chapter 3 : Ethics

3.1 Ethical Issues

Ethics :deals with what is considered to be right and wrong
Deciding what is right or wrong is not always easy or clear cut

Code of Ethics

A collection of principles that are intended to guide decision making by members of an organization.

Ethical Issues

An ethical action is the one that provides the most good or does the least harm

Rights Approach

An ethical action is the one that best protects and respects the moral rights of affected people

Moral Rights:

The right to make your own choices

The right to be told the truth

The right of privacy

Fairness Approach

Ethical actions treat all human beings equally, or, if unequally, then fairly , based on some defensible standard.

Common good Approach

Highlights the interlocking relationships that underlie all societies.

This approach argues that respect and compassion for all is the basis for ethical actions

Responsibility

means that you accept the consequences of your decisions and actions.

Accountability

a determination of who is responsible for actions that were taken

Liability

a legal concept meaning that individuals have the right to recover the damages done to them by other individuals, organizations, or systems

Privacy 
is the right to be left alone and to be free of unreasonable personal intrusions.

Information Privacy:

the right to determine when, and to what extent, information about yourself  can be gathered and/or communicated

The right of privacy is not absolute !.       

Your privacy must be balanced against the needs of society.

The public’s right to know is superior to the individual’s right

     of privacy.

involve collecting, storing and disseminating information about individuals

2. Accuracy Issues

involve the authenticity, fidelity and accuracy of information that is collected and processed

3. Property Issues

involve the ownership and value of information.

4. Accessibility Issues

revolve around who should have access to information and whether they should have to pay for this access.

Data aggregators

companies that collect public data (e.g., real estate records, telephone numbers) and nonpublic data (e.g., social security numbers, financial data, police records, motor vehicle records) and integrate them to produce digital dossiers

Digital dossiers

an electronic description of you and your habits

Profiling

use of computers to combine data from multiple sources and create digital dossiers of detailed information on individuals

Social Networking Sites

Protecting Privacy

Privacy Codes and Policies

An organization’s guidelines with respect to protecting the privacy of customers, clients, and employees.

Opt-out Model

informed consent permits the company to collect personal information until the customer specifically requests that the data not be collected.

Opt-in Model

informed consent means that organizations are prohibited from collecting any personal information unless the customer specifically authorizes it.

P3P Platform for Privacy Preferences Project

•Industry standard designed to give users more control over personal information