mis 2000 social implications of ist. outline law & ethics accountability and liability...
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MIS 2000MIS 2000
Social Implications of ISTSocial Implications of IST
Outline
Law & EthicsAccountability and LiabilityInformation RightsPrivacyComputer Abuse and CrimeIntellectual PropertyFair Information Practices
Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for
Management 2
Areas of IST Implications
Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for
Management 3
Influences of IST
Law: What is & is not legal
Ethics:What’s good,what not;part of culture
International/World:Economy, Culture, Law
Single Country
Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for
Management 4
Discussion Questions for Ethics & Legality
1) Employer can monitor email of employees? Is this ethical? Legal?
2) A disk with business data is found in a bank employee’s bag and the company sues him. Who does win? Ethical? Legal?
3) Company A sues company B for copying design (screen layout—user interface) of A’s Web site. Is Company B’s behavior moral? Legal?
4) Marketers send unsolicited emails. Ethical, legal?
Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for
Management 5
Ethics and LawPrinciples of right and wrong acquired through socialization.
Also called morale (ethical=moral)Unwritten norms, more stable over time – part of cultureThere are different ethics, we usually talk about norms shared by a majorityViolation leads to social sanctioning/condemnation
Law: Legislative pronouncements of rules to be followed in society
Written, changeableViolation leads to financial and physical liability before court
Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for
Management 6
Computer-based IS and digital data are related to both ethical and legal issues.
Previous examples
New kinds of IST open up new marketing venues. Fore example, collecting large amounts of data on customers (data warehousing), and processing the data to profile customers potentially violates norms of privacy and borders with law.
Ethics and Law
Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for
Management 7
Law: Computer Crime
Illegal acts through use of computer system or against a computer system (hacking, sniffing, phishing, spamming*)
Ethics: Computer Abuse
Acts involving a computer that may not be illegal, but are unethical (e.g., using firm’s computer for private business, like “cyberslacking”)
Internet is implicated in both problems above. In general, the Internet brings up more legal & moral challenges.
Ethics & Law: Computer Crime vs. Abuse
Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for
Management 8
In new segments of social relationships it often happens that ethics precedes law.
This applies to information systems; examples:hackers damaging property of others had been condemned as bad behavior, but then become illegalselling data about customers was sometimes criticized as inappropriate, but then became illegal
Ethics Becomes Law
Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for
Management 9
Privacy Privacy
A cultural (ethical) belief that individuals are to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other individuals, organizations, or government Backed by law
Canada’s Privacy LegislationBill C-6 (PIPEDA), Privacy Commissioner; Businesses must also comply since 2004 (Note)Compliant with Fair Information Practices (Note)Every province has its own laws too
Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for
Management 1010
Intellectual Property Law and IST & Information
Intellectual Property is intangible property created by individuals or organizations. Three main kinds:
Trade Secret – Any content communicated in confidence (biz report, idea on product, planning data)
Copyright - Law protecting artistic products and software in Canada from being copied for 50 years (literature, music, software in Canada)
Patent – Law guaranteeing monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years (machines, medical drugs, software in U.S.)