Social Issues in Technology - Assignment Example

Social Issues in Technology Introduction This paper seeks to determine the issues that affect the ethical standards. Computer ethical standards are guidelines given to the computer professionals. They help the professionals to work according to the prescribed code of conduct[ CITATION Alc86 \l 1033 ]. These standards must be adhered to by all the individuals working with technology so as to avoid penalties imposed by the authorities involved in creating them. Ethical standards are administered in every nation according to the way the country is developed. Ethics are therefore constituted in the company as they affect how a computer and technological matters are handled. Technology is of a very big importance to the current world[ CITATION Gol99 \l 1033 ]. But if used in the wrong way it may pose a threat to the entire world at large. Many people have now invested in technology and hence guided by the set rules. The flexibility of the system should be the main goal for the developers of ethics. The system also needs s to be consistent .the consistency of the system as the people are always encouraged to take heed of the various policies that can be developed. Face book is used by a large number of people. When registering, a person is supposed to provide personal information to a certain extend. This personal information is entitled to privacy and a high level of confidentiality[ CITATION Ina77 \l 1033 ]. However this right to privacy has been violated as currently even if the user deletes the account, the information that was private is still kept by the company’s database. Face book has also updated their license which make it possible for the user to be easily tracked .This is largely controversial to the computer ethics; they state that the user should be given the respect to privacy. This hence deprives the user off the right to privacy. Ethical regulations state that the collected information should only be used for the intended use and no other reason whatsoever. Face book has therefore failed to adhere to the set rules and regulation pertaining computer technology. The government is supposed to come up with ethical regulations that can be easily followed by all people with less pressure or discrimination[ CITATION Mad79 \l 1033 ]. This is according to the ethical regulations that state that individuals should be treated equally regardless of the age, race and color. The loss of the 80 computers posed a major risk to the national governments private information that is supposed to be kept very confidential and is not supposed to leak to the public. This is because this information may pose a major risk to the nation’s security. The government did not put in place strategies that would help to avoid cases of theft. This is therefore contrary to the ethical regulation that prohibits theft and destruction of electronic and technological machines[ CITATION Mad79 \l 1033 ]. This stolen property may be used to access accounts and files associated with the most sensitive information of a government Stuxnet was the name given to the cyber war malware worm that was created by the US government in conjunction with the Israeli government to invade the Iranian nuclear programmed without the use of military solutions. Stuxnet was a worm that was of 500kilo bytes. It infected the software of at least 14 industrial sites in Iran. The worm spread itself over a computer network and destroyed the ongoing programs. The infection did not necessarily require the computers to be online. As a result of this worm, the nuclear companies were shut down as the companies could not trust the workers. However this worm was very harmful as it derailed trains, poisoned water supplies and power plants. Hence this proved to be very hazardous to the residents[ CITATION Ove99 \l 1033 ]. The statement that was quoted claiming that the cyber wars were better than physical harms others in the process of the creating software’s. But in this case of the creation of the worm, the worm was created like a tool for mass destruction; it destroyed the civilian infrastructure which is supposed to be put in the frontline by the programmers. The software scientist did not put into consideration the ethic regulation that states the software should not harm individuals. Nevertheless there has been a heated debate to whether the creation of the worm was necessary on not in fighting the Iranian nuclear preparation programme. According to the US government, stuxnate was considered to be favorable to be used as it did not include the use of military weapons and bombes that would destruct the human habitat[ CITATION Sie99 \l 1033 ]. However what they did not put into considerations are the effects of the worm to the human being. This is because the warm derailed the normal infrastructure processes. It poisoned water for consumption and also it power houses to a stop. This was very contradicting to the computer ethical regulations. They determine that when creating programmes, the human safety should be put into consideration[ CITATION Mad79 \l 1033 ]. Both the ACM and the IEEE require a computer expert to put into consideration the human safety. Furthermore the US government was supposed to take responsibility of the effect of imposing the worm; this is according to the IEEE code of ethics that requires a company or person to accept responsibility in making decisions that would be harmful to the welfare of the public. With regards to the ACM and IEEE codes, the behaviors may at times be consistent or inconsistent. The degree of consistency of the behavior depends with how the people conduct themselves in relation to the computer technology ethics. The main aspect that requires consideration in the case of the company’s flexibility of the set rules. According to the ACM rules, the computer professionals are supposed to ensure that there is no lose of information; however this is not applicable in this case as the worm malware after invading the programme it leads to the loss of a company’s useful information[ CITATION Sie99 \l 1033 ]. Furthermore the worm resulted to property damage and also affected the environment which is completely against the ACM ethics. Some behaviors as seen in the given case scenarios are not exactly in line with the required code of conduct expected by the computer ethics. The behavior concerned with privacy security and computer security. It can evidently be seen that the privacy behavior has not been adhered to. The case of face book updating their rights is a very clear example as it does not consider the ethical guidelines that are expected to be followed. When a customer registers with face book, he is supposed to provide the company with personal information; in return the company is expected to keep the information private and confidential in order to attain the client’s privacy[ CITATION Ove99 \l 1033 ]. This has however changed due to the imposed government rules and regulations. Hence the company is expected to share this personal information with authorities. As a result, it breaches the ethical code that requires a customer’s information to be kept very private and confidential. These changes in policies have led the government to implement various courses of action. Like in the case where a person with a criminal record will be tracked down until they are delivered to the police authorities. Moreover, personal information very crucial and sometimes a party that is interested in exploiting a person may get access to this private information[ CITATION Ove99 \l 1033 ]. However the behavior must be consistent with private rules that are expected by the computer ethical code. These ethical codes are therefore very necessary as they protect data from external parties who would have the interest of damaging a person’s personal information. The people’s behavior should also govern the main activities in the field of computer and technology. The personnel working with the technology firms should be well versed with the ethical codes emphasize on the company’s property rights. According to the ACM regulations, the computer professionals are expected to protect the integrity of the intellectual property. This is where each professional should be credited according to their personal efforts and determination of their work[ CITATION Alc86 \l 1033 ]. The professionals are also supposed to respect the company’s machinery and technological equipment. This includes rules that set to prevent cases of trespass, they are also advised not to access other persons work. This however has not been followed to the latter for like in the case of the 80 missing computers from the governments lab[ CITATION Mad79 \l 1033 ]. This basically shows that the measures put in place to curb theft cases had not been adhered to. When all the practical issues are highly consistent, it creates a better way of addressing the major effects in a technological system. The main factor that requires to be considered is the quality of the property rights that govern the software development. This is an intellectual right of ownership of the given software. The developed behavior should hence consistent and comply with what is right. The company must come up with best principles that will protect the software from being duplicated[ CITATION Ina77 \l 1033 ]. Once this is taken into consideration, then the behaviors developed will be consistent. Moreover, computer security should be considered whereby the computer is protected from virus and worm that might cause risks to the company[ CITATION Ove99 \l 1033 ]. Work cited CITATION Alc86 \l 1033 : , (Alcorn, 1986), CITATION Gol99 \l 1033 : , (Golmann, 1999), CITATION Ina77 \l 1033 : , (Ina & Price, 1977), CITATION Mad79 \l 1033 : , (Madnick, Hsiao, & Kerr, 1979), CITATION Ove99 \l 1033 : , (Overly, 1999), CITATION Sie99 \l 1033 : , (Siefert, Genge, & Fisher, 1999), Read More