Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Ethics and Information Technology free essay sample

Technology In today’s information age, the issue of ethics has risen to the forefront of the business agenda. Constant innovation and advancement of Information technology, and the widespread use of information systems, has posed many challenges to the business world, and raised many ethical issues that also affect society as a whole. Ethics is a fundamental concern of every human being, and everyone should have the freedom of choice, but when this choice is taken out of your control, which is often the case with recent developments in information technology, a serious issue has arisen. Ethics must begin at the top of an Organisation. It is a leadership issue, and the chief executive must set the example. † Edward Hennessy, CEO, Allied Signal. The ease in which computer systems now share and distribute digital information among its users of one of the great success stories of modern technology, however, such technology can also give way to widespread misuse, criminal act ivity and mistreatment towards others. The growing use of information technology in E-business has had a dramatic effect on society, and many ethical issues have been raised in the areas of privacy, discrimination, piracy, bullying, employment issues and crime. In recent years, there is no denying that the revolution in information technology in all its forms has had a striking affect on how business operates, and has pushed many boundaries but along with its many benefits there is also various negative effects on society in general and people. One of the key ethical issues that raises concern among the general public, given the widespread use of Information technology is the protection of personal privacy. The wealth of information that is gathered as you surf the web, is often incomprehensible to the innocent web surfer, and with its enhanced capacity for surveillance, storage and communication, the list of potential treats to privacy are endless. The development and continued innovation of the internet, makes it possible for data to be collected, stored and retrieved, it many cases unbeknown to the user. The internet is viewed by many as a place of anonymity, were someone can slip upper the radar of watching eyes, this is far from the case, as actually you can constantly monitored, highly visible and open to violations of your privacy any time you are on the internet. Every time you visit a website, this information is captures and stored as a â€Å"cookie file† on your hard disk. â€Å"Cookies† are tiny data files that are put on your computer by interested websites when you site those sites. These â€Å"cookies† track your web browser software and your visits to the website, it will know if you have visited the website previously and will monitor your internet usage. Web-site owners or online auditing services like Doubleclick, can sell the information on cookie files and other data recorded on your internet habits to third parties for commercial profit. Many companies also log the traffic on their website, to gather marketing information about user interests, and behaviours to build up an online database. Although this information is highly valuable to companies for market research and logging internet activity, the whole area of collecting web-site information and data raises many ethical issues about individual right to privacy. This potential anonymity also poses many risks as it allows the ability to express damaging, even libellous views and opinions, about other people and organisations. Although there are many sides to this argument as opposing freedom of speech, and expression of opinion can have many ethical issues also. The whole area of social networking and how it has evolved and developed in recent times has also raised many ethical issues with privacy issues. There are many dangers when it comes to the use of social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook, especially with the growing tend for employers and potential employers to access individual accounts as ways of obtaining information. Employees should be aware of the fact that information they put on the internet may affect them and their employment opportunities in the future. The impact of social media and networks websites as it develops has had a dramatic impact on various aspects of society. For example, a former juror in a trial in the UK being convicted of â€Å"Contempt of Court† for contacting the accused in the case on Facebook, and thus prejudice the case. An Irish example of the ethical issues relating to Facebook, would be the incident of a photographer with a local newspaper the County Down Outlook was fired following the hateful comments she made about the murdered teacher Michaela Harte on her Facebook page. Photographer Suzanne Morrison said on her Facebook pages that Michaela’s murder in the island of Mauritius was â€Å"karma† and said â€Å"what goes around comes around†. These comments caused international outrage and her bosses were prompted to sack her over the harmful comments. The local reporter also wrote on the social media page that â€Å"Soldiers don’t get as much overage as she had and they are risking their lives to protect us! It’s about time this country got its priorities right!! † All of her comments were removed from the social networking site, and the newspaper later issued a statement confirmed the photographer was no longer employed by the County Down Outlook or any associated company. In late 2011, an Apple employee was also fired for making negative comments about the company on their Facebook page, the case highlights the issue that personal accounts with Facebook and Twitter that are listed as private and are deemed to be protected by confidentiality is not always the case. With this particular Apple employee their Facebook page was listed as private but another Apple employee saw the comments and reported them to a manger. The case was brought to the UK labour tribunal who upheld the right of Apple to terminate the employee. The decision by the tribunal was made on the basis that Apple was allowed to protect its commercial reputation, and Apple social policy clearly prohibits employees from discussing Apple in a negative and damaging light. And Apple was protecting its commercial reputation by terminating the employee. This case clearly emphasises the risks of social media networks and the ethical issues that occur when the potential power of social media is abused.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.