IT Ethical Issues
Dr. Merle P. Martin
MIS Department
CSU Sacramento
Agenda
Fair Information Practices (FIP)
 Ethics Issues
 IT Mistakes
 IT Crime
 Invasion of Privacy
 Corporate Code of IT Ethics

Fair Information
Practices (FIP)
US Dept Health, Education
and Welfare
 1973
 Framework for ensuing laws
 There will be no personal record
system whose existence is secret.

Fair Practices
Individuals have rights of
access, inspection, review,
and amendment to systems
that contain information about them.
 There must be no use of personal
information for purposes other than
those for which it was gathered,
without prior consent.

Fair Practices
Managers of systems are
responsible and can be held
accountable and liable for the
damage done by systems, for
their reliability and security
 Governments have the right to
intervene in the information
relationships among private parties.

Ethical Issues
IT increases, particularly in
processing and storage,
have led to increases in:
 numbers of mistakes
 computer crime
 invasion of privacy
 unethical behavior
IT Mistakes
Data entry errors
 Programming errors
 Mishandling of IT output
 Inadequate planning for / control of
equipment malfunctions
 Inadequate planning for / control of
electrical, humidity, and other
environmental problems.

Preventing IT Errors
Training
 Documentation
 Controls / standards
 Involvement of:
 managers
 end-users
 IT specialists

Computer Crime
Add / delete / modify inputs
 Modify / develop programs that
commit a crime
 Alter / modify data files
 Operate IT in a way to commit
a crime
 Divert / misuse valid output
 Role of auditor

Security / Privacy
Security is protection of data
which, if wrongly disseminated,
may damage organizational goals.
 Privacy is protection of data
which, if wrongly disseminated, may
damage individuals.
 Natural motivation to protect security
 Must have laws to protect privacy.

Privacy Acts
Privacy Act (1974)
 protection from federal govt.
 Fair Credit Reporting Act (1970)
 Tax Reform Act (1976)
 Electronic Funds Transfer Act (1979)

Privacy Acts
Right to Financial
Privacy Act (1978)
 Freedom of Information
Act (1970)
 Education Privacy Act
 Computer Matching and
Privacy Act (1988)

Ethics
A means for judging right
from wrong behavior through a
set of cultural / organizational
values, and a standard for
acceptable conduct.
IT Ethics Problems
Unauthorized software
copying (bootlegging)
 Knowing of wrongful acts, but
failing to inform supervisor
 Knowing a software problem
and using it to your advantage
 Unauthorized viewing of confidential
information, including E-mail

IT Ethics Problems
Passing confidential info
to unauthorized persons
 Knowing of error in data
through unauthorized access,
yet not informing anyone
 Following orders of supervisor
although by doing so you knowingly
commit an illegal act

Mason’s PAPA Model
Privacy
 Accuracy
 Property
 Access

Privacy
What info about individuals
should be revealed?
 What safeguards are in place
to protect a person’s privacy?
 What information can a person
keep private and confidential,
and not be forced to reveal
to others?

Accuracy
Who is responsible for
data accuracy?
 Who is accountable / liable for
inaccurate data?
 What safeguards have been
established to ensure accuracy?
 What can individuals do to ensure
that data stored on them is accurate?

Property
Who owns the information?
 Who has the right to buy or
acquire the information?
 How should access to intellectual
property be regulated?
 Who places a value on intellectual
property?

Intellectual Property
Rights
Trade secrets: software,
if not in public domain
 Copyright
 1980 Computer Software
Copyright Act
 Patent
 1981 Supreme Court decision
allowed software to be patented

Access
What information does a person
have a right to access?
 What safeguards exist for
information access?
 How do we guarantee equal
access across social and
economic groups?
 Shneiderman’s “haves and
have nots”

Corporate Code
of IT Ethics
Laudon and Laudon, 1996
 Issues that must be addressed
 Information rights / obligations
 Property rights / obligations
 Accountability and control
 System quality
 Quality of life

Info Rights / Obligations
Employee e-mail privacy
 Workplace monitoring
 Treatment of corporate info
 Policies on customer info

Property Rights
Software licenses
 Ownership firm data / facilities
 Ownership employee software
created on firm’s hardware
 Software copyrights

Accountability / Control
Single person responsible
for all IT
 Reporting persons responsible for:
 individual rights
 property rights
 system quality
 quality of life
 potential liabilities of system /
corporation officers

System Quality
Errors that can be tolerated
 system warranties
 Measurement methodology
 collection
 reporting

Quality of Life
IT purpose to improve quality
of life for customers and
employees
 Achieve high levels of:
 product quality
 customer service
 employee satisfaction
 human dignity

Issue
What is “human dignity” and
how do we preserve it in a
technological environment?
 Will firm’s preserve it voluntarily?
 Do we need more laws?
 Must we make some sacrifices
to human dignity in order to
reap technological benefits?