Professional Issues in IT

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Introduction to Ethics
What is Ethics
• Ethics is the practice of making a principled choice between right
and wrong
• Oxford American dictionary: Concerned with the principles of
what is right and wrong in conduct
• More frequently we encounter ethical situations involving
computers and other forms of information technology
Why Should We Care About Ethics?

• So many ethical situations that we encounter each day that we should

care
• Some unethical actions can violate law
• Others, though not illegal, can have drastic consequences for our
careers and reputations
• We should care about ethics for our own self interest
Computer Ethics and Regular Ethics
• Is computer ethics different from regular ethics?
• Is there an ethical difference in browsing someone else’s computer file and
browsing their desk drawer?
• No!
• What we have are ethical situations where computers are involved.
• Computers allow people to perform unethical actions faster than ever before
• Or perform actions that were too difficult or impossible using manual methods
 Identifying Ethical Issues
• A characteristic common to computer ethics is the difficulty of identifying
ethical issues
• When caught, their first reaction is:
• “I didn’t know I did anything wrong. I only looked at the file, I didn’t take
it.”
• If they copy a file they say:
• “I didn’t do anything wrong. The file is still there for the owner. I just made
a copy.”
 Identifying Ethical Issues (2)
• Hackers often say,
• “I was just testing to see how secure the system was. I was going to
report the weakness to management. I was performing a valuable
service.”
• One goal of this course is to increase sensitivity to ethical issues involving
computers
• Computer ethics should have a strong link to policy or strategy
• When an ethical problem is identified, a policy or strategy should be
developed to prevent the problem
The Types of Ethical Choices
• Choosing right from wrong
• choosing right from wrong is the easiest
• Most of us know that stealing, lying, and cheating are wrong
• These three actions are taboos of a commonsense morality
• Choosing right from right
• Some ethical choices are harder when the situation is not as clear
• Lying may be wrong but if you visit a sick friend is it wrong to
exaggerate how well they look?
• Some might lie about how the friend looks to achieve a
perceived higher good
• The quick recovery or general welfare of the patient
• Is it wrong to steal food is one is starving?
• Is it wrong if one’s child is starving?
Types of Ethical Choices (2)
• Is it wrong to keep coins found in a pay telephone?
• Does the money belong to the previous caller?
• To the phone company?
• To you?
• Does the amount found make a difference?
• Would you keep a small amount?
• Return a large amount?
• How would you give the coins back?
• Would you call the operator and feed the coins back into the
machine?
• What if the operator wouldn’t take them?
• Are you then off the hook?
• Should you give them to charity?
Types of Ethical Choices (3)
• These examples illustrate the complexity of ethical choice
• The necessity to choose a course of action from two or more
alternatives
• Each having a desirable result
• In an ethical choice then, an individual must often choose
between two or more goods or the lesser of two evils
Practical Approaches to Ethical Decision Making
• Making ethical decisions is not a science
• People do it differently
• In ethical decision making the individual must decide what the answer
depends on
• What the facts are
• What harm might be done by each alternative
• Which course of action results in the least harm
• Some ways to do this are to use laws, guidelines, and ethical principles
Using Law to make Ethical Decisions
• When a law tells us to do nor not to do something it implies that a recognized authority
has decided that the action the law prescribes is of benefit to society
• What are some laws you like?
• What are some good laws?
• Often, an ethical principle was used prior to a law’s construction
• Remember that ethical principles are ideas of behavior that are commonly acceptable to
society
• So, law is often grounded in ethical principles, a good starting point for ethical decision
making
Relationship between Ethics and Law
The relationship between ethics and law leads to four possible states

Legal Not Legal

Ethical I II

Not Ethical III IV

Some Examples of the Four Categories
I. Ethical and Legal
I. Buying a spreadsheet program and using it to do accounting for clients
II. Increasing the price of goods when the demand for those goods increases

