The Interaction of Modern Computer Technologies - Essay Example

Ethics & Information Technology Ethics & Information Technology is a fundamental topic in the modern world because the continued use of computers and advanced technologies has raised significant ethical issues that the society must address. This topic revolves around defining information ethics by analyzing the correlation between the ethical standards and moral values that the society must adopt and the process of developing, organizing, distributing, and using technological information. Indeed, the interaction of modern computer technologies, technological information, and humans derives ethical dilemmas since the interaction applies in the public domain, private lives, and government operations (Lynch 1). The ethical dilemmas manifest the need to make ethical and legal decisions to guarantee the rights and satisfy the needs of all technology users and the public. This has led to establishment of information technology policies that guides the access, use, and transmission of information technology in the society. Any violation of the policies defines unethical behavior in information technology. However, the advancements in technology allow users to gather, store, manipulate, and communicate technological information, which defines a revolution in the use and dissemination of information that creates ethical dilemmas (Lynch 1). In addressing the ethical dilemmas, information ethics seeks to establish an ethical background that will enhance fair, equitable, and responsible practices with reference to access, privacy, security, and ownership. Nevertheless, it is difficult to develop a specific code of ethics in information technology due to its dynamic nature (Berzai 1). Maner notes, “That the involvement of computers in human conduct can create entirely new ethical issues, unique to computing, that do not surface in other areas” (4). The most dominant ethical problems in IT include ownership disputes, cybercrime, data theft, and hacking, viral infection, unauthorized access to data, hardware, and software, responsibility for computer failure, and inefficiency (Berzai 1). Notably, computer ethics is significant and interesting since computers play special roles in modern society. James H. Moor defines computer ethics as “the analysis of the nature and social impact of computer technology and the corresponding formulation and justification of policies for the ethical use of such technology” (1). In absence of computer technology, we would not have computer ethics in the society. Indeed, computer ethics focuses on personal and societal policies for the ethical use of computer technology (Moor 1). The eminent issues related to computer ethics arise because of the lack of an IT policy defining the use of computer technology. Ideally, IT offers new capacities that allow the users to have diverse choices for action, which derives new values that raise ethical issues (Moor 1). As users analyze different policies, they develop an insight on what they value and disregard. The lack of effective non-computer analogies defines the uniqueness of computer ethics and derives new ethical issues (Maner 3). This defines a moral consequence that emanates from the lack of a satisfactory analogy since the users rely on analogies to address unfamiliar ethical problems by building conceptual bridges to similar situations encountered in the past (Maner 22). However, the lack of an effective analogy coerces the users to discover new moral values, formulate new moral principles, develop new policies, and find new ways to think about the issues presented (Maner 22). Ideally, only the involvement of computer technology and the presence of an uncertainty on how to understand and address an eminent ethical issue define the fundamental problem in computer ethics. This confirms that not all ethical issues relating to computers are significant to computer ethics. For instance, the theft of computers and other office equipment is a matter of legal and ethical concern that is not significant to significant to IT ethics. According to Maner, “One factor behind the rise of computer ethics is the lingering suspicion that computer professionals may be unprepared to deal effectively with the ethical issues that arise in their workplace” (1). This manifests when computer professionals assume that failures of computer programs relate to immoral behavior and hence the need to call for more ethical content (Maner 3). This conception is very significant since it affects our policies for using computer technology in the modern environment. Indeed, various researches establish that computer professionals lack the knowhow to identify the eminent ethical issues in their environment, which demeans their ability to deal with such issues in an effective way (Maner 7). In fact, in some cases, computer professionals hold the view that there was no ethical issue even when it is clear that a case of computer abuse existed. As such, a clear understanding of the nature and impact of computer technology in the society will influence computer revolution and help in addressing fundamental ethical issues in IT (Moor 1). Parker traces the existence of ethical issues in computer technology to computer education and training programs that encouraged or failed to criminalize specific types of unethical professional conduct (Maner 2). Indeed, the lack of governing law in computer technology is a unique aspect in this field, which derives unique obligations to the users and the society (Maner 13). The lack of a universal governing law mandates computer professionals to test and validate program behavior (Maner 14). Where the computer professional lack the capacity to carry out this mandate, ethical issues in computer technology are inevitable in the society. More so, the capacity of the computer to carry out different functions increases the chances, magnitude, and impact of ethical issues in IT as the users fail to address the initial ethical problems in a given environment. Clearly, computers have unique properties that derive interesting consequences in ethics. For instance, computers can perform millions of computations each second, which demean the cost of an individual calculation (Maner 15). Indeed, humans have no capacity to examine the huge magnitude of computer calculations. This emanates from the fact that we have numerous computers’ invisible calculations that we must adopt every day (Moor 1). This raises crucial ethical issues with regard to the extent of trusting a computers invisible calculations since the consequence of trusting such calculations is very significant. Indeed, the use of computers to make decisions about launching nuclear attacks by the military may derive an ethical dilemma. This emanates from the fact that we may lack the time to confirm the correctness of the computer assessment of the situation while making such hard decisions without using computers may be more dangerous. Furthermore, computers have the capacity to locate and display hidden or invisible information through effective computer analysis (Moor 1). However, this raises an ethical issues since we may not know when, where, and how to direct the computers attention to the hidden or invisible information (Moor 1). As such, users are always prone to invisible abuse or invisible programming of inappropriate values or invisible miscalculation and hence the challenge to address this ethical dilemma (Moor 1). Indeed, the decision as to when we should trust computers in the context of locating and displaying hidden or invisible information through effective computer analysis (Moor 1). On the other hand, modern technologies allow for the easy creation and distribution of intellectual property. However, the issue about what is acceptable is significant since the creation and distribution of intellectual property may be offensive to reference companies, employees, and the public. As such, there is need for a professional code of ethics to help in making ethical decisions and applying ethical solutions to the creation, access, use, and distribution of technological information. We also have ethical issues in businesses that rely on computer technology. Indeed, businesses are now adopting new technological methods to do business where the standard ethical issues of business relate to the Information Age. Computer technology is changing manufacturing, marketing, distribution, and management in business, which raises ethical issues. The use of computer technology may infringe on the rights of businesspersons, customers, competitors, employees, or the public, which is an ethical issue (Markgraf 1). As such, ethical businesses consider whether the applied computer technologies will harm other individuals. For example, the application of IT in businesses may infringe on the privacy of customers, competitors, or employees by using the internet to access their personal information, which defines an ethical problem (Markgraf 1). As such, businesses should ensure that they do not jeopardize individuals’ privacy by using IT in their operations. Moreover, companies may raise ethical issues by monitoring employees and visitors confidential information in the name of security. Justifying the level of employee, customer, or visitors’ surveillance raises ethical questions that companies must address (Markgraf 1). Monitoring telephone conversations, text messages, or emails to investigate various interests and aspects is now easy for companies and governments using modern technologies (Markgraf 1). However, in using such technologies, companies and governments must consider the ethical implications of such surveillance since it may demean the security and privacy of the parties involved (Markgraf 1). As such, it is very clear that the creation, distribution, and use of computer technology may derive significant ethical issues in the society. The increased reliance on computer technology and the inability of computer professionals increases the magnitude and impact of ethical issues in the society. Indeed, the interaction of modern computer technologies, technological information, and humans derives ethical dilemmas since the interaction applies in the public domain, private lives, and government operations. Works Cited Berzai, Lou. Ethical Problems in Computing. July 25, 2012. Web. 3 July 2014. < http://www.aitp.org/news/98451/> Lynch, Margaret. Ethical Issues in Electronic Information Systems. 2000. Web. 3 July 2014. < http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/ethics/ethics_f.html> Maner, Walter. Unique Ethical Problems in Information Technology. 1996. Web. 3 July 2014. < http://faculty.usfsp.edu/gkearns/articles_fraud/computer_ethics.pdf> Markgraf, Bert. Ethical Issues with Business Technology. 2014. Web. 3 July 2014. < http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethical-issues-business-technology-27297.html> Moor, James. What Is Computer Ethics? Web. 3 July 2014. < http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/classes/188/spring06/papers/moor.html> Read More