Ethics and Privacy

1. Ethics and Privacy
3

2. [ Opening Case WikiLeaks Marches On ]
• The Problem: How to Prevent Future
Disclosures?
• The Solution: Security? Cyber Security hasn’t
worked. Fingerprints haven’t worked?
• The Results: Some say reform, shouldn’t have
anything to hide, what do you say
• What We Learned from This Case: How much
access should employees have to sensitive data?

3. IT’s About [small] business
Pinterest3.1
Who is at fault for the third-party copyright infringements enabled by
Pinterest? Pinterest, its users, or both? (Copyright infringement is discussed
in detail in Chapter 4.)
Compare the ethics of “pinning” on Pinterest with downloading music files
on Napster. Do you think that Pinterest will face the same fate as Napster?
Why or why not?

4. Ethical Issues3.1
• Ethical Frameworks
• Ethics in the Corporate Environment
• Ethics and Information Technology

5. Ethical Issues3.1
• Ethics
– The principles of right and wrong that
individuals use to make choices that
guide their behavior.

6. Ethical Frameworks
• Four Widely Used Standards
– Utilitarian Approach
– Rights Approach
– Fairness Approach
– Common Good Approach
• Combine Four Standards to Create a
Framework for Ethical Decision Making

7. Ethical Frameworks
• Utilitarian Approach: states that an ethical action is the one that
provides the most good or does the least harm.
• Rights Approach: maintains that an ethical action is the one that
best protects and respects the moral rights of the affected parties.
• Fairness Approach: posits that ethical actions treat all human
beings equally, or, if unequally, then fairly, based on some
defensible standard. For example, most people might believe it is
fair to pay people higher salaries if they work harder or if they
contribute a greater amount to the firm.
• Common Good Approach: highlights the interlocking
relationships that underlie all societies. This approach argues that
respect and compassion for all others is the basis for ethical actions.

8. Ethical Frameworks
• Five Steps in Ethical Decision Making
Framework
1. Recognize an ethical issue
2. Get the facts
3. Evaluate alternative actions
4. Make a Decisions and Test It
5. Act and Reflect on the Outcome of Decisions

9. Ethics in the Corporate
Environment
• Code of Ethics
• Fundamental Tenets of Ethics
– Responsibility
– Accountability
– Liability
• What is Unethical is not necessarily Illegal

10. Fundamental Tenets of Ethics
• Responsibility: means that you accept the
consequences of your decisions and actions.
• Accountability: refers to determining who is
responsible for actions that were taken.
• Liability: is a legal concept that gives individuals
the right to recover the damages done to them by
other individuals, organizations, or systems.

11. Ethics & Information
Technology
• Four General Categories of Ethical Issues
Related to IT:
1. Privacy Issues
2. Accuracy Issues
3. Property Issues
4. Accessibility Issues

12. Four General Categories of
Ethical Issues Related to IT:
1. Privacy issues involve collecting, storing, and disseminating
information about individuals.
2. Accuracy issues involve the authenticity, fidelity, and
correctness 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 a fee should be paid for this access.

13. IT’s [about business]
The Dot Clones3.2
As for legality, it partially depends on the legal and licensing
limitations of the country where the site(s) are created. This is
slowly changing as countries permit cross-licensing.
What are some alternative strategies that companies might use
to combat dot clones?
Discuss the ethical implications of the statement from Groupon’s
CEO that the Samwers are superb operators, not simply copycats.

14. Privacy3.2
• Electronic Surveillance
• Personal Information in Databases
• Information on Internet Bulletin Boards,
Newsgroups, and Social Networking
Sites
• Privacy Codes and Policies
• International Aspects of Privacy

15. Privacy3.2
• Privacy
– 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 you can be
gathered and/or communicated to others.

16. Privacy3.2
• Court Decisions in Many Countries
have followed two rules:
1. The right of privacy is not absolute.
Privacy must be balanced against the
needs of society.
2. The public’s right to know supersedes
the individual’s right of privacy.

17. Privacy3.2
• Digital Dossier
• Profiling
• Data Aggregators
– LexisNexis
– ChoicePoint
– Acxiom

18. Privacy3.2
• Digital Dossier: data integrated from data gathered about you in a
typical day (surveillance cameras located on toll roads, on other
roadways, in busy intersections, in public places, and at work;
credit card transactions; telephone calls (landline and cellular);
banking transactions; queries to search engines; and government
records (including police records).
• Profiling: The process of forming a digital dossier.
• Data Aggregators: companies that collect public data such as real
estate records and published telephone numbers, in addition to
nonpublic information such as Social Security numbers; fi nancial
data; and police, criminal, and motor vehicle records.

19. Electronic Surveillance
• Using technology to monitor individuals as
they go about their daily routines.
• Is conducted by employers, governments, and
other institutions.
• Examples:
– Surveillance cameras in airports, subways, banks,
and other public venues.

20. Electronic Surveillance
• Inexpensive digital sensors are found in laptop
webcams, video game sensors, smartphone
cameras, utility meters, passports, and ID
cards.
• Smartphones create geotags
• Google and Microsoft street view images
• Satellite imaging

21. Personal Information in Databases
• Personal Data / Record Keepers
– Credit Reporting Agencies
– Banks and Financial Institutions
– Utility Companies
– Employers
– Hospitals
– Schools
– Government Agencies (IRS, State, City)

22. Personal Information in Databases
• Major Concerns about Information You
Provide Record Keepers
– Do you know where the records are?
– Are the records accurate?
– Can you change inaccurate data?
– How long will it take to make a change?
– Under what circumstances will personal data be
released?

23. Personal Information in Databases
• Major Concerns about Information You
Provide Record Keepers
– How are the data used?
– To whom are the data given or sold?
– How secure are the data against access by
unauthorized people?

24. Information on Internet Bulletin Boards,
Newsgroups, and Social Networking Sites
• Free Speech versus Privacy on the Internet
• Derogatory Information Can Influence Hiring
Decisions
• Little to No Recourse for Victims

25. Privacy Codes & Policies
• An organization’s guidelines for protecting the
privacy of its customers, clients, and
employees.
– Opt-out Model
– Opt-in Model
• Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P)
– A protocol that communicates privacy policies
between a web site and its visitors

26. Privacy Codes & Policies
• US Federal Trade Commission’s Fair
Information Practices Standard
• European Directive on Data Privacy

27. International Aspects of Privacy
• The Global Nature of the Internet Complicates
Data Privacy
• Approximately 50 Countries Have Data-
Protection Laws
– Inconsistent standards from country to country
– Transborder data flow.

28. [ Closing Case Target Provides
a Surprise ]
• The Problem
• An Interesting IT Solution
• The Results: Initial Uses of Watson
• What We Learned from This Case