Ethical and social issues in information systems

Ethical and social issues in information systems

1. Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems

2. Learning Objectives 1 What ethical, social, and political issues are raised by information systems? 2 What specific principles for conduct can be used to guide ethical decisions? 3 Why do current information systems technology and the Internet pose challenges to the protection of individual privacy and intellectual property? 4 How have information systems affected laws for establishing accountability, liability, and the quality of everyday life?

3. Video Cases Case 1: What Net Neutrality Means for You Case 2: Facebook and Google Privacy: What Privacy? Case 3: Data Mining for Terrorists and Innocents

4. The Dark Side of Big Data (1 of 2) Problem Opportunities from new technology Undeveloped legal environment Solutions Develop big data strategy Develop privacy policies Develop big data predictive models Develop big data mining technology Develop big data analytics tools and predictive modeling systems

5. The Dark Side of Big Data (2 of 2) Organizations like Progressive and Deloitte Consulting LLP use predictive modeling to identify individual customers that fit risk or vulnerability profiles Demonstrates how technological innovations can be a double-edged sword Illustrates the ability of IT systems to support decision making

6. What Ethical, Social, and Political Issues Are Raised by Information Systems? (1 of 2) Recent cases of failed ethical judgment in business In many, information systems used to bury decisions from public scrutiny Ethics Principles of right and wrong that individuals, acting as free moral agents, use to make choices to guide their behaviors

7. What Ethical, Social, and Political Issues Are Raised by Information Systems? (2 of 2) Information systems raise new ethical questions because they create opportunities for: Intense social change, threatening existing distributions of power, money, rights, and obligations New kinds of crime

8. The Relationship Between Ethical, Social, and Political Issues in an Information Society

9. Five Moral Dimensions of the Information Age Information rights and obligations Property rights and obligations Accountability and control System quality Quality of life

10. What Ethical, Social, and Political Issues are raised by Information systems? Many people do not want to discuss or even think about technology-related ethical and social issues, at least not until a large scandal takes place that may affect them personally like the Target Department Store data breach that occurred in December 2013. However, the use of new technology always presents these kinds of problems. Its important to understand that almost every technology improvement opens the door to potential misuse and abuse. The main management challenges posed by the ethical and social impact of information systems are the need to understand the moral risk of new technology and the difficulty of establishing corporate ethics policies that address information systems issues. For each of the five moral dimensions of information systems, corporations should develop a corporate ethics policy statement to guide individuals and to encourage appropriate decision making. The policy areas are: (1) information rights and obligations, (2) property rights and obligations, (3) system quality, (4) quality of life, (5) accountability and control.

11. Key Technology Trends that Raise Ethical Issues Computing power doubles every 18 months Data storage costs rapidly decline Data analysis advances Networking advances Mobile device growth impact

12. Advances in Data Analysis Techniques

13. Nonobvious Relationship Awareness (NORA)

14. Basic Concepts: Responsibility, Accountability, and Liability Responsibility Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations for decisions Accountability Mechanisms for identifying responsible parties Liability Permits individuals (and firms) to recover damages done to them Due process Laws are well-known and understood, with an ability to appeal to higher authorities

15. Ethical Analysis Five-step process for ethical analysis Identify and clearly describe the facts. Define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher-order values involved. Identify the stakeholders. Identify the options that you can reasonably take. Identify the potential consequences of your options.

16. Professional Codes of Conduct Promises by professions to regulate themselves in the general interest of society

17. Real-world Ethical Dilemmas One set of interests pitted against another Examples Monitoring employees: Right of company to maximize productivity of workers versus workers right to use Internet for short personal tasks Facebook monitors users and sells information to advertisers and app developers

18. Information Rights: Privacy and Freedom in the Internet Age Privacy Claim of individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other individuals, organizations, or state; claim to be able to control information about yourself Fair information practices Set of principles governing the collection and use of information FTC FIP principles Notice/awareness (core principle) Choice/consent (core principle) Access/participation Security Enforcement

19. Internet Challenges to Privacy (1 of 2) Cookies Identify browser and track visits to site Super cookies (Flash cookies) Web beacons (web bugs) Tiny graphics embedded in e-mails and web pages Monitor who is reading e-mail message or visiting site Spyware Surreptitiously installed on user ’s computer May transmit user ’s keystrokes or display unwanted ads Google services and behavioral targeting

20. Internet Challenges to Privacy (2 of 2) Opt-out vs. opt-in model Online industry promotes self-regulation over privacy legislation. Complex/ambiguous privacy statements Opt-out models selected over opt-in Online “ seals ” of privacy principles

21. How Cookies Identify Web Visitors

22. Technical Solutions Solutions include: E-mail encryption Anti-spyware tools Overall, technical solutions have failed to protect users from being tracked from one site to another Browser features “ Private ” browsing “ Do not track ” options

23. 2. What specific principles for conduct can be used to guide ethical decisions? The basic concepts of responsibility, accountability, and liability as they apply to information system issues. It’s easy to blame problems on a computer system but every computer is a human being. People have the responsibility to make wise decisions about how information systems are used and how data are protected against abuse and misuse. Recent legal activity regarding Twitter postings and web postings. Lawsuits alleging slander and libel have been filed against people posting tweets that target individuals and businesses. Even though most of these lawsuits have not been settled, you should understand the accountability issues associated with everything they do and say on the Internet.

