Ethics and Regulations in IT - Essay Example

Ethics and IT Ethics Many of the hundred millions of computer users in the world have no idea what makes a computer work. They are not interested inlooking inside the box. Users believe that computer professionals are there to be able to help them with things like designing, locating, retrieving, using, configuring, programming, maintaining, and understanding not only computers but their networks, application and digital objects (Denning, 2008). This paper will discuss the ethics of that profession that is able to provide so much information technology. The profession itself, consists of many branches these days which include computer science, information systems, information science, software engineering, computer engineering, database engineering, network engineering systems engineering, software architecture, human-computer interface design, computational science, computational statistics, numerical modeling, library sciences and several more. All of these segments of the profession have an important ethical component. That component is the method in which information is dealt with (Denning, 2008). Computer ethics comes from the practical concerns that occur in connection to the fact that essentially everyones life is available on a computer. The so called digital revolution in contemporary society has caused many good things to happen but also some very confusing things such as what the ethical considerations are. When studied by Floridi & Sanders (2002), it was found that ethical considerations were inconsistent, inadequate and unsatisfying as well as lacking in regular principles. The aim of computer ethics must be to reach decisions that are defensible as well as having principle and have moral insight. With this technology, no one is watching over their shoulder which allows these ethical considerations to be less defensible than others. The profession must develop ethical decision making tactics that are defensible both ethically and legally. There is presently much research being done to determine what the true definition of ethics is and should be and how it is maintained in the setting of a computing profession. It is also questioned as to what makes a difference in maintaining those ethical standards and whether that can be done without instituting more legal action to maintain (Litzky, 2008). One has to wonder if ethics can be legislated anyway. Litzky ask in the question of whether or not IT education on ethics makes a difference in whether ethical policies are followed? The six issues addressed in the study were the same that are listed in the codes of ethics for IT professionals. Those issues are a violation of intellectual property rights, a violation of customer privacy, a violation of employee privacy, spamming, violation of free speech and an exaggeration of IT capabilities. Of all the issues, the most widely discussed is probably the intellectual property rights issue. This has to do with the pirating of music files and movies files. There has been new legislation enacted in several states over this issue and yet the problem continues. The Recording Industry has lost so much money over this issue alone that it has become a major reorganization issue for the industry (Litzky, 2008). The second of the issues is the violation of privacy. Violation of privacy has been a problem for IT for some time and is probably one of the largest debated ethical issues of concern. There are actually two types of violation of privacy which are violation of customer privacy and violation of employee privacy. In the first, customer information is stolen or used inappropriately and in the second an employees information is stolen ore used inappropriately. Spamming is the third. This has been such a huge issue to consumers that many European countries have stopped it all together and the United States is in process of debating that same measure (Litzky, 2008). Advances in technology has brought with it all these new kinds of issues and problems. File sharing, downloading, hacking and cybersquatting are just a few of those. With all of this comes ethical behaviors that we have not had to deal with before. Along with the need to deal with new ethical standards the law has become more involved in trying to solve the problems related. The majority of society just wants people to act ethically when they are in cyberspace but for the law, the issues are more serious (McMahon, & Cohen, 2009). An example of a serious issue was the 2005 case of the Business Software Alliance that found that 52% of college students and 25% of faculty and administrators believed it to be alright if they downloaded and swapped copyrighted files in the workplace. Many people justified this action by making statements such as why should I buy a whole album when I only need one song? It becomes easy to justify this kind of theft because there is no one actually standing there seeing you put it in your pocket. At this point, the ethics of this kind of action is up to the judgment of the user. There has not been enough past experience with this to say that the ethical standard is thus.(McMahon, et.al., 2009). There are however, ethical decision making models that can be and are used. Illustrating the determinants of behavior is the focus of the models. These models do not tell what to do but help in the understanding of the steps to solving an ethical dilemma (Lee & Perry, 2004). Rest designated a decision making process in which there is four components. The first is awareness, the second is judgment, then intention, and last is behavior. Awareness is when one comes to the conclusion that there is an ethical issue. Judgment then represents the stage in which one uses a variety of strategies to determine which is the right course of action. In the stage of intention the person might decide to be ethical or unethical in his decision. A second model is the contingency model in which the ethical decision making process begins in the social or cultural environment. Once an ethical issue is determined to have occurred or is occurring, it is realized that the determination to be ethical or unethical may be influenced greatly by those around the person in the environment. This entire environment has an effect on present as well as future ethical decisions. For example, it may be very important in ones family to get very good grades. In order to meet that need, the person cheats or steals information and though he has been unethical in his actions, he has solved his cultural issue which comes first. A third often used model is Trevinos model which is named as Person-Situation Interactionist Model. When the ethical dilemma occurs, what the person chooses to do is based on their cognitive development. Ego strength and locus of control are also factors here. Some people never establish a locus of control and are never mature cognitively and these are the most likely people to have difficulty and be unethical in their choices. In the online environment, there is one more which is Machiavellianism. In this case it is believed that normal rules of ethics do not pertain to these cyberspaces and therefore they can make decisions related to themselves and not what they would normally do. These people will always go to the limits. They are also very likely to tell customers that the computer can solve everything and not be truthful in order to make a sale (McMahon, & Cohen, 2009). In the advancement