CHAPTER 3

Ethics and Privacy

CHAPTER OUTLINE

3.1 Ethical Issues

3.2 Privacy
3.1 Ethical Issues

◼ Ethics
deals with what is considered to be right and wrong

Deciding what is right or wrong is not always easy or clear cut

◼ Code of Ethics
A collection of principles that are intended to guide decision
making by members of an organization.

http://www.acm.org/about/code-of-ethics
Ethical Issues
Ethical Frameworks
◼ Utilitarian Approach
An ethical action is the one that provides the most good or does the
least harm

◼ Rights Approach
An ethical action is the one that best protects and respects the moral
rights of affected people

◼ Moral Rights:
✓ The right to make your own choices
✓ The right to be told the truth
✓ The right of privacy
Ethical Issues
Ethical Frameworks
◼ Fairness Approach
Ethical actions treat all human beings equally, or, if unequally, then fairly
, based on some defensible standard.

◼ Common good Approach

Highlights the interlocking relationships that underlie all societies.

This approach argues that respect and compassion for all is the basis
for ethical actions
Ethical Issues
Fundamental Tenets of Ethics
◼ Responsibility
means that you accept the consequences of your decisions and actions.

◼ Accountability
a determination of who is responsible for actions that were taken

◼ Liability
a legal concept meaning that individuals have the right to recover the
damages done to them by other individuals, organizations, or systems

Improvement in IS are increasing number of ethical problems !!!

 Ethical Issues
Consider the following decisions:

◼ Should organizations monitor employees’ Web surfing and E-mail?

◼ Should organizations sell customers’ information to other

companies?

◼ Should organizations audit employees’ computers for unauthorized

software or illegal downloaded music or video files?
3.2 Privacy

1. Privacy Issues
Privacy is the right to be left alone and to be free of
unreasonable personal intrusions.
Information Privacy: the right to determine when, and to what extent,
information about yourself can be gathered and/or communicated

The right of privacy is not absolute !.

➢ Your privacy must be balanced against the needs of society.

➢ The public’s right to know is superior to the individual’s right

of privacy.
Privacy

2. Accuracy Issues
involve the authenticity, fidelity and accuracy of
information that is collected and processed

3. Property Issues
involve the ownership and value of information.

4. Accessibility Issues
revolve around who should have access to
information and whether they should have to pay
for this access.
 Threats to Privacy
◼ Data aggregators
companies that collect public data (e.g., real estate records,
telephone numbers) and nonpublic data (e.g., social security
numbers, financial data, police records, motor vehicle records)
and integrate them to produce digital dossiers

◼ Digital dossiers
an electronic description of you and your habits

◼ Profiling
use of computers to combine data from multiple sources and
create digital dossiers of detailed information on individuals
 Threats to Privacy
NORA (nonobvious relationship awareness)
new data analysis technique for even more powerful profiling
 Threats to Privacy
◼ Electronic Surveillance
The tracking of people‘s activities ,online or offline,
with the aid of computers.
➢ Cookies

➢ URL filtering
 Threats to Privacy
◼ Do you think you have privacy?

http://www.aclu.org/ordering-pizza
 Threats to Privacy
◼ Personal Information in Databases
Information about individuals is being kept in many databases:
➢ Banks
➢ Utility companies
➢ Government agencies
➢ Credit reporting companies

▪ Social Networking Sites

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20202935/ns/business-
school_inc_/t/job-candidates-getting-tripped-facebook/
 Protecting Privacy
◼ Privacy Codes and Policies
An organization’s guidelines with respect to protecting the privacy
of customers, clients, and employees.
◼ Opt-out Model
informed consent permits the company to collect personal
information until the customer specifically requests that the
data not be collected.

◼ Opt-in Model
informed consent means that organizations are prohibited
from collecting any personal information unless the customer
specifically authorizes it.
Protecting Privacy
P3P Platform for Privacy Preferences Project
• Industry standard designed to give users more control
over personal information