Key Technology Trends That Raise Ethical Issues - Research Paper Example

Key Technology Trends that raise Ethical Issues Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Information Technology and Ethics 2 Key Technology Trends and Ethical Issues 4 Abstract This paper discusses the technology trends that raises ethical issues. Without a doubt, the use of information technology is aimed at improving the efficiency and performance of a business, but illegal or ineffective use of information technology causes a wide variety of ethical and security concerns. This paper presents an overview of ethical concerns that are caused by the information technology. Introduction The information technology brings about a number of ethical, social, and political issues. Additionally, ethical issues consist of both political and social issues. For instance, at present, customer service has turned out to be one of the most important organizational tasks or services which engender a large number of ethical challenges and issues. In many cases, the lack of education and training in the subject of internet use has made a large number of individuals to take part in activities that question their ethics (Boateng). This paper will present an overview of key technological trends that raise various ethical issues. Information Technology and Ethics Basically, ethics is a set of rules and principles that tell the individual whether they are wrong or right, acting as free of charge ethical agents, from which people draw guidance while making decisions to direct their actions and behaviors. Without a doubt, the information technology (IT) has brought wonderful advantages and opportunities to business organizations as well as individuals. It has modernized and revolutionized all the fields of life. However, at the same time it has caused a wide variety of ethical issues for individuals, business organizations and cultures for the reason that they open new horizons for strong societal change, and as a result intimidate offered distributions of authority, capital, privileges, and responsibilities. In addition, similar to any other technologies, for instance, electricity, steam engines, the telephone, fax machine and the radio, information technology can be utilized to accomplish social development; on the other hand, it can also be used by the bad people to carry out illegal activities. For instance, they can use it to threaten cherished social values and commit crimes. In this scenario, the advancements of information technology will create advantages and opportunities for a large number of businesses and individuals as well as expenses for others. In addition, information technology has given a great deal more pressure to ethical issues through the developments in the Internet, electronic commerce (e-Commerce) and electronic business (e-Business) (Laudon and Laudon). It is an admitted fact that the Internet and other similar digital technologies make it easier for the bad people to bring together, integrate, and dispense their criminal activities. Some of the cases that can cause various ethical issues and concerns can include misuse of data and information, giving a free rein to new concerns regarding the suitable utilization of customers’ information, the security of individual privacy, and the protection of intellectual property and rights. Sometime, the staff members of an organization having extraordinary skills and knowledge can deceive IT resources and business systems by using fake information and records and redirecting money at a level unbelievable in the pre-computer age. Some of the other well-known and vital ethical concerns caused by the increasing use of information technology comprise setting up responsibility for the costs of information technology and business management systems, establishing standards and measures to ensure the security of systems’ quality that ensures the security and privacy of society and individuals, and maintaining values and foundations believed to be critical to the quality of life in an information culture (Laudon and Laudon). Key Technology Trends and Ethical Issues Although the age of the Internet came more than thirty years ago and the age of the World Wide Web began approximately ten years ago, people have just started to deal with the ethical concerns and scenarios caused by these technological developments. Additionally, we cannot determine one person’s ethics in opposition to another person’s need to earn income or cause confusion, which has been made much simpler by the Internet. The U.S. government has now started to develop and implement laws and regulations to deal with cyber crimes; however, it is not easy to stay one step ahead of the cybercriminals (Laudon and Laudon). At the present moment, information technology trends can cause a wide variety of ethical issues; some of the well-known instances of information technology trends that set off such debates comprise (Blurit; Wu, Ye and Yang): Social networking Cell phones Video games Social networking as an impact on privacy A social networking site is a web based platform where people sign up by providing their personal information and interests. In this way, other people see this information and contact them in order to build relationship. A large number of people use social networks to stay in touch with their friends and families. However, when social networking turns out to be more pervasive, by means of applications, for instance, on Twitter and Facebook, a large number of people start questioning their effect on the right to security and privacy. In spite of everything, Facebook users and administrators are aware of all kinds of data about the individuals who have created profiles on this website. In fact, these profiles can also come into view in internet search results, having serious impacts on an individual’s privacy. Even though the security and privacy settings on Twitter or Facebook can be changed or updated, there is always a possibility that managers, colleagues and other people can access information that they are not authorized to view. For some, Facebook and Twitter represent a trend toward overall loss of privacy on the World Wide Web (Blurit; Wu, Ye and Yang). In their book, Laudon and Laudon outline some of the technology trends that raise ethical issues. Table 1 outlines the latest IT trends and their impacts on organizations: Table 1. Information technology trends and key ethical issues (Laudon and Laudon): Technology Trends Impacts Computing power doubles every 18 months The majority of business firms heavily depend on computer systems for the management of their critical operations. Rapidly declining data storage costs Organizations can easily build and maintain detailed databases on individuals. Data analysis advances Companies can analyze vast quantities of data gathered on individuals to develop detailed profiles of individual behavior. Networking advances and the Internet Copying data from one location to another and accessing personal data from remote locations are much easier. Table 1 shows that the information technology provides an excellent support for different organizational functions, but at the same time it causes various security and privacy concerns. For instance, it uses databases to store customers’ data and information, and there is a possibility that their data and information can be used illegally. Conclusion In conclusion, information technology plays a significant role in the successful execution and improvement of business operations. It also causes certain security and privacy issues. This paper has discussed various security issues that can happen due to illegal use of information technology. In this scenario, employees’ education and training can play a significant role in addressing these issues. Works Cited Blurit. Assess At Least Three Key Technology Trends That Raise Ethical Issues. Give An Example Of An Ethical Or Moral Impact Connected To Each One? 2012. Web. 20 November 2012 . Boateng, Richard. “Management Information Systems.” 2010. Web. 22 November 2012 Laudon, Kenneth C., and Jane P. Laudon. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 9th edition. New York: Prentice Hall, 2005. Print. Wu, Bin, et al. "Group CRM: a new telecom CRM framework from social network perspective." CNIKM '09 Proceedings of the 1st ACM international workshop on Complex networks meet information & knowledge management. ACM New York, NY, USA, 2009. 3-10. Read More