24. Property Rights: Intellectual Property Intellectual property Intangible property of any kind created by individuals or corporations Three main ways that intellectual property is protected: Trade secret: intellectual work or product belonging to business, not in the public domain Copyright: statutory grant protecting intellectual property from being copied for the life of the author, plus 70 years Patents: grants creator of invention an exclusive monopoly on ideas behind invention for 20 years

25. Challenges to Intellectual Property Rights Digital media different from physical media Ease of replication Ease of transmission (networks, Internet) Ease of alteration Compactness Difficulties in establishing uniqueness Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Makes it illegal to circumvent technology-based protections of copyrighted materials

26. Computer-Related Liability Problems If software fails, who is responsible? If seen as part of a machine that injures or harms, software producer and operator may be liable. If seen as similar to book, difficult to hold author/publisher responsible. If seen as a service? Would this be similar to telephone systems not being liable for transmitted messages?

27. System Quality: Data Quality and System Errors What is an acceptable, technologically feasible level of system quality? Flawless software is economically unfeasible Three principal sources of poor system performance Software bugs, errors Hardware or facility failures Poor input data quality (most common source of business system failure)

28. Why do contemporary information systems technology and the Internet pose challenges to the protection of individual privacy and intellectual property? How should protect information systems and data. Such as Banking Department or Crucial Data. Regardless of how many laws governments pass, they are only as effective as those people who abide by them. The five moral dimensions mentioned in the first section. Information technology makes it very easy to violate each of the dimensions. It’s important to understand that intellectual property rights extend to most of the content they’ll find on the Internet. How would you feel if they spent hours and hours creating content only to find out that someone else had swiped it and used it without permission or remuneration.

29. How have information systems affected laws for establishing accountability, liability, and the quality of everyday life? Data Errors. Examples might include credit bureau errors, checking account errors, or incorrect information recorded in their student records. If so, ask them to explain the kinds of problems they experienced because of the errors. Facebook has had thousands of customers complain about its lack of concern for users’ privacy; in fact, thousands of users have quit using Facebook because of this issue. Are you aware of Facebook’s privacy policy. Have they even read it? If not, why not? Are they concerned about the massive amount of data Facebook collects on them and that it uses their information to sell advertising, enriching the company but not the individual? To research Facebook’s privacy policies and give their opinions.

30. Interactive Session: Technology: Volkswagen Pollutes Its Reputation with Software to Cheat Emissions Testing Class discussion Does the Volkswagen emission cheating crisis pose an ethical dilemma? Why or why not? If so, who are the stakeholders? Describe the role of management, organization, and technology factors in creating VW’s software cheating problem. To what extent was management responsible? Explain your answer. Should all software-controlling machines be available for public inspection? Why or why not?

31. Interactive Session: Organizations: Are We Relying Too Much on Computers to Think for Us? Class discussion Identify the problem described in this case study. In what sense is it an ethical dilemma? Should more tasks be automated? Why or why not? Explain your answer. Can the problem of automation reducing cognitive skills be solved? Explain your answer.

32. Discussion Should producers of software-based services, such as ATMs, be held liable for economic injuries suffered when their systems fail? Should companies be responsible for unemployment their information systems cause? Why or why not? Discuss the pros and cons of allowing companies to amass personal data for behavioral targeting.

33. Discuss the personal and professional implications of so much individual data being gathered, stored, and sold. Should businesses be allowed to gather as much as they want? Should individuals have more control over their data that are gathered?   Briefly describe your Internet Service Provider’s e-mail usage policy. If you are on campus, your school should have a usage policy.   Describe how your quality of life has improved or declined with the technological advances in the last five years.   How do you think our government should handle the political issue of Internet decency and access limitations?   To what extent should Internet Service Providers be held liable and accountable for the use of their equipment?

34. Answers Answers will vary but should include references to the ethical uses and responsibilities that businesses have in regard to individual privacy. Some students will argue that it doesn’t matter—there is no privacy anymore. Other students may favor stricter rules in favor of individual control over the data.   Answers will vary according to the ISP and the educational institution.   Answers will vary, but improvements should include ease of communication (e-mail, cell phones); ease of access to information (Internet search); making daily tasks easier (banking online, shopping online). Declines in quality of life: ability to work anytime, anywhere blurs the boundary between work and family life; cell phones everywhere can be intrusive and annoying; e-mail can mean too much time spent combing through messages to determine what is important and requires answering.   Answers will vary, but might include: The federal government should be involved in monitoring the Internet, should pass federal laws to regulate access, but stay out of decency issues because of the First Amendment; or government should stay away and let the Internet monitor itself.   Answers will vary, but might include holding those who choose to use a technology responsible for the consequences of that technology, not the providers of the technology; or holding that ISPs responsible for the harm that follows because of a breakdown of their equipment, on which businesses and individuals depend; that ISPs should monitor the e-mail sent over their equipment. This is a hard one, because an ISP provides a service, like the phone company, and the phone company is not responsible for the phone calls people make unless people use the phone to engage in criminal activities like harassment.