem of poverty

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Should not be addressed by technologists

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Potential risks of new technologies

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Threats to existing world economies

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Intellectual Property: What Is

Fair About Fair Use?

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Copyright laws protect intellectual property

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Fair use allows for exceptions to copyright
laws

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Fair use criteria

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What is the purpose of the work?

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What is the nature of the work?

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How much copyrighted material is being
used?

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What is the effect on the original material?

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Intellectual Property: What Is

Fair About Fair Use?

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Point: Liberal fair use standards are
beneficial

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Encourage wide dissemination of information

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Allow the most democratic, free society

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Existing laws not up to date with technology

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Intellectual Property: What Is

Fair About Fair Use?

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Counterpoint: Strict fair use standards are
beneficial

–
Existing laws should not be changed because
technology has changed

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Copyright holders should control their own work

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Privacy: Is Personal Privacy

a Casualty of the Modern Age?

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Privacy is a basic human right

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Many of our transactions are recorded

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Debit cards

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E
-
mail

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Loyalty cards

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Electronic toll passes

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Privacy: Is Personal Privacy

a Casualty of the Modern Age?

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Point: Protect personal privacy

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No reason for monitoring

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Government misuse of data

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Government control of population

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National ID cards reminiscent of Nazis

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Expense of privacy controls

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Privacy: Is Personal Privacy

a Casualty of the Modern Age?

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Counterpoint: Reduced privacy is a fact
of modern life

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Should have nothing to hide

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Helps enhance detection of terrorists

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Protects citizens from being abused

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National ID card worth the cost

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Commerce: Should Online Gambling
Be Banned or Regulated?

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Multibillion
-
dollar industry

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Already illegal in United States

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Facilitates addictive gambling

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Commerce: Should Online Gambling
Be Banned or Regulated?

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Point: Ban online gambling

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Easy access for minors and compulsive
gamblers

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Could support criminal activities

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No regulation: Who keeps the house honest?

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Allows gamblers to hide their addiction

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Commerce: Should Online Gambling
Be Banned or Regulated?

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Counterpoint: Legalize online gambling

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Protect consumers

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Allow for scrutiny of all transactions

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Standardize the industry

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Generate tax revenues

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Regulated in other countries

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Easier to regulate than to prohibit

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Communication: When Does

Big Business Limit Free Speech?

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Google concedes to demands
from Beijing to self
-
censor its
search engine

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Helps suppress dissent in
return for access to the
Chinese market

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Cost of doing business in
Chinese market

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Huge market potential in China

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Communication: When Does

Big Business Limit Free Speech?

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Point: Google acted unethically

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Sacrificed free speech for business

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Violated human rights

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No incentive for China to change

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Other rights hang in the balance

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How far is too far?

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Communication: When Does

Big Business Limit Free Speech?

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Counterpoint: Google’s actions were
justified

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Companies should be free to pursue
profits

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Withdrawing from China would further
restrict free speech

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Staying in China advances the slow
progress toward democracy

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Computer Abuse: Does

Restricting Online Information
Protect Children?

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Internet allows

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Sexual predators to contact potential victims

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Distribution of pornography

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Cyberbullying

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Phishing

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Dissemination of hate speech

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Computer Abuse: Does

Restricting Online Information
Protect Children?

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Children are especially vulnerable

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Use technology more than adults

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More trusting than some adults

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Might not recognize malicious intent

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Computer Abuse: Does

Restricting Online Information
Protect Children?

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Point: Monitoring software protects
children

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Laws have proved ineffective

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Make sure libraries and schools are safe
havens

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Uphold moral standards of the public

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Logical extension of the library screening
process

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Computer Abuse: Does

Restricting Online Information
Protect Children?

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Counterpoint: Monitoring software restricts
access to information

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Blocks informational content

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Amounts to censorship

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Is not 100% reliable

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Widens the “digital divide”

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Education a better alternative

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retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

Copyright ©
2011
Pearson Education, Inc.


Publishing as Prentice Hall

Technology in Focus

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