CHAPTER 3

Ethics and Privacy

CHAPTER OUTLINE

3.1 Ethical Issues

3.2 Privacy

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define ethics, list and describe the three fundamental tenets of ethics, and describe the four categories of ethical issues related to information technology.

2. Identify three places that store personal data, and for each one discuss at least one potential threat to the privacy of the data stored there.

3.1 Ethical Issues

Ethical Frameworks

Utilitarian approachRights approachFairness approachCommon good approach

General Framework for Ethics

1. Recognize an ethical issue

2. Get the facts

3. Evaluate alternative actions

4. Make a decision and test it

5. Act and reflect on the outcome of your decision

Ethics in the Corporate Environment

Code of ethics

Fundamental tenets of ethicsResponsibility

Accountability

Liability

Unethical vs. Illegal

What is unethical is not necessarily illegal.

Ethics scenarios

Ethics and Information Technology

Four categories of ethical issues involving IT applications:

Privacy Issues

Accuracy Issues

Property Issues

Accessibility Issues

3.2 Privacy

Court decisions have followed two rules:

(1) The right of privacy is not absolute.

Your privacy must be balanced against

the needs of society.

(2) The public’s right to know is superior to

the individual’s right of privacy.

Threats to Privacy

Data aggregators, digital dossiers, and profiling

Electronic Surveillance Personal Information in Databases Information on Internet Bulletin Boards,

Newsgroups, and Social Networking Sites

Data Aggregators, Digital Dossiers, and Profiling

© Ilin Sergey/Age Fotostock America, Inc.

Electronic Surveillance

© Ilin Sergey/Age Fotostock America, Inc.

Electronic Surveillance

See "The State of Surveillance" article in BusinessWeek

See the surveillance slideshow

See additional surveillance slides

And you think you have privacy? (video)

Personal Information in Databases

Banks

Utility companies

Government agencies

Credit reporting agencies

© Nicolas Nadjar/Age Fotostock America, Inc.

Information on Internet Bulletin Boards, Newsgroups, and Social Networking Sites

© Marina Bordjieva/Age Fotostock America, Inc.

Social Networking Sites Can Cause You Problems

Anyone can post derogatory information about you anonymously.

(See this Washington Post article.)

You can also hurt yourself, as this article shows.

What Can You Do?

First, be careful what information you post on social networking sites.

Second, a company, ReputationDefender, says it can remove derogatory information from the Web.

Protecting Privacy

Privacy Codes and Policies

Opt-out Model Opt-in Model

© Gunnar/Age Fotostock America, Inc.

Chapter Closing Case

• The Problem

• The Solution

• The Results