Human Development Report (2000) Two billion people in the world do

not even have electricity. Nepal has a population of 21

million people, where 15% of houses have electricity.

In Nepal, there are 35,000 Internet users (in a population of 21 million).

Digital Divide The term was coined in the mid-1990s. The expression digital divide is now

commonly used to describe the disparity between those who have access to the Internet and those who do not.

The phrase "digital divide" is essentially a new label for an old concept: “Information haves and have-nots." In the US,

much of the discussion about “the divide” has traditionally centered on divisions involving income and education.

The Digital Divide in the U.S. Key concepts and issues: Universal Service and Telephones; Universal Access; E-rates; Universal Connectivity Fee.

The Analog Divide The analog divide refers to the social

inequities involving haves and have-nots that underlie the digital divide and that exist independently of digital technology.

Some believe that the lack of access to digital technology experienced by certain groups will perpetuate and most likely exacerbate the broader cultural divide.

Monahan (2001) argues that the current “divide” that exists in the US is reinforced through the system of public education.

Global Digital Divide As of 2000, it was estimated that 429

million people were on-line globally. This number represents approximately

6% of the world's population. Of those currently on-line, 68% live in

North America and Europe. Two billion people in the world don't even

have electricity. In developing countries there are roughly

69 phones for every 1000 people.

Table 10-1: Global Internet Usage (as of 2000)

Number of Internet users worldwide

Percentage of the world's population who are on-line

Percentage of global Internet users residing in Europe or North America

429 million 6% 68%

Is the Digital Divide an Ethical Issue? Moss (2002) argues that ethical issues

involving “the global divide” arise because people in developing countries are unfairly disadvantaged for three reasons:  

(i) they are denied access to knowledge; (ii) they are unable to participate fully in

democratic decision making processes; (iii) their prospects for economic growth

are hindered.

Moral Obligations to “Bridge” the Digital Divide (1) Because public education is a positive right, the U.S.

government must provide citizens with an education. (2) Providing an education means that the government is

required (legally obligated) to supply students with the tools (free textbooks, etc.) necessary to gain an education.

(3) The Internet is becoming a necessary tool for completing assignments required in the educational process.

(4) Students who cannot afford Internet access at home are unfairly advantaged and will not have the same opportunities in completing their education as students who can afford to pay for Internet access. .

(5) Therefore, the US government should (legally) be required to provide home Internet access for those students whose families cannot afford to pay for it.

Cybertechnology and the Disabled Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of

the W3C. Assisting the disabled can improve

access for everyone (analogy with physical space).

Dangers of using a utilitarian analogy.

Telework and disabled persons.

Race and Cybertechnology Internet usage patterns among

minority groups. Implications of Technology Policies

for African Americans. The Internet as a medium to

spread racial prejudice.

Table 10-2:Internet Usage Breakdown by Racial/Ethnic Groups in the US

Whites Asian Americans

African Americans

Hispanics

46.1% 56.8% 23.5% 23.1%

Technology, Race, and Public Policy African American as stakeholders in

policy issues (Robert Johnson). The impact pf automobility in the U.S. Breaking up neighborhoods in inner

cities to complete highway systems. The role of suburban sprawl in post

World War II America. Health and safety risks to African

Americans.

Rhetoric and Racism on the Internet Theismeyer believes that there are two kinds

of racist speech on the Internet:

(a) Hate speech itself, which can include text, music, on-line broadcast, and images that exhort users to act against targeted groups;

(b) Persuasive rhetoric that does not directly enunciate racism and corresponding violence, but which does ultimately promote or justify it.

Racism (continued) Theisman asks us to consider two

questions: (1) Does information technology make

the reemergence of prejudicial messages and attitudes swifter and more likely?

(2) Does the Internet's wide range of distribution make for more followers and finally more persuasion?

Gender and Cybertechnology Three kinds of issues to consider: 1. Access Issues (women and

computing); 2. Gender Bias and Educational

Software; 3. Methodological Frameworks for

Understanding Gender Issues.

Access Issues “Pipleine” for women entering the

field of computer science; A slight increase in the number of

women getting PhDs in CS; But a decrease in the number of

women getting BS degrees in CS.

