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ETHICS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Technology Ethics, Computer Crime, Cybercrime, Hacking Tactics, Cyber Theft, Internet Abuses in the Workplace, Software Piracy,
Theft of Intellectual Property, Viruses, Worms, Adware, Spyware, Privacy Issues, Spamming, Computer Monitoring
What is Ethics?
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong
Effect of IT on EthicsSociety as a calm pondIT as rock dropped in pond, creating ripples
of new situations not covered by old rulesSocial and political institutions cannot
respond overnight to these ripples—it may take years to develop etiquette, expectations, laws○ Requires understanding of ethics to make
choices in legally gray areas
Ethical Responsibility
Business professionals have a responsibility to promote ethical uses
of information technology in the workplace.
Principles of Technology Ethics
Proportionality – the good achieved by the technology must outweigh the harm or risk
Informed Consent – those affected by the technology should understand and accept the risks
Principles of Technology Ethics
Justice – the benefits and burdens of the technology should be distributed fairly
Minimized Risk – even if judged acceptable by the other three guidelines, the technology must be implemented so as to avoid all unnecessary risk
Freedoms vs. Censorship Issues
SpammingIndiscriminate sending of unsolicited e-mail
messages to many Internet users (Junk mail) Flaming
Sending extremely critical, derogatory, and often vulgar e-mail messages or newsgroup postings to other users on the Internet or online services (Flame mail)
Racist or defamatory messages or sexually explicit material have led to calls for censorship and laws for libel
Internet Abuses in the Workplace
Transmission of confidential data
Pornography – accessing sexually explicit sites
Software Piracy Unauthorized copying of computer programs
LicensingPurchase of software is really a payment for a
license for fair useSite license allow a certain number of copies
A third of the software industry’s revenues are lost due to piracy
Theft of Intellectual Property Intellectual property
Copyrighted material Peer-to-peer networking
techniques have made it easy to trade pirated intellectual property
CAN-SPAM Act
Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act.
signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 16, 2003
referred to as the "You-Can-Spam" Act
CAN-SPAM Act permits e-mail marketers to send
unsolicited commercial e-mail as long as it adheres to 3 basic types of compliance
1. Unsubscribe compliance (Visible Opt-out)
2. Content compliance – label if adult content, legitimate and visible address, relevant subject
3. Sending behavior compliance – can’t have a false header, can’t send on open relay (sending through a third-party)
Adware and Spyware Adware
Software that purports to serve a useful purpose but also allows Internet advertisers to display advertisements (pop-up and banner ads)
Adware and Spyware Spyware
Adware that employs the user’s Internet connection in the background without your permission or knowledge.
It usually sends information to a third party for identity theft.
Cookies Information about you can be captured
legitimately and automatically each time you visit a website
This information is recorded as a “cookie” on your disk
Then the website owners may sell the information from cookies to third parties
Cookies can also be intercepted or retrieved form your hard disk by hackers
Cookies are written by a Web site on a visitor’s hard drive. When the visitor returns to that Web site, the Web server requests the ID number from the cookie and uses it to access the data stored by that server on that visitor. The Web site can then use these data to display personalized information.
Figure 4-3
HOW COOKIES IDENTIFY WEB VISITORS
European Directive on Data Protection:
Companies must inform people information is collected and disclose how it is stored and used.
Requires informed consent of customer.EU member nations cannot transfer personal data
to countries without similar privacy protection (e.g., the United States).
U.S. businesses use safe harbor framework.○ Self-regulating policy and enforcement that meets
objectives of government legislation but does not involve government regulation or enforcement.
Privacy: Opt-in versus Opt-out Opt-in
You (the customer) explicitly consent to allow data to be compiled about you.
Privacy: Opt-in versus Opt-out Opt-out
Data can be compiled about you (the customer) unless you specifically request it not be
Privacy Issues
Violation of Privacy:Accessing individuals’ private e-
mail conversations and computer records,
Collecting and sharing information about individuals gained from their visits to Internet websites
Privacy Issues
Computer Monitoring:Always knowing where a person is,
especially as mobile and paging services become more closely associated with people rather than places
Computers used to monitor the productivity and behavior of employees as they work
Privacy Issues
Computer MatchingUsing customer information gained
from many sources to market additional business services
Unauthorized Personal FilesCollecting telephone numbers, e-mail
addresses, credit card numbers, and other personal information to build individual customer profiles
Protecting your Privacy on the Internet
E-mail can be encrypted ISP can be asked not to sell your
name and personal information to mailing list providers and other marketers
Decline to reveal personal data and interests on online service and website user profiles
Advances in IT
Advances in data analysis techniques○ Profiling
Combining data from multiple sources to create dossiers of detailed information on individuals
○ Nonobvious relationship awareness (NORA)Combining data from multiple sources to find
obscure hidden connections that might help identify criminals or terrorists
Read the Interactive Session and discuss the following questions
Interactive Session: Technology
Why do mobile phone manufacturers (Apple, Google, and BlackBerry) want to track where their customers go?
Do you think mobile phone customers should be able to turn tracking off? Should customers be informed when they are being tracked? Why or why not?
Do you think mobile phone tracking is a violation of a person’s privacy?
Life on the Grid: iPhone becomes iTrack
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