Chapter 4 – Ethical & Social Issues in Information Systems

Summary of Concepts

  • The Dark Side of Big Data. P. 111.
  • Predictive policing
  • Insurance rates
  • Computerized hiring
  • Targeting financially vulnerable individuals
  • Recent Examples of failed ethical judgment by senior managers – P. 114. See Table 4.1

Although these major instances of failed ethical and legal judgement were not masterminded by IT departments, information systems were instrumental in many of these frauds.

General Motors – firm covered up information on faulty ignition switches for many years

Bank of America – Defrauded government-backed mortgage agencies by churning out loans without proper controls.

  • What is ethical behavior? This is behavior that is deemed right or wrong by society. Note that behavior in one society may be ethically correct, but not in another.
  • Five Moral Dimensions of the Information Age p. 115
  • Information rights and obligations – What information rights do individuals have?
  • Property rights and obligations – How will property rights be protected in a digital society?
  • Accountability and control - Who will be held accountable for harm done to individuals?
  • System quality – What standards should be demanded to protect individual rights?
  • Quality of life – What values should be preserved?
  • Technology trends that have helped heighten ethical concerns. P. 116. See Table 4.2
  • Computing power doubles every 18 months
  • Data storage costs have rapidly declines
  • Data analysis advances
  • Networking advances
  • Mobile device growth
  • What is profiling?The use of computers to combine data from multiple sources for the purpose of creating an electronic dossier of detailed information on a person.
  • See DoubleClick (owned by Google)
  • What are cookies? These are small test files deposited on a computer hard drive when a user visits Web sites. When the visitor returns to a site that has stored a cookie, the Web site software will search the visitor’s computer, find the cookie, and then (using records stored on the Web site) know what the person did in the past on the site. The site can then customize its content for each visitor. P. 126
  • When confronted with a situation that seems to have ethical issues, give the five-step process you can use to analyze it.P. 120
  • Identify and describe the facts clearly
  • Define the conflict
  • Identify the stakeholders
  • Identify the options that can be reasonable taken
  • Identify the potential consequences of your options
  • What ethical principles or rules can you use to make an ethical decision? P. 121
  • Apply the Golden rule
  • Ask: If everyone did this, could the organization or society survive?
  • Is it against the law? If so, then it is unethical.
  • Apply the Mom Test.
  • Ask: “If everyone did this, could society survive?”
  • Slippery Slope Rule: An action may bring about a small change now, but if repeated, it might bring about unacceptable changes in the long run.
  • Professional coded of Conduct – ACM Code of Ethics
  • Some real-world ethical dilemmas
  • Companies are using technology to reduce the size of their workforce.
  • Companies use technology to monitor employee e-mail and Internet use.
  • Laws protecting our privacy
  • First Amendment: Freedom of speech and association
  • Fourth Amendment: Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure
  • Fair Information Practices (FIP): principles governing the collection and use of information about individuals
  • HIPPA: Protects privacy of medical information
  • COPPA: Requires parental permission before websites can collect information on children under the age of 13
  • Case Study: Edward Snowden: Traitor or Protector of Privacy
  • Case Study: Are We Relying Too Much on Computers to Think for Us?
  • Case Study: Facebook Privacy: What Privay?