Ethical and social aspects of management information systems

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1 Ethical and social aspects of management Marcos Sanches Commerce Électronique The challenge Why are contemporary and the Internet a challenge for the protection of privacy and intellectual property? How have affected everyday life? 2 1

2 The problem Can we borrow the data from your student loan? Problem: Data on student loans too easily accessible and used for bad purposes. Solutions: Improved system security and protection of student loan information. Clearly, while IT can provide access to data quickly, easily and inexpensively, it can also be a double-edged sword and create new opportunities to break the law or take advantage of others. 3 Ethics Ethics This term refers to the principles of good and evil that "free moral agents" use to guide their behavioral choices. Information systems and ethics IS give rise to new ethical questions because: they create the conditions for large-scale social change; they thus threaten the existing distribution of power, money, rights and obligations; they open the door to new types of crimes. 4 2

3 Ethical and social aspects of management 5 Technological trends that raise ethical issues The power of computers doubles every 18 months. Most organizations rely on computer systems for critical activities. The cost of storing the data drops rapidly. Organizations can easily keep detailed databases on people. Data analysis is refined. Companies can analyze the masses of data they collect on people to develop detailed profiles of individual behavior. Networking and the Internet are progressing. It is now much easier to copy data from one place to another and to remotely access personal information. 6 3

4 NORA technology nonobvious relationship awareness 7 Ethical analysis: a five-step process 1. Determine and clearly describe the facts. 2. Define the conflict or dilemma and determine the core values at stake. 3. Recognize stakeholders. 4. Find reasonably possible solutions. 5. Determine the possible consequences of the different choices. 8 4

5 Ethics in an information society Some ethical dilemmas of everyday life Conflicts of values between groups with diverging interests. Example: Companies can monitor what their employees do on the Internet to prevent them from wasting company resources on activities that are not related to their work. 9 The legal framework The right to privacy The right of a person to be left alone, not to be watched and not to be interfered with in his or her personal affairs by other people, organizations or even the state. Protection in Canada Constitution and federal laws Protection in the United States Constitution, Privacy Act of 1974 and other laws 10 5

6 Fair information practices Set of Principles Governing the Collection and Use of Personal Information. They serve as guidelines for the amendment of privacy laws in the United States and Europe: COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) They are based on the idea that the holders of personal information and the persons to whom it relates have common interests. They were reformulated and expanded in 1998 to provide guidelines for the protection of personal information online. 11 Principles of Fair Information Processing Practices Notice and Awareness: Before collecting information, websites must disclose their data collection practices. Choice and Consent: The consumer must be able to choose how the information they provide may be used for purposes other than the transaction. Access and participation: The consumer must have the opportunity to verify that the data collected on him is accurate and complete and, if necessary, to challenge them. Security: Data collectors must take the necessary steps to ensure that the information collected is accurate and protected. Application: A mechanism must be put in place to ensure the application of fair information practices 12 6

7 The European directive on data protection Companies must inform people when they collect information about them and reveal to them how they will keep and use them. Clients must give informed consent before a company can legally use data about them. EU member countries must incorporate these principles into their respective laws and can not transmit personal data to countries that, like the US, do not have similar regulations. The US Department of Commerce has put in place exemption rules that allow businesses to adopt a private self-regulatory policy and enforcement mechanism that meets the objectives of government regulators and laws without to depend on it. 13 Internet and the protection of privacy: a challenge Witnesses : Tiny files dropped on a person's computer hard drive when visiting certain websites. They trace the visitor's visits to the site. They establish very detailed profiles of their visitors. Invisible pixels: Tiny graphic files inserted into an or web page. They are designed to monitor who reads them and notify another computer. Spyware: He secretly installs himself on a user's computer. He sends her advertising and unsolicited material 14 7

8 Witnesses 15 In the United States, information can be collected to conduct business transactions and then used for other purposes without the informed consent of the individuals involved. E-commerce companies have preferred self-regulation over privacy legislation. Self-regulation has led to widely varying practices: Some companies simply post on their site opinions on how the personal information collected will be used. Some opt for an "Informed Consent based on Exclusion". Others opt for an "informed consent based on inclusion". Most websites do not have a privacy policy. Many of those who display such a policy do so more to protect themselves from prosecution than to protect the consumer. 16 8

9 Property Rights: Intellectual Property Intellectual property: Intangible property created by individuals or companies. Three legal traditions to protect it: The trade secret: Any product of intellectual work for commercial purposes, provided that it does not rely on information in the public domain. Copyright :Statutory law that protects the creator of an intellectual property against its reproduction by anyone for any purpose whatsoever. Patent laws: Exclusive right granted on the ideas on the basis of an invention. 18 Issues related to intellectual property Digital media differ from traditional media, like books, in that they are: easy to reproduce and modify; easy to transmit (Internet, networks); difficult to classify according to a software category; example: programs, books or music compact, so easy to hide, carry and even steal; difficult to evaluate according to their intrinsic value. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) This law makes it illegal to use devices that defeat the technological protections of copyrighted material 19 9

10 Organizational and Civil Responsibility, and Control Some liability issues related to computers: Who is responsible when a software fails? In principle, if the software is built into a machine and physically hurts someone or causes financial problems, both the software producer and the operator may be liable for the damage. If the software is considered a book because it only contains and displays information, it is very difficult to hold the producer of the software responsible. What about software-services? It's not clear. For now, it is difficult to attribute responsibility, but things tend to change. 20 Quality of systems: data quality and system errors What degree of quality is considered acceptable and technically feasible for a system? Since it is economically impossible to achieve absolute perfection, the question must arise. Three essential factors explain the poor performance of systems: software bugs and errors; hardware and installation failures; the poor quality of the data entered

11 Computer crime and abuse Computer crime: perpetration of an illegal act by means of a computer or against a computer system. Computers and computer systems can be both the subject of crime and the instrument of it. Computer abuse: perpetration, by means of a computer, of a legal act, but unethical. Example: Spam = significant cost for businesses. Employment: Diffusion of Technology and Job Losses from Reengineering Equity and Access: Increasing Social and Racial Divides 22 Health risks Repetitive microtrauma: Intensive use of computer keyboards is the leading cause of repetitive strain injuries. The most common form is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (PCS). Eye fatigue syndrome: It results from prolonged work in front of a computer screen. The technostress: This is the stress caused by the intensive use of the computer. Symptoms: irritability, hostility, impatience and agitation. There is no evidence that radiation emitted by computer screens has an impact on health, but we know that they generate nonionizing electric fields and low-frequency magnetic fields