TEHCNOLOGY ETHICAL & SOCIAL ISSUES – AGREE OR DISAGREE? AFFECTED OR UNAFFECTED?

Unfortunately, I am struggling gravely in Management Information Systems. I am not sure why! It appears that I am unable to retain the information that I read…and I read a lot! I hope that it is not foreshadowing “Al’s Big Hammer”! The objective of my next few blog entries will be to aid in the preservation the information presented in class and my countless hours spent at the Champlain Library on campus….

Non-obvious relationship awareness or NORA is new technology that analysis data for profiling of an individuals. Information is extracted from many different sources; “watch” lists, Incident and Arrest Systems, Customer Transaction Systems, Telephone Records, Human Resource Systems, and is used by government departments and the public sector. Although it may be beneficial for the discovery of terrorist and personality flaws, it does bring about awareness of privacy issues.

Basic concepts of Ethics in an Information System are:
Responsibility
Accountability
Liability

Fair Information Practices are rules and regulations that regulate how information on individuals is compiled.
There are 5 basic principles:
1. Notice/Awareness – websites must indicate their policies on data collection prior to collecting.
2. Choice/Consent – Individuals must be notified and given the choice on how their personal data is to be distributed.
3. Access/Participation – Individuals should be permitted to review their information profile and allow for changes.
4. Security – Organizations that collect data must safe guard their information from unauthorized usage.
5. Enforcement – There must be an organization to control the governing of the FIP practices.


Safe Harbor is a policy and procedure device that meets government standards without the government’s involvement in the usage of extracted personal information from European countries.

American companies have consistently gathered information on individuals without their knowledge and consent; this information has been used to serve marketing purposes. Many e-commerce organizations have started using an “opt-out” model that gathers information until a user specifies that they do not want their personal information gathered. An opt-in model works on the premises that information is not gathered until and individual approves the process.

Intellectual property is very difficult to regulate on the Internet. There are systems to protect your rights. However, it very easy for website users to copy and paste documents, files, and photographs. Trades Secrets are intellectual works that have not been published on the public domain. Copyrighting an intellectual property protects individuals from having their work duplicated for their lifetime and 70 years after their death. A patent provides exclusive rights to an invention for 20 years.



Any advancement in society has had its advantages and disadvantages. There have been many negative social costs that have developed from technology advancements. With the invention of wireless networks, individuals are able to use notebooks and cellular phone at almost any location around the globe. It is increasingly more difficult to separate work from leisure when an organization is able to contact an employee at anytime. Companies are becoming more and more dependent on technology and are left dead in the water in the event of systems failure. Computer Crimes in the form of Identity theft and Spamming; to name a few, are consistently growing in popularity. The cost of technology is defining social classes and some groups are unable to advance into a new digital age.