Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Title of Book:
Management Information Systems: (Managing the Digital Firm. 10th ED) By: Laudon, Kenneth C & Laudon, Jane P.
Faculty:
Batch/ Section: Semester: Credit Hrs:
Copyright M @dil @ K@zi
Analyze the relationships among ethical, social, and political issues that are raised by information systems.
Identify the main moral dimensions of an information society and specific principles for conduct that can be used to guide ethical decisions.
Evaluate the impact of contemporary information systems and the Internet on the protection of individual privacy and intellectual property.
Opportunity & Threat go together While it is a source of many benefits whereas it carry high risks; create new opportunities for breaking the law or exploiting sensitive information to get benefits away from others.
Creating ethical dilemma
Warning: Just because you can, doesnt mean you should!
Problem: New opportunities from new technology and need for greater security.
Solutions: Redesigning business processes and products to support location monitoring increases sales and security.
Deploying GPS and RFID tracking devices with a location tracking database enables location monitoring.
Demonstrates ITs role in creating new opportunities for improved business performance Illustrates how technology can be a double-edged sword by providing benefits such as increased sales and security while compromising privacy.
The SECURITY and ETHICAL ISSUES raised by the Information Age & INTERNET are the most explosive to face our society in decades. SOCIALLY RESPONSIVE & ACCEPTABLES policies & practices need time to evolve. IS & T is rapidly changing and require a strong grip to understand its effects & impacts to make erudite legislations, regulations, policies & practices. And by then a lot of water had run under the bridge. It remain a big challenge more for Information System dependent societies that less developed ones.
Each American is listed in about 60 government and 80 private sector databases. On a typical day, each persons name is passed between computers 10 times. A lot of personal information about us has always been available, just not as easily and as readily as today. Massive databases maintained by commercial companies and governments at all levels now allow profiling like that above to be accomplished easier and faster than ever before.
Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems The U.S & EU governments are just beginning to pass laws against cybercrimes but its difficult to stay one step ahead of the cybercriminals
Ever since 30 years of Internet & 10 years of www, the societies globally face the IT cropped ethical issues & dilemmas. Ethics being a relative term extends the opportunity to one persons whimsies & desire to use or abuse information; a much easier ability facilitated by the Internet
How you act, individually and as groups, in this Gray Area may well define the future of our society
A model for thinking about ethical, social, & political issues Freedom of speech, Personal responsibility, Corporate responsibility Right of access to information
As individual actors are confronted with new situations often not covered by the old rules Social institutions cannot respond overnight to these ripples...may take years to develop etiquette, expectations, social responsibility, politically correct attitudes or approved rules! Political institutions also require time before developing new laws and often require the demonstration of real harm before they act. In the meantime, you may have to act. You may be forced to act in a legal Gray Area.
System quality,
Quality of life, and Accountability and control. Figure 4-1
Understanding Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems Relationship Ethical, Social, and Political Issues in an Information Society Information rights & obligations:
a) What information rights do individuals & organizations possess w.r.t. themselves? b) What can they protect? c) What obligations do individuals & organizations have concerning this information?
System quality:
What standards of data & system quality should we demand to protect individual rights & the safety of society
Quality of life:
a) What values should be preserved in a information & knowledge based society? b) Which institution should we protect from violation? c) Which cultural values & practices are supported by the new information technology?
DoubleClick: a major Internet advertising broker, announced in early 2000 that it would use data gathered from web sites in conjunction with data collected from sources other than the Internet to identify people by name a process known as profiling. It intended to sell the data to marketers who would be able to target advertising campaigns more efficiently. Public outcry about privacy issues forced DoubleClick to cancel its plans.
ChoicePoint: is one of the largest data brokers with more than 5,000 employees, gathers data from police, criminal, & motor vehicle records: credit & employment histories, current & previous addresses; professional licenses, & insurance claims assembling & maintaining e-dossiors on almost every adult in US. Choicepoint sells these personal information to business & government agencies
Data for Sale Read the Interactive Session: Management, and then discuss the following questions:
Do data brokers pose an ethical dilemma? Explain your answer. What are the problems caused by the proliferation of data brokers? What management, organization, and technology factors are responsible for these problems? How effective are existing solutions to these problems? Should the U.S. federal government regulate private data brokers? Why or why not? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Ethics - are principals of right & wrong that can be used by individuals (acting as free moral agents) to make
choices to guide their behaviours. Having alternative courses of action, one has to determine WHAT is the correct moral choice? WHAT are the main features of ethical choices?
Ethical choices are decisions made by individuals who are responsible for the consequences of their chosen courses of action! Responsibility: Accepting potential costs, duties, and obligations Responsibility, Accountability, for your decisions. Accountability: Determining who should take responsibility for Liability decisions and actions. Liability: Legally placing responsibility with a person or group. Ethical analysis
Due Process: ensuring the laws are applied fairly and correctly. Candidate ethical principles Professional codes of conduct Some real-world ethical dilemmas
Ethics - are principals of right & wrong that can be used by individuals (acting as free moral agents) to make
choices to guide their behaviours. Having alternative courses of action, one has to determine WHAT is the correct moral choice? WHAT are the main features of ethical choices?
Ethical choices are decisions made by individuals who are responsible for the consequences of their chosen courses of action!
Responsibility, Accountability, Liability
These basic concepts form the underpinning of an Ethical Analysis of Info Systems & those who manage them.
