Introduction
Ethical questions are one of the most controversial and ambiguous ones. Due to the development of the Internet and ICT, which means information and communication technology, and the ability to collect, store, and steal users’ data, this topic has become more confusing. Nowadays, it is effortless to explore anything about any person online without their permission. ICT has drastically changed and broken ethics rules, allowing easy access to anybody’s personal data and eliminating privacy.
Ethics in Information and Communication Technology
Ethics is a set of principles that identifies what is good and bad. It is developed to avoid confusion, establish social norms, and be able to exist as a civilized society. Information ethics concentrates on the use of information and its security (Seattle Pacific Library, 2020). ICT has drastically affected ethics and is a highly controversial topic nowadays. For instance, many people argue whether it is ethical to allow access to people’s personal data online. On the one hand, it will secure them when the information is in the right hands. On the other hand, if it is stolen, it may become a weapon and harm users. Furthermore, the question of intellectual property is controversial too: it has become effortless to plagiarize other authors nowadays.
ICT made almost any information accessible online with several clicks. Any news can be immediately spread worldwide whether they aim to help or harm someone. When intentions are not positive, ICT becomes a weapon. For instance, if some personal data is stolen, it can be spread through the Internet, and the hacker who did it may be hard or impossible to be found due to the newest technology. Furthermore, all the big companies use services to collect data about users to provide them with the best service and identify the target audience. However, such actions are not ethical; there are exabytes of personal data owned by the largest companies of people who possibly did not agree to store it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, ICT has broken the basic rules of ethics and the right to privacy, collecting and storing personal data sometimes without any permission. It drastically changed and broke the rules of ethics and constantly continues doing it. Intellectual property, personal information, photos, videos, and posts may be used to take advantage of the user. Moreover, it is often hard to find an offender due to the extensity of the web.
Reference
Information ethics. (2020). Seattle Pacific Library.