of technology that has occurred in this last century, the industry itself has realized that there is a great need to teach ethical reasoning. "Ethical computer and Internet behavior involves dozens of issues, including plagiarism, inappropriate use of computer resources, social engineering, cyber-stalking, and piracy" (Woodward, David, Hodis, 2007 pg 1). The expenses that are lost because of cyberspace ethics issues are huge and continue to get larger. It then becomes the responsibility of information technology classroom to assure that ethical behavior in the use of a computer is well taught. It is also important that the IT organizations take an active step in prevention of cyberspace dealings that are unethical. Ethics must be internalized to be of any use in todays organizations. The IT process and organizations must gain a better understanding of what appropriate ethical behavior is and be sure that it is always taught in the classroom. Studies such as that done by Haines and Leonard (2007) indicate that even though there is a code of ethics for IT people, most people make decisions based in the time they are making them and the situation they are in. This study showed that 97% of the decisions that were made were related to the changing situation. That might mean that a single method approach under the IT canopy will not work or it might mean that the decision making is not made in the appropriate manner. This requires more study to know. It does indicate, however, that there may very well be the need to develop more laws related to how one might approach any particular situation in a cyberspace ethical dilemma. With ethical issues being so prominent in the IT industry, and widespread illegal distribution of intellectual property as well as privacy violations, well known crimes like theft and forgery have hit new highs as they come back in new forms in IT. Studies such as the one done by Hines, & Leonard (2007) show that 80% of all IT crimes against a corporation are performed by their employees either purposely or accidentally. 78% of corporations have had to discipline employees for downloading pornography, pirated software or misusing e-mail. It is obvious that at this point it is difficult to live with the ramifications of the IT that has come about. An example of what has happened is shown in the cloning of the lamb they called Dolly. This was tremendously important technology that came about and certainly none of it could have happened without the computer but was cloning this small animal ethical? With new technology it is hard to know the answer to that question. This applies to computer technology too. The technology itself is still so new, it is hard to know what the ethical rules and legal rules are going to be (Healy, 2010). It is concerning because one of the major problems is the unanticipated consequences of the journey. Mr. Dietrich Dorner recently analyzed the way that system help us see why there are unanticipated consequences to technology, both ethically and otherwise. There are actually four reasons according to him that this happens (Healy, 2010). Those are the complexity, dynamics, intransparence, and ignorance and mistaken hypothesis. This is true of new ethical concerns as well. The complexity of the decision is reflected in the many different components that are involved in the decision. IT decisions are often complex. Almost always there are interrelated issues that may affect the decision. There may be many players involved in the final decision as to what is ethical and what is not. Of course, there are easier decisions, for example theft whether it is on the internet or otherwise is ethically wrong but other issues such as determining whether or not to use a software that was not allowed in your corporation in order to get ahead of the others is more difficult. Another issue that makes these ethical decisions difficult is intrnsparence which means you cant see it. If you cant see a problem, such as the one you put out there in cyberspace, how can it be an ethical of unethical issue? In conclusion, it is difficult to know at this time where the ethical and legal ramifications of the IT industry will go. It has not been tightly controlled in the past though the ethical statements are strong. Though many people do not understand the workings of their hardware, many do understand the concerns of cyberspace invasion of their privacy. They also understand pirating and advertising, and so many other issues that they are hit with everyday when they open their computer. The IT industry itself is criticized for all of the many unethical issues that occur. That industry should, in fact, be involved in assuring that a good ethical standard is created. In this paper the discussion included several models that can be used to create an ethical program that works. One of those models or another model should be used to develop what the standard is as many of the studies noted show that even those in leadership are somewhat confused as to the appropriate way to make the right ethical decision, especially since so many of these decisions are complex in the making. As far as the public goes, they only want to be able to get on their computer and browse the internet without having to worry about losing their identity or having someone get private information that they would rather not share. The law, on the other hand, wants and needs a way to punish those that would commit fraud, steal, threaten or bully others. They also need to be able to find those that would and do destroy so often and so easily by creating damaging virus and worms or interrupting businesses just for the fun of doing it . These are the people that need to be punished. It is still difficult to say that one can legislate morality or ethics but one can punish those that choose not to be moral or ethical. Resources Denning, P. (2008). Computing the profession. Educom Review. 33(6). 26. Floridi, L., Sanders, J. (2002). Mapping the foundationalist debate in computer ethics. Ethics and Information Technology. 4. 1-9. Haines, R., Leonard, L.(2007). Situational influences on ethical decision-making in an IT context. Information & Management.44(3). 313. Haines, RT., & Leonard, L. (2007). Individual characteristics and ethical decision-making in an IT context. Industrial Management and Data Systems 107(2) 5-20. Healy, T. (2010). The unanticipated consequences of technology. found at http:www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/healy/consequences.html. Lee, K., & Perry, K. (2004). Student instant message use in a ubiquitous computing environment: effects of deficient self-regulation. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. 48(3). 399-420. Litzky, B., Oz, E., (2008). Ethical issues in information technology: Does education make a difference? International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education. 4(2). 67. McMahon, J., Cohen, R. (2009). Lost in cyberspace: ethical decision making in the online environment. Ethics and Information Technology. 11(1). 1-17. Senevratne, M. (2000). Consumer complaints and the legal profession: making self-regulation work? International Journal of the Legal Professions. 7(1). Woodward, B., Davis, D., Hodis, F. (2007). Journal of Information Systems Education. 18(2). 10 pgs. http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/open-source.html http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/search-engine-panel.html. Read More