Ethical and Professional Issues for Computers and the Internet - Assignment Example

Introduction The world is quickly embracing Information Technology in almost all spheres of life – this has resulted in a number of conflicting situations that necessitate the application of ethical principles and laws governing those situations. The paper is a learning journal containing a summary of module 4 to 9 and responses to discussion questions at the end of each module. MODULE 4: Privacy and surveillance Privacy is defined as a person’s right to maintain free space devoid off external interference. The latter aspect is not easy to implement owing to the fact that organizational needs often clash with private/ individual needs. Experts assert that privacy should be treated as a right because it is almost equal to property rights. Violations of privacy rights can occur in the following scenarios: satellite surveillance, loyalty cards, warranty cards, public declarations on bankruptcy, data mining and many others. (Baase, 2003) Privacy rights normally revolve around two things: access to and rate of accessing that information. The law usually helps out in meeting some of these obligations. Baase (2003) claims that these matters can be analysed under three major spheres i.e. data users (those people who possess the data) should embrace data protection (adoption and promotion of ethical practise) of their personal data (which is the information that is being protected). Privacy protection has played a tremendous role in today’s business arena. However, some proponents claim that implementation of the latter term could prevent businesses from assessing their consumers for changing demands or for credibility during loan approval. In fact, most businesses create profiles of individuals through little bits of information available in the internet. Clark (1999) adds that concerns over privacy can prevent some people from engaging in e-commerce. Consequently, means of protection should be identified. One common method of doing this is through encryption mechanisms such as: SSL, firewalls and file encryption. The latter method is favoured more than past approaches such as simple codes, nonetheless, given the rapid advancements in technology, it is likely that cryptography will be favoured. The legal framework revolves around contracts / agreements, privacy policies and settling disputes. The Australian Privacy Act of 1998 states that no data should be collected unlawfully. Law enforcement authorities are also vulnerable to privacy issues as they are susceptible and they must protect other people’s privacy as well. In the future, privacy will be seen as a source of competitive advantage. Email privacy is another important area – here, people’s perceptions of the post master are affected by the number of providers, the mail systems, legislations, moral responsibilities and maintenance of true users. Consequently, post masters ought to ensure that they possess security interfaces, system policies, breach procedures etc. Surveillance at work may come in when organisations are trying to trap robbers, prevent money loss, alter work relationships and monitor work in general. However, this phenomenon’s main disadvantages include heightened stress, competition and lack of support from employees. There seems to be a clash between a professional’s responsibilities to his employers and to society as well. Within the health sector, privacy is of utmost concern because information about people’s medicines, suicidal attempts, sexually transmitted diseases etc can be obtained. Given this concern, one must address one of the most dominant issues faced in today’s hospitals i.e. Virtual patient records. The latter have a number of benefits to health care practitioners: allow quick and easy access to patient information. (IT Australian, 2000) On the other hand they require high structure in data and are quite complex. One initiative to improve it is the Health Australian Card. In close relation to the latter are virtual hospitals and pharmacies. The latter could be avenues for spam as some spammers may pose as health providers only to mess up one’s systems. Questions at the end of the module -Is it ethically acceptable for a project manager to design a system that secretly conveys negative information about customers? No. Doing so would be a violation of consumer’s privacy because consent had not been obtained. -Under what conditions should the manager of computer service company release information on a subscriber’s use of its services? This should be done if overall public good is at stake or if the consumer is okay with it. -Should we just accept surveillance as a necessary evil (e.g. in public places etc.)? No, surveillance may have some few positives but countries such as Britain that implemented video surveillance in restaurants found no substantial information regarding their benefits. -Are there any laws/policies stopping people from using video footage after it has been captured (e.g. from mobile phones)? Yes. The Australian Privacy Act 1998 prevents people from using information unlawfully or without letting the affected parties know who collected it. -What are your views of the Australia Card proposal currently being put forward by the Australian Government? This is the face of the future: it will make health coverage much easier and more streamlined. -Look back at public reaction to this proposal when it was put forward by previous governments in the past. Do you think that due to IT innovations the public will have differing views now to what was favoured in the past? Yes -Why or why not? Presently and in the future, people are seeing all the benefits of IT and have realised that privacy will be a small price to pay for what they could gain. -Do you think that other factors may influence public reaction, if so what exactly? Other factors that could affect them include: efficiencies of current VPR systems – if the latter are working well, then it is likely that people will favour more of it in the long run. MODULE 5: IT in the workplace Information technology has become a necessity at the work place. In this regard, it has restructured the work arena. Some people argue that IT has reduced resource usage (such as the need for transport because of telecommuting, brought jobs to seemingly poor nations, improved quality of work through software programs like word processors, allowed training of workers and facilitated re-skilling. On the other hand, others believe