Identify and describe clearly the facts. Separate fact from fiction. Define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher-order values involved. Remember, no matter how thin you slice it, theres always two sides. Identify the stakeholders. Determine whos really involved. Identify the options that you can reasonably take Compromise; it doesnt always have to be an either-or outcome. Identify the potential consequences of your options. Anticipate the outcome; it will help you devise better solutions.
Ethical analysis
Candidate ethical principles Professional codes of conduct Some real-world ethical dilemmas
Ethics - are principals of right & wrong that can be used by individuals (acting as free moral agents) to make
choices to guide their behaviours. Having alternative courses of action, one has to determine WHAT is the correct moral choice? WHAT are the main features of ethical choices?
Ethical choices are decisions made by individuals who are responsible for the consequences of their chosen courses of action! Candidate Ethical Principals are deeply rooted in cultures around the world in their everyday business. But they are equally valid even in Responsibility, Accountability, cyberspace! Liability Golden rule do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Immanuel Kants Categorical Imperative if an action is not right for everyone to take, it is not right for anyone. Ethical analysis Descartes rule of change if an action cannot be taken repeatedly, it is not right to take at all. Candidate ethical principles Utilitarian Principle take the action that achieves the higher or greater value. Professional codes of conduct Risk Aversion Principle take the action that produces the least harm or the least potential cost. Ethical no free lunch Rule assume that virtually all tangible and Some real-world ethical intangible objects are owned by someone else unless there is a specific dilemmas declaration otherwise.
The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Information rights: Privacy and freedom in the Internet Age
Privacy is the claim of individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other individuals or organisations, including the state IS & T has threatened individual claims to privacy by making the invasion of privacy cheap, profitable and effective (e.g. workplace surveillance technologies etc. ) Fair Information Practices (FIP) (Euro-Americana privacy law regime). is a set of principles governing the collection and use of information about individuals. FIP principles are based on the notion of a mutuality of interest between the record holder and the individual. The European directive on data protection Companies to inform and disclose people when they collect info. about them & how it d be stored & used The customers Informed Consent is a pre-requisite to legally use data about them for business purposes. Internet challenges to privacy Many websites make their privacy policies obvious and others dont. Be careful about the terminologies used by websites/ portals as some actually abide by their policies and others dont. They distinguishes between personally identifiable information and anonymous information. They can match the two types of information to further identify you.
The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Information rights: Privacy and freedom in the Internet Age
Privacy is the claim of individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other individuals or organisations, including the state IS & T has threatened individual claims to privacy by making the invasion of privacy cheap, profitable and effective (e.g. workplace surveillance technologies etc. ) Fair Information Practices (FIP) (Euro-Americana privacy law regime). is a set of principles governing the collection and use of information about individuals. FIP principles are based on the notion of a mutuality of interest between the record holder and the individual. The European directive on data protection Companies to inform and disclose people when they collect info. about them & how it d be stored & used The customers Informed Consent is a pre-requisite to legally use data about them for business purposes. Internet challenges to privacy Many websites make their privacy policies obvious and others dont. How do these organizations gather the information? By using cookies; part of every browser program - a tiny file deposited on the hard disk when an individual visits certain site. It identifies the user & track his visits to the website.
Spyware detection software - helps you secure your identity theft attempts Opt-in & Opt-out Models one permits collection of personal information until the user revokes for so and the other prohibits from collection of personal information unless the user specifically approves information collection & its use. (Europeans practice opt-in whereas Americans practice opt-out)
Technical solutions
Some tools that can help you block someone from tracing your Internet activities.
PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) a freeware encryption software programs for e-mail. Its limitations are that both the SENDER and RECIPIENT must have the program installed in order for it to work Platform for Privacy Practices (P3P) embedded in Internet Explorer version 6.0 that allows the user to determine what sites can collect information behind the scenes through the users cookie files. Because the P3P standards are machinereadable the user doesnt have to search each Web site for its privacy policy. The user can let the computers do the comparison and automatically block any site not conforming to the users wishes.
Trade secrets
Any intellectual work or product used for a business purpose that can be classified as belonging to that business, provided it is not based on information in the public domain.
Copyright
A statutory grant that protects creators of intellectual property against copying by others for any purpose for a minimum of 70 years
Patents
A legal document that grants the owner an exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 17 years; designed to ensure that inventors of new machines or methods are rewarded for their labor while making widespread use of their inventions.
Everything on the Web is considered to be protected under copyright and intellectual property laws unless the contents specifically stated to be public domain. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) 1998 makes it a federal offense to violate Copyright laws on the Internet, punishable with a fine up to $250,000
All of the following factors require significant interrelated checks & balances, that the usage facilities & benefits the consumer in socially productive & responsible manner: Technology Facility - Security Privacy Responsibility Accountability Liability - Control
The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Rapidity of change: Reduced response time to competition
Created much more efficient national and international markets.
Competitive positioning: are we at risk of developing a just-in-time society with just-in-time jobs and justin-time workplaces, families, and vacations?
The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems Employment: Trickle-down technology and reengineering job loss
Job losses and career changes caused by technology - youll be a part of the evolution of technology for the rest of your life. Be competitive in the job market by continual update of your technology skills and knowledge.
Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) is a temporary condition resulting from focusing the eyes on a computer display for protracted, uninterrupted periods of time that strain eyesight.
Technostress is the psychological resistance of change that accompanies newly introduced machines to work, home & leisure situations
The Internet: Friend or Foe to Children? Read the Interactive Session: Organizations, and then discuss the following questions:
Does use of the Internet by children and teenagers pose an ethical dilemma? Why or why not? Should parents restrict use of the Internet by children or teenagers? Why or why not?