Computer Ethics Is a Fundamental Issue - Essay Example

? Computer Ethics Introduction Computer ethics have been a fundamental issue since the emergence of computers. The rapid growth and development of computers has led to the evolution of how they can be used inappropriately (Cavalier, 2005). This is to the detriment of society and its values. Since the application of computers is widespread, its use and application in juvenile practices is also vast. With the evolution of computer use in our society, the storage of most of people’s has become digitalized. The information stored varies from highly sensitive to potentially harmless information about the user. Organizations store information about their staff, their clients and their operations in general. This kind of information is sensitive and should be secure. Leakages of this kind of information to the competitors, would expose the organization’s confidential data. Computer ethics leads to prevent these kinds of actions and regulate the kind of personal information about users that can be released and under which circumstances it would be legal. Ethics also deal with the kind of actions that should be taken against people who illegally access unauthorized information. The ethical issues related to information technology are very many and they have been described in detail in many sources, with scholars taking different opinions on the privacy of data. Enforced codes of conduct. The regulation of information management is essential in the Information technology field, because the sensitivity of the information varies greatly. The privacy of one’s information is one of the fundamental universal human rights (Edgar, 1997). These rights flow over to the privacy of digital information. If these codes of conduct are enforced to all professional bodies, they will be obliged to secure their information better. This will increase the integrity of data and reduce cases of unauthorized access. This will also reduce the cases of attackers masquerading and getting other users information. Information theft has led to many cybercrimes and deliberate sabotage. Data that has not been properly secured has led to other crimes like identity theft and fraud. With the adoption of the ethical codes, the measures taken in the securing of data will improve greatly. If the codes are universally and forcefully enforced, there might be issuance of licenses to all information systems professionals, and all the related users/ people who handle information. This would help the body mandated with this responsibility to monitor all its members and know their activities. This monitoring will help them to track any perpetrators who have committed cybercrimes easily. This will also lead to punishment of professionals who have not acquired the license. For the license to be acquired the body will require all the applicants to meet certain requirements. The meeting of these requirements will ensure a certain level of professionalism that will have to be met by all the members. This professionalism will ensure the assurance in the quality of service and operations by the IS professional. The enforced ethical codes will also ensure that some standards that foster good ethics are met. Standardization of a sensitive issue like ethics will be a great advantage to all involved. This will provide guidelines on the mode of operation regarding the issue, and it will provide a structure (Johnson, 2000). This will also help create a transparent structure, which will be available to every user and administrator of the system. This will consequently reduce the number of cases that arise from the abuse of information. With the enforcement of the codes of conduct, users will also feel more secure about divulging their accurate information to organization and companies. This will be due to the laid out regulation that will be governing all the professionals. The codes will also compel users to submit their correct information. In some cases, users do not give out accurate information even when it is necessary. With the enforcing of the codes of conduct, it will be considered illegal to submit inaccurate information. This will help regulate the users of the systems. In these views, the enforcement of the code of ethics will improve the field of information systems by having standards and a universally accepted mode of operations (Edgar, 1997). The users of the systems will also be involved in the reforms process. In the scenario where the city accesses the tax records of city businesses from the IRS, the city might argue that, this method of information acquisition was the only way to track down these businesses. It might also argue that the information was acquired in an attempt to uphold the law, by tracking down these businesses. The city might add that, the IRS is the only government body that has access to these records that are accurate and up to date. This is because the city government needs the most current tax records for their referral. The privacy advocates might argue that, the acquisition of information in this manner is unlawful. They will argue that it was a breach of security by the IRS, as they are not allowed to give out other people’s information without the person’s permission or knowledge. Computer matching should not be permitted because it leads to a compromise in the security of data. Organizations are given different types of information according to their functions, and if the can access information from other sources then it is considered a breach in security. This can also lead to data theft with intruders masquerading and accessing the information. Privacy and Security Privacy and security are closely related but differ their fundamental meaning. Privacy is more user oriented, it is determined by the user when he/she decides the kind of information they want to give out and where that information goes (Lessig, 1997). This is the privacy of information and it entirely dependent on the holder of the information. Security on the other hand is the belief held by the user that information will be kept safe. Securities are the measures taken to keep the user data safe. This is to prohibit unauthorized access from intruders. The level of security differs according to the sensitivity of the information held. References Cavalier, R. (2005). The Impact of the Internet on Our Moral Lives. Albany, NY: Suny Press. Edgar, S. (1997). Morality and Machines: Perspectives on Computer Ethics. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Forester, T., Morrison. (1993). Computer Ethics. Massachusetts: MIT Press. Johnson, G, D. (2000). Computer Ethics. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. J. van den Hoven., & Wecket, J. (2007). Moral Philosophy and Information Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lessig, L. (1997). Computer Ethics and Society. Oxford: Oxford Press. . Read More