Gender Bias in Educational Software

Huff and Cooper Study (1987). Buchanan (2000) argues that

software is biases for two different reasons:

(1) video games tend either to misrepresent or exclude female characters;

(2) they tend to perpetuate traditional sexist stereotypes.

Methodological Frameworks for Understanding Gender Alison Adam (2001) argues for a

“gender informed” approach to ethical issues in computing.

She argues that most approaches have been based on access (“pipeline”) issues and on differences between men and women.

She appeals to a “feminist ethic of care.”

Employment and Work The Meaning of Work in the Cyber-

era can be examined in terms of three different kinds of issues:

1. Quantity of work; 2. Quality of work; 3. Transformation of work.

Job Displacement and Automation Job displacement can be viewed in

terms of the net result of jobs gained and lost.

Automation began during the Industrial Revolution.

Neo-Luddites (followers of Ned Ludd).

Informate vs. Automate (Shoshana Zuboff.

Robotics and Expert Systems Robots and Robotic Arms have

replaced factory workers. Expert Systems (ES) have replaced

professional workers. ES has raised ethical issues

(“expert administrators” and “expert bankers”).

Virtual Organizations and Remote Work Virtual organizations, virtual offices, virtual

teams, and virtual corporations. Telework – “organizational work performed

outside the organizational confines.“ Telecommuting - the "use of computer and

communications technologies to transport work to the worker as a substitute for physical transportation of the worker to the workplace“ (Rosenberg, 1997).

Remote Work and disabled persons.

Quality of Work-life Some quality-related issues: Health and Safety Issues; RSI and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome; Video Operator’s Distress

Syndrome (VODS); Companies like L. L. Bean have

developed ergonomic policies.

Employee Stress and Workplace Surveillance Citing a 1999 American Management

Survey, Lucas Introna (2001) points out: [F]orty-five percent of major US firms record

and review employee communications and activities on the job, including their phone calls, e-mail, and computer files. Additional forms of monitoring and surveillance, such as review of phone logs or videotaping for security purposes, bring the overall figure on electronic oversight to 67.3%.

Workplace Surveillance (continued) Surveillance technology, which has become

less expensive, has also become "less overt and more diffused."

Introna points out that current technology has created the potential to build surveillance features into the "very fabric of organizational processes."

Surveillance techniques have been built into processes that measure work flow, keystroke monitoring, telephone accounting, etc.

Table 10-3: Common Arguments Used to Support and to Oppose Monitoring

Some Arguments in Favor of Monitoring

Some Arguments Against Monitoring

Helps to reduce employee theft Increases employee stress

Helps to eliminate waste Undermines employee trust

Helps employers to train new employees

Reduces individual autonomy

Provides employers with a motivational tool

Invades worker privacy

Improves competitiveness Focuses on quantity rather than quality of work

Saves the company money Creates an "electronic sweatshop"

Guards against industrial espionage Provides employers with an "electronic whip"

Improves worker productivity and profits

Reduces employee morale and overall productivity

A Code of Ethics for Employee Monitoring Marx and Sherizen have recommended a code

with five requirements. The first three include:

1. Apply to monitoring the same protection that applies to pre-employment background checks-that is, permit only information to be collected that is directly related to the job.

2. Require employers to provide employees with advanced notice of the introduction of monitoring as well as appropriate mechanisms for appeal.

3. Require people to verify machine-produced information before using it to evaluate employees.

Marx and Sherizen’s Code (continued) The last two conditions are:

4. Provide workers with access to the information themselves and provide mechanisms for monetary redress for employees whose rights are violated or who are victims of erroneous information generated by monitoring systems.

5  Apply a statute of limitations on data from monitoring. The older the data, the less its potential relevance and the greater the difficulty employees have in challenging it.

An Alternative Strategy to Marx and Sherizen Introna suggests that we look at

monitoring from the point of view of “Asymmetry of Power.”

Introa uses Rawls’s Theory of Justice (i.e., the “veil of ignorance”).

Behind the “veil,” we would be inclined to favor the least well off, since we don’t yet know our place in the system.

Email Privacy and Employer Policies What is the status of Email privacy

in the context of the workplace? Should employee phone

conversations be allowed to be recorded? Merrill Lynch has a formal policy. Not all corporations have explicit

policies.