Chapter 4: Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems

Question 1

Ethics in IS

Answer 1

Ethics-principles of right and wrong that individuals, acting as free moral agents, use to make choices that guide behavior
- In IS – create opportunities for intense social change and threaten existing distributions of power, money, rights, and obligations
(but who decides and is responsible)

Question 2

Ethical Issues Affecting IT

Answer 2

• misuse of personal info
• deep fakes
• lack of oversight and acceptance of responsibility
• use of AI
• autonomous technology
• environmental impact
• conflict of interest

Question 3

A Model for Thinking about Ethical, Social, and Political Issues

Answer 3

• disturbing forces is new technology or system entering society
• individuals confronted with new situations not covered by old rules
• social institutions cannot respond overnight
• political institutions may require time before developing new laws, or require demonstration of harm
• may be forced to act in “gray area” which requires understanding of ethics

Question 4

Relationship between Ethical, Social, and Political Issues in an Information Society

Answer 4

• new info tech raises new issues that must be dealt with
• issues have 5 moral dimensions

Question 5

Five Moral Dimensions of the Information Age

Answer 5

1) Information Rights and Obligations
2) Property Rights and Obligations
3) Accountability and Control
4) System Quality
5) Quality of Life

Question 6

Information Rights and Obligations

Answer 6

What info rights do individuals and orgs possess with respect to themselves? What can they protect?

Question 7

Property Rights and Obligations

Answer 7

How will traditional intellectual property rights be protected in a digital society in which tracing and accounting for ownership are difficult, and ignoring such property rights is easy?

Question 8

Accountability and Control

Answer 8

Who can and will be held accountable and liable for the harm done to individual and collective information and property rights?

Question 9

System Quality

Answer 9

What standard of data and system quality should we demand to protect individual rights and the safety of society?

Question 10

Quality of Life

Answer 10

What values should be preserved in an info and knowledge-based society?
Which institutions should we protect from violation?
Which cultural values and practices does the new info tech support?

Question 11

Technology Trends that Raise Ethical Issues

Answer 11

• doubling of computer power (Moore’s Law)
• rapidly declining data storage costs
• networking advances and the Internet
• data analysis advances
• mobile device growth impact