II. Ethical but not Legal

I. Copying copyrighted software to use only as a backup, even when the
copyright agreement specifically prohibits copying for that purpose
Examples Continued
III. Not Ethical but Legal
I. Revealing data that was expected to remain confidential – for example, gossiping
by data entry operators, about the salary data they are processing
II. Using a pirated version of a software product in a foreign country that has no
software copyright laws
IV. Not Ethical and Not Legal
III. Pirating copyrighted software
IV. Planting viruses in someone else’s computer system
What is a Code of Ethics
• “Constitution” of the organization
• A Code of Ethics is a document created to:
• Set the standards for ethically acceptable behavior
• Communicate those standards to all stakeholders
• A self-imposed standard for ethical behavior

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Green IT – The Next Big Thing

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04/21/2024
 What is Green IT?
• Consciously making choices to:
• Minimize the carbon footprint of computer
• Minimize energy consumption of computer devices
during their life cycle

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Significant Pressures To Go Green
• Economic
• Social and environmental – landfill issues
• Technological – data centers consume 1.5% total electricity
generated (Source: Charles Bess, EDS)
• Political – legislative and regulatory
• IT contributes to e-waste and to CO2 emissions

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What creates the largest amount of Carbon
Dioxide?
450 watt server running
3,942 kWh/year
Toyota Camry traveling
12,000 miles/year
Commercial airliner making
6 round trips between Boston
and Los Angeles
Source: Charles
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Bess, EDS
INTRODUCTION TO INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS
Intellectual
Property
• Intellectual Property is a property that arises from the human
intellect. It is a product of human creation.
• Intellectual Property is the creation of the human intellectual
process and is therefore the product of the human intellect or mind.
Intellectual Property

• It is an intangible form of property.

• It is personal property.
• It is a basic form of property.
• It is based on information.
Protected Intellectual Property
• Invention by a patent or as trade secret.
• Utility models by a certificate or secret.
• Industrial Design by a certificate.
• Trade and Service Mark by a certificate.
• Copyright by reducing to a fixed form.
 Why Protect Intellectual Property
“Technology” means systematic knowledge for the manufacturing of a
product, or the rendering of a service in industry, agriculture or
commerce,….
-providing a solution to a problem
-communicable by one person to another
-directed to an end.
Why Protect Intellectual Property
• Fosters economic growth
• Provides incentives for technological innovation, and
• Attracts investment that will create new jobs and opportunities.
Copyright

Definition
Protection of cultural, artistic and literary written works such as
poems, novels, articles, musical works, paintings, cinematographic
work, photographic, sculpture and computer programs.
 Data Protection Act (1998)
• What is the Data Protection Act (1998) and why was it created?

• What are the eight principles of the Data Protection Act?

• Data Protection Act: What rights do we have?

• What is an Information Commissioner, Data Controller and Data

Subject?

• Are there any exemptions to the Data Protection Act?

What is it and why was it created?
• The Data Protection Act was developed to give protection and lay
down the rules about how personal data can be used.

• It was created to protect individuals from misuse of this data. It

governs the collection and processing of data by organisations and
the individual rights to access the data if they wish.
 What are the eight principles of it?
1. Data must be kept secure;
2. Data stored must be relevant;
3. Data stored must be kept no longer than necessary;
4. Data stored must be kept accurate and up-to-date;
5. Data must be obtained and processed lawfully;
6. Data must be processed within the data subject rights;
7. Data must be obtained and specified for lawful purposes;
8. Data must not be transferred to countries without adequate data
protection laws.
What rights do we have as data subjects?

• To be supplied with the data held about us;

• To change incorrect data;

• To prevent data being used about us if it will cause distress;

• To stop data being used in attempts to sell us something;

• To use the law to gain compensation.

What is an Information Commissioner, Data
Controller and Data Subject?
• Information Commissioner: Person who has the power to enforce the Act.

• Data Controller: Person or Company that collects and keeps data about
people.

• Data Subject: Person who has data about them stored outside their direct
control.
Are there any exemptions to the Data Protection Act?

• Any data held for National Security reasons e.g. MI5

• Police can access personal information in order to solve crimes.

• The taxman can access personal information to ensure people pay their tax!

• Any data held for domestic purposes at home e.g. birthday lists, address books.
Thank You!

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