3. COMPUTER ETHICS
Computer ethics is a part of practical philosophy concerned with how
computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and
social conduct
4. History
The concept of computer ethics originated in the 1940s with MIT
professor Norbert Wiener. While working on anti-aircraft artillery during World
War II, Wiener and his fellow engineers developed a system of communication
between the part of a cannon that tracked a warplane, the part that
performed calculations to estimate a trajectory, and the part responsible for
firing.
Wiener termed the science of such information feedback systems
"cybernetics," and he discussed this new field with its related ethical concerns
in his 1948 book, Cybernetics
5. SOFTWARE ETHICS
Software makes a computer usable.without software, a computer remains just fine machinery.
Therefore,while using software, it becomes moral responsibility of users to ensure that their usage of
softwareis ethical or not.
Unliker other commodities, purchasing does not give you ownership rights for software; rather it gives
usage rights only, to the purchaser. They may not understand the implications of their actions or the
restrictions of copyright acts.
6. Foundation
To understand the foundation of computer ethics, it is
important to look into the different schools of ethical theory.
Each school of ethics influences a situation in a certain
direction and pushes the final outcome of ethical
theory Relativism is the belief that there are no universal
moral norms of right and wrong. In the school of relativistic
ethical belief, ethicists divide it into three connected but
different structures, subject (Moral) and culture
(Anthropological)
7. Internet privacy
Privacy is one of the major issues that has emerged since the internet has
become part of many aspects of daily life. Internet users hand over personal
information in order to sign up or register for services without realizing that
they are potentially setting themselves up for invasions of privacy.
Another example of privacy issues, with concern to Google, is tracking
searches. There is a feature within searching that allows Google to keep track
of searches so that advertisements will match your search criteria, which in
turn means using people as products. If you are not paying for a service
online, instead of being the consumer, you may very well be the product.
8. Identifying issues
Identifying ethical issues as they arise, as well as defining how to deal with
them, has traditionally been problematic. In solving problems relating to
ethical issues, Michael Davis proposed a unique problem-solving method.
In Davis's model, the ethical problem is stated, facts are checked, and a list
of options is generated by considering relevant factors relating to the
problem. The actual action taken is influenced by specific ethical standards
9. Individual’s Right to Privacy
1. Collecting information
2. Storing information
3. Distributing information
10. Margaret Anne Pierce, a professor in the Department of
Mathematics and Computers at Georgia Southern
University has categorized the ethical decisions related
to computer technology and usage into three primary
influences:
The individual's own personal code.
Any informal code of ethical conduct that exists in the work place.
Exposure to formal codes of ethics.
11. Various national and international professional societies
and organizations have produced code of ethics
documents to give basic behavioral guidelines to
computing professionals and users. They include:
•Association for Computing
Machinery
•ACM Code of Ethics and Professional
Conduct
