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MIS 2000
Ethical and Legal Aspects of
Information Systems
Updated Spring 2016
Outline
Law & Ethics
Impacts of IT & IS
Privacy
Intellectual Property & Copyright
Discussion cases
Ethical & Legal Aspects
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Ethics
Ethics: Principles of right and wrong acquired through socialization.
Also called morale (ethical=moral)
Unwritten norms, more stable over time – part of culture
There are different ethics, we usually talk about norms shared
by a majority
Violation of ethics leads to social condemnation (sanctioning)
Ethical & Legal Aspects
MIS 2000 Information Systems for Management
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Law
Law: Legislated rules to be followed in society
Defined by judicial system and approved ultimately by
legislators
Written in law code and cases; change over time
Violation of law leads to financial and physical liability
(prison)
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Ethics vs. Law
Ideally, the ethical and legal are in sync: what is right is protected by
law; or legal rules are morally right.
Example: hardware/software & data theft (stealing) – both illegal and
immoral
BUT, this may not be the case, especially in dynamic social domains
like electronic IT/IS and their various deployments.
New IS and digital data crate a tension or dilemmas between ethics
and law (see discussion cases in this lecture).
Example: Computer Abuse (e.g., using firm’s computer for private
business - “cyberslacking” – not sentenced by law but may feel wrong)
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Ethics Turns to Law
In new segments of social relationships it often happens that
ethics precedes law.
This applies to information systems; examples:
hackers damaging IS of others first were condemned as bad
behavior, but then hacking become illegal (1980s)
selling data about customers was sometimes criticized as
ethically inappropriate, but then it became illegal (1990s)
spamming (unsolicited massive e-mailing of ads) went
unchecked for awhile, and became illegal in 2000s
Global context magnifies the ethics/law dilemmas
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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 Legislation
Bill 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
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MIS 2000 Information Systems for Management
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Intellectual Property
A sort of private property. Protected by law and mostly supported by
ethics. Exceptions: free sharing on the Internet; cyclical trend.
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.)
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Discussion Questions for the
Ethical & Legal Dilemmas
1.
A company monitors communications of employees. Is
company’s action ethical? Legal? Explain your assumptions and
reasoning.
2.
A social media uses member-generated data to profile
members and thus improve its proposition value toward
advertisers. Is this legal? Ethical?
3.
The government monitors Internet traffic to detect “dangerous
content.” Is this ethical? Legal?
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Discussion Questions for the
Ethical & Legal Dilemmas
4.
Company A sues company B for copying user interface design
(the look of web pages). Who is right? Who has ethics on their
side?
5.
A flash drive with business data is found in a new employee’s
bag by a security guard, and the company sues. The employee
claims extra work was going to be done at home. Is the
employee’s act ethical/legal? What about the company’s
action?
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Discussion Questions for the
Ethical & Legal Dilemmas
6.
Marketers send unsolicited emails. Ethical, legal?
7.
Google offers free Google Education Apps (email, calendar, a
dropbox) in exchange for the opportunity to advance its data
mining software. A school’s stakeholders are pressed to cut
budgets but worry that data privacy may be compromised
sooner or later. What would you do?
Ethical & Legal Aspects
MIS 2000 Information Systems for Management
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