that IT has brought gender equity controversies, control issues, support systems challenges, problems concerning organization at work and mental and physical injuries such as Repetitive Strain injury. The latter can be handled by employers through sound work procedures and paying attention to employees’ concerns. In addition to the latter advantages, IT has changed sizes of businesses operating globally, increased teleworking and telecommuting, increased self employment and led to more contractors. Telecommuting can lead to more family time, greater productivity, reduced transit time and less pollution. On the other hand, they could cause lower job satisfaction and less effective supervisions. IT has created virtual offices, de-layering and a PC revolution. Employee monitoring has therefore become a point of concern. Employers posses a right to monitor their employees, however, they must put in mind that this should be done with employees’ knowledge. The case of Abc firm put in the issues of accountability where there is a need to look at industry culture, commercial environments, goals and ownership of the employee. 1.If automation has doubled productivity since World War II, why hasn’t the work week gotten shorter? Automation has created new top level and middle level jobs thus offsetting the jobs that were eliminated through automation 2. Explain the following terms in your own words: · Digital divide, global divide, and social divide. Digital divide refers to the differences arising between people because of differing access and manipulation of IT. The global divide refers to differential effects of globalisation and the social divide refers to differences in social spheres of life. ·Globalisation – a phenomenon in which countries of the world become more dependent on each other socially, economically and politically · Telework- Work that is done from distant locations though IT facilitation. 1.What kinds of mistakes may cause a computer to produce a fault output? Power problems, lack of adequate network coverage and poor system’s management. 2.What are the advantages and disadvantages of allowing software users to identify and report bugs? Reports may be too many, lack of adequate structures to deal with them and possibility of malicious reports. 3.Explain in your own words what is meant by “digital divide”, “global divide” and “social divide”. (See explanations above) 4.What evidence has been given to demonstrate that automation eliminates jobs? Statistics on diminished numbers of casual jobs and use of robots and machinery in industries. What evidence has been given to show that automation creates more jobs than it destroys? Statistics on creation of service related jobs that cannot be automated have grown by leaps now than before widespread use of IT – banking sector, investment and IT systems jobs have grown as well. MODULE 6: Intellectual property and its protection Intellectual property is any tangible property belonging to a firm or a person. The law protects these laws through copyrights and patents. -extent to which non-literal elements of the program are protected- when the material has the potential of causing financial gains to the organisation or person being victimised. -extent to which copyright protects functional elements and protocols in computer programs-they only protect programs running as it should be done on behalf of the owner but not reproduction -whether program outputs such as screen displays and user interfaces are protected- the latter are not protected because they are classified as uniform products. -extent to which literal copying is permitted- if the material is categorised as free software or if there are no obligations by the parties involved i.e. it is classified as public domain information. -whether reverse engineering is permitted. It is permitted when it has been done in order to test computer security, understand software ideas and eliminate errors. Analyse the scenario and particularly think about: 1.Whether Marita was justified in doing what she did? Marita’s ideas were understandable but extreme. She should find a way of only allowing one copy and then leave a neutral notification message to individuals attempting to copy more. 2.Does Michael have any obligation to his employer to tell them about Marita’s product? Since the overall good of the company is at stake, then Michael is obliged to report the matter to his employers. 3.What other issues can you see as important here? The company is also obliged to protect Marita’s property These activities enable you to "test out" your understanding and knowledge of the material covered in the module. 1.Consider Quinn section 4.10 and your answers to the last activity above. Do these arguments apply equally well to the moral problem of copying copyrighted music and movies? Why or why not? Yes because they represent the same effort and creativity that program and software developers have undergone. 2.The Kennedy Centre Web site is being visited by millions of people who enjoy different forms of art. In 1996 the Centre had a plan to offer snippets of classical concerts, plays etc. so that the public could view some of its programs. Artists and their unions objected. They also wanted royalties, which the Centre was unable to pay. The unions of the Centre's employees are also complaining. They do not like the online ticketing introduced by the Centre. Discuss the ethical (and possible legal) issues of the incident. The first ethical issues concerns using intellectual property by artists for profit without paying them. This infringes on their copyrights. Secondly, the role of IT at the workplace is coming into question as online ticket selling is minimising work related tasks. The latter issue is not really the Centre’s fault as it is a business. 