Codes of ethics
A code of ethics refers to the rules that organizations adapt in order to assist professionals working for them to conduct their daily activities in a way that minimizes the harm caused by them to other individuals or organizations (Menzel, 2007). Computer-related code of ethics refers to the behavior expected of computer users regarding their rights and those of other computer users.
Right-based contract theories
Rights-based contract theories are based on the idea that people have right to carry out their rightful activities which imposes a duty on other people not to interfere with a person’s performance of those activities (Tavani, 2001). Right-based theories are very flexible theories of moral behavior that involve an individual assessing the consequences of their actions by asking themselves whether carrying out an activity violates the rights of other individuals. This forms the basis of ethical concerns, meaning that if carrying out an activity violates the rights of other people, then the activity is unethical.
Social contract theory
The social contract theory developed by Thomas Hobbes states that in any society that has a governing body, people give up their natural or negative rights in order to have more of their fundamental rights protected by the body governing them (Tavani, 2001). As regards the dynamic field of information technology, new issues of privacy and ownership of information crop up daily, meaning that new legislation must be formulated by governments on a continuous basis in order to address the ever-changing technology concerns.
Ethical Issues in Information Technology
Computerized invasion of privacy
The right to privacy has been recognized by laws in all countries across the globe. Computerized invasion of privacy refers to the use of computers or computer networks with the intent of gaining personal or financial information about an individual or business organization without the consent of the owners of such information, whether malicious or otherwise (Blanke, 2001). Rights-based contract theory requires that individuals assess whether accessing the information on computers violates the rights of the owners of such information in order to judge whether they are acting ethically. According to the social contract theory, the government has the obligation of ensuring the security of individual and organizational information by instituting laws on the protection of their privacy. This is however a complex task because control of information over the internet is a challenge to even the most effective governments.
Ownership of information
Ownership of information in today’s information world has raised numerous ethical issues. The questions of who should access which information and who should not be an easy task, but the control of access to such information has proved to be a difficult task among individuals and businesses who feed their information to the internet. Once information is posted to the internet, it becomes readily available to very many computer users across the globe, both the intended and the unintended audience. That has been one of the most challenging areas of control of information by most governments. However, many governments have drafted new laws that address the right to privacy and give remedies to violators of such laws depending on the value of the information obtained (Tavani, 2001).
References
Blanke, J. M. (2001). Criminal invasion of privacy: A survey of computer crimes. Jurimetrics, 443-463.
Khosrowpour, M. (2006). Emerging trends and challenges in information technology management. Hershey: Idea Group.
Menzel, D. C. (2007). Ethics management for public administrators : building organizations of integrity. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Tavani, H. T. (2001). Ethics and Technology : controversies, questions, and strategies for ethical computing. Hoboken: Wiley.