Transcript Document

Technology
in Action
Alan Evans • Kendall Martin
Mary Anne Poatsy
Tenth Edition
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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Technology in Action
Technology in Focus:
Information Technology Ethics
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Chapter Topics
• What Is Ethics?
• Personal Ethics
• Personal Ethics and Your Work Life
• Technology and Ethics: How One Affects
the Other
• Using Computers to Support Ethical
Conduct
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Key Issues Related to
Technology and Ethics
• Intellectual property rights
• Privacy
• E-commerce
• Free speech
• Computer abuse
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What Is Ethics?
• Study general nature of morals and moral
choices
• Morals: Conforming to established ideas of
right and wrong
• Difference between fairness and equity
• Principles are guidelines used to make
decisions
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What is Ethics?
Doesn't Everyone Have the Same Ethical Values?
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What is Ethics?
Doesn't Everyone Have the Same Ethical Values? (cont.)
• Relativism
– No universal moral truth
– Dictated by cultural tastes and customs
• Divine Command Theory
– All-knowing God sets standards
– Conforming to God’s law is good; breaking it
is wrong
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What is Ethics?
Doesn't Everyone Have the Same Ethical Values? (cont.)
• Utilitarianism
– Actions judged by consequences
– Greater happiness is better
– Individual happiness is not as important
• Virtue Ethics
– Morals are internal
– Strives to behave well spontaneously
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What is Ethics?
Doesn't Everyone Have the Same Ethical Values? (cont.)
• Deontology (duty-based)
– Adherence to moral duties and rights
– Applies to everyone equally
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What is Ethics?
Doesn't Everyone have the Same Basic Ethics?
• Laws are formal, written standards
– Designed to apply to everyone
– Enforced by government agencies
– Interpreted by the courts
• Impossible to pass enough laws
• Ethics is needed to provide a general set
of unwritten guidelines
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What is Ethics?
Is Unethical Behavior the Same as Illegal Behavior?
• Unethical Behavior
– Unethical behavior isn’t necessarily illegal
– Not all illegal behavior is unethical
– Not conforming to approved standards
• Amoral Behavior
– No sense of right or wrong
– No interest in moral consequences
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What is Ethics?
Which System of Ethics Works Best?
• No universal agreement
• Most societies use a blend
• Ethical decision are greatly influenced by
personal ethics
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Personal Ethics
What are Personal Ethics?
• Set of formal or
informal principles
– Some are clear, welldefined
– Others are
inconsistent or applied
differently
– Can be challenging to
adhere to consistently
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Personal Ethics
How do a Person's Ethics Develop?
• How do ethics develop?
– Family
– Cultural bias
– Religious affiliation
– Life experiences
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Personal Ethics
What if I'm Not Sure What My Personal Ethics Are?
• Describe yourself
• List key principles you believe
• Identify external influences
• Consider “why”
• Prepare a statement of values
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Personal Ethics
What are the Benefits to Ethical Living?
• Society has established rules of conduct
– Ignoring or being inconsistent can have
immediate impact
• Health benefits to ethical living
– Day-to-day decisions conflict with principles
– Stress and anger often develop
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Personal Ethics
What are the Benefits to Ethical Living? (cont.)
• Positive psychology
– Dr. Martin Seligman
– Causes of happiness instead of treating
dysfunctions
– Identify personal strengths and values
– Align your life
– Can impact your health and happiness
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Personal Ethics and Your Work Life
How do Employers Affect Personal Ethics?
• Do your ethics change when you go to
work?
– Employers expect you to follow ethics and
rules of conduct
– Do not blindly follow unethical practices
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Personal Ethics and Your Work Life
If You Spot Unethical Behavior at Your Company, What Do You Do?
• Whistle-blowers expose unethical (but still
legal) acts
– Do not blindly follow unethical practices
– Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002
• Requires that companies provide mechanisms for
employees to report complaints
• This is to be done anonymously
– Often now done online
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Personal Ethics and Your Work Life
How does making ethical choices in a business setting differ from making personal ethical choices?
• Most personal ethical decisions involve
few people
• Ethical choices in business must give
consideration to stakeholders
• Stakeholders are people or entities
affected by the operations of a business
– Customers, suppliers, employees, investors,
financial lenders, and society
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Technology and Ethics:
How One Affects the Other
• Technology moves faster than rules can
be formulated
• Use of technology is often left up to the
individual
• Ethical considerations are never clear-cut
• Reasonable people can have different
views
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Ethics and Technology Issues
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Ethics and Technology Issues (cont.)
• Social justice (brain technology)
• Intellectual property (international piracy)
• Privacy (personal privacy and technology)
• E-commerce (geolocation)
• Electronic communication (free speech)
• Computer abuse (cyberbullying)
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Social Justice
Brain Technology: Creating Cyborgs?
• A cyborg contains both biological an
artificial components
• Does deployment of technology blur the
lines between human and machine?
– Brain-computer interfaces
– Neurostimulation
– Neural stem cells
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Intellectual Property
International Pirates
• Do entire countries support software
piracy?
– Intellectual property is protected by copyright
law
– Challenges in enforcing these standards in
other countries
– How should the trade partners respond?
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Privacy
Can Employers Peer Into Your Personal Life?
• Can employers review your personal
profiles on social media sites?
– Privacy is a basic human right
– Privacy is the right to be left alone to do as
one pleases
– Privacy means not being required to explain
your behavior to others
– Social media sites are about sharing
information
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E-Commerce
Geolocation: Who Knows Where You Are?
• Do geolocation devices and applications
threaten privacy?
– Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite, and Loopt
use geolocation services
– Businesses use geolocation to promote
products and offer rewards
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Electronic Communication
Does Free Speech Have a Price?
• When does big business limit free
speech?
– Restricting search results for sensitive
information
– Business profits over basic human rights
– Company must operate within the rules of the
market in which it operates
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Computer Abuse
Cyberbullying: Who Should Protect Children From Each Other?
• Whose responsibility is it to monitor
cyberbullying?
– Involves use of digital technologies
– Many types of cyberbullying
– Might result in criminal charges
– Effects can be devastating
– Often evidenced by signs
– Vigilance is key
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Using Computers to
Support Ethical Conduct
• Can use technology to support ethical
conduct
• Charitable organizations use the Internet
for fundraising
• Web is a tool for organizing aid to areas in
crisis
• Web sites and Facebook can locate
friends and family members after a
disaster
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
Publishing as Prentice Hall