3.Give two or more examples to illustrate that ownership is not absolute and can justly be limited by law and by ethics. E- books found online are debatable as the owners have provided them publically but they can be sued for profit. Additionally, news clips depicted by non related websites fall in this category too. 4.In what sense is a copyright a weak form of ownership? It lasts too long – this is not in line with rate of technological change and it does not protect functionality 5. In what sense is a patent a strong form of ownership – protects functionality and is more in tune with rates of IT change as it lasts for a shorter time. MODULE 7: Censorship and the Internet -Do you think the behaviour of Email users would change if a fee was required to send an Email message? Yes it would – part of the incentive for spammers is that it costs them nothing to send their harmful emails. Suppose the fee was 1 or 2 cents, do you think this would solve the problem of spam? The problem would be reduced but not substantially eliminated. Some spammers would think of the profit margins that they could obtain from their activities and 1/ 2 cents would be a small price to pay for all the benefits they gain from spamming. -Should governments regulate the Internet? No Why or why not? The internet is too wide, users can easily change websites, may come from other countries and can find a way to circumvent censure. Besides, some countries that have attempted this such as China are now having their democracy questioned i.e. it will be challenging free speech. 1.There are many thousands of laws around the globe – national laws, state laws, local laws. Each law has a specific jurisdiction where it applies. How has the Internet generated jurisdictional "policy vacuums" that are relevant to the field of computer ethics? Explain in general, then give a specific example. The internet facilitates wilful dispensation of personal information and it can be difficult to trace which ones were maliciously use. An example is when a web money transfer service has enacted policies an procedures that take up unnecessarily long waiting periods before transferring funds hence frustrating their contracts. 2.How does the Internet raise questions about offending someone? Through the character of the information, whether the work is artistic, academic or literary and the standards of decency and morality that society accepts. For instance a movie found on the internet with racial remarks that incite others would possibly offend someone. 3.From Quinn (2005): " How do you determine the credibility of information you get from the Internet? Through the possible uses of that information, possibility of anonymity of the web owner, security measures adopted by the site, parties that access the information and information collection by its operator. -Does the source of the information make any difference to you? Yes, because there are numerous individuals who are not credibility in their chosen fields. -If so, how would you rank the reliability of each of the following sources of web pages? Does the type of information you are seeking affect your ranking? Yes, because there are established experts in each type of work Establishment newspaper – high ranking Counter-culture newspaper – low ranking Television network – moderate ranking Corporation – greater than average ranking Non-profit organisation – greater than average ranking Individual" – lowest ranking MODULE 8: Computer crime -The Australian Federal Police (AFP) annual report highlights the expected increase in the number of electronic crimes being reported in the coming years ("Police ready for surge in cybercrime", The Australian IT, October 10, 2000, p 35). Discuss how technology has created new opportunities for the growth of crime. IT allows users to engage in fraud anonymously and relatively easily thus promoting this form of crime. The issue of information theft can also be done relatively easily because soliciting or credit card numbers, social security numbers, pins, employee and performance records can be done. Also, advancements in technology have facilitated creation of fake institutional documents or forged currencies. Embezzlement of funds by hacking into another’s information systems is also possible today. Blackmail and extortion through spamming and unwarranted emails have been on the increase through heightened adoption of emails. Besides these, there are a series of privacy invasions and espionages made possible through malicious attacks on people’s software. 1.The term “hacker” has two very different meanings. The “old-fashioned” positive meaning refers to a person who is a “computer whiz” – someone who can push computer technology to its outer limits to achieve very good or very helpful results. What is the negative meaning – and these days the most common meaning – of “hacker” (Hint: also called a “cracker.”) (Computer Ethics & Professional Responsibility) A hacker is any person who accesses another’s computer system without due authority. 2.Why is every successful “break in” to a computer system – even one that changes nothing within the system harmful? (Hint: Does checking for harm cost anything?) (Computer Ethics & Professional Responsibility) It could expose the computer to subsequent break ins, it could bring with it dangerous worms and viruses that can impede the system’s functioning, it could be a way of obtaining information and using it wrongfully or maliciously and it could undermine credibility of an organization. MODULE 9: The IT Professional -Explain why it would be a mistake to consider codes of professional ethics to be laws. The law only gives directions on common place scenarios and there may be situations within a workplace that have not yet become so common as to require redress through the use of law. Also, the law may some times think of benefits of a certain issue from an organisational point or from a one sided perspective without considering what could occur to other parties. Why would it be inappropriate to consider a code of professional ethics to be an exhaustive ethical checklist? There are a number of relationships that the IT professional must maintain within the workplace i.e. to his employers, fellow staff, customers and suppliers, consequently, the code of ethics may not cover all these intricacies. Additionally, a code of ethics may not acknowledge tradeoffs that can arise in business. Besides that, some issues may cause harm but are not treated as being unethical. Also, the code of ethics can sometimes provide obligations to people through coercion. Conclusion Ethics and professionalism is vital to IT because failure to apply these principles can lead to dangerous repercussions. Additionally, it is everyone’s moral duty and responsibility to ensure that he makes the right decisions. References Baase, S. (2003): A Gift of Fire: Social, legal and ethical issues for computers and the internet. 2nd Edtn. San Diego University Press Clarke, R. (1999). "Internet privacy concerns confirm the case for intervention", Communications of the ACM, 42(2), 60- 67 IT Australian (2000). Australia Card. Retrieved 11 June 2009 http://www.health.gov.au/healthonline/nehrt.htm Read More