Chapter 4 – Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems

Summary

The explosion of Information Technology within the last decade has presented us with new ethical, social, and political questions about issues such as the protection of privacy and intellectual property. The use of Information Systems potentially allows the expansion of the possible impact that individuals and organizations are capable of making. In fact, the last decade alone has been the one of the most ethically challenging times for U.S. and international business, with scores of to-big-to-fail organizations being brought to their knees by immoral and scandalous business behavior. Examples of this include such disasters as Enron, WorldCom, and Lehman Brothers to name a few, and also provide excellent case studies for what not to do.  

The chart below, taken from our textbook (page 155), illustrates the ripple-like effect that IT has on these issues and 5 moral dimensions associated with them. When studying it, imagine the center, IT and Systems, as a stone thrown into a pond. Prior to the introduction of ITS, the majority of society and individuals had an understanding of the accepted norms and rules of behavior, supported by laws, for the conduct of business. The “stone”, a new plethora of information that is suddenly tossed in the delicate ecosystem, creates ripples that have ever-expanding effects that established institutions cannot adjust to overnight.

Key to this chapter is the introduction of several ethical principles for decision analysis. Having just finished an ethics class taught by Dr. Lewis, I am familiar with many of them. They are briefly described, as each could be broken down and discussed in length, and include the well-known “Golden Rule”, Kant’s Categorical Imperative, Descartes’ rule of change, Utilitarian Principle, Risk Aversion Principle, and the “no free lunch” rule. If, when utilizing one of these principles, an action does not easily pass the test, it deserves a closer inspection than normal and should have a “proceed with caution” sign hung around its neck.

Information Technology Systems enable organizations to easily gather personal data about individuals. Coupled with the Internet and the ability for this data to be monitored at many points through the use of tools such as Cookies or spyware, the potential to decimate personal privacy is ever-present. Furthermore, the protection of intellectual property rights is difficult to enforce due to the near-constant development of new IT systems. One of the established protections for this is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which acted on a global scale to curtail copyright infringement.

In most instances, people would agree that technology has improved the average individuals’ quality of life. Unfortunately, there are some inherent disadvantages of the digital revolution. Computers are not infallible, and computer error can cause very real harm to individuals and organizations. The mere digitalization of jobs can replace human workers and have a negative impact on society and the economy. Mankind will always try to take advantage of their fellow man in any medium possible, so computer crime and abuse is rampant. Finally, health problems, associated with computer use, include repetitive stress injury, carpal tunnel syndrome, and technostress.