Information Technology Ethics, Professionalism and Law

By: Ossama Khalil

What is Information Technology?

Information technology (or I.T.) is simply defined as the use of computers and
software to manage information such as business data, digital images and videos, voice
conversation, multimedia presentations and others electronic files. It involves storing,
processing, designing, transmitting and retrieving information through computer systems
and applications. The term “information technology” progressed during the 1970’s
where microcomputers have been developed, but the basic concept of it, ignited during
the World War II where the military and industry worked together for the development of
electronics, computers, and information theory.

I.T. has gone far since then and became a part of daily routine of everyone’s life
both in business and social living. It has drastically developed over the past decades and
still fast developing. The generation of computers becomes smaller with greater speed
and capability as generation passes. In addition, the network connections of computers
become more complex and made the exchange of information more accessible.

What is Ethics?

But before drawing further and directly address the ethical issues on information
technology, it will be best to define what ethics first. Some say that ethics has to do with
religion. Conversely, ethics should not be confined with it. Most religions advocate
higher ethical standards. And yet, if ethics were confined to religion, then ethics would
apply only to religious people.

Some says that ethics is something about law. However, there are some unethical
acts that are not covered by law. One instance, lying or betraying the confidence or trust
of a friend is generally unethical, but it is not punishable and covered by any law. But,
conforming to the law is absolutely considered as ethical.

Furthermore, some says to be ethical is to do what the society accepts. But, the
society can be morally corrupt. Like during the time of Nazi in Germany, killing Jews is
acceptable in their society and grotesquely obvious that it deviates from being ethical. In
this sense, ethics is not generally related to the norms of the society.

In conclusion, ethics is not tantamount with religion, law and social norm, though
in some ways they are connected. Ethics is a set of standards of right and wrong in which
advises us the proper way to act and react. It relates on the manner one person treats
others in which respect and others’ well being are considered. It also relates with the
compliance with law, conforming with generally accepted social norms and contribution
to the society. Lastly, it relates on presenting oneself with honesty, reliability, and
compassion.

Ethics and Professionalism in Information Technology

Parallel to the rapid development of Information Technology is uprising of certain

ethical and professional issues as well as social implications that were not thought
decades back. Internet particularly made a big impact not only the way people around the
globe communicate but also, it opens a wide door to information. Internet gave people
the freedom to do, find and share a lot of things and information in the web. It is like
going inside a global grocery store where everything you wanted and needed are there, all
you have to do is put it inside your cart. Consequently, this freedom became the key for
emergence of numerous ethical issues and made different cultures collide. One example
is the cartoon published by a Danish newspaper that created a huge global sensation due
to the protest it received from the Muslim communities all over the globe. In Danish
culture and as the Danish court sided that there is no violation done by the newspaper in
publishing the said cartoons but in Muslim countries it is unacceptable and unethical.
 As part of the virtual world of I.T., it is our social mandate to act ethically and
professionally and promote it in our workplace. Although, at times there are acts that a
lot of users does not think it is unethical for it is done by many and no law or policy
prohibits the act. So, what can be the guidelines to distinguish the right from wrong?
These guidelines can be group into three categories, namely: equity, privacy and honesty.

Equity simply means being fair with others and to act fair is to act ethical. Equity
directly relates to the intellectual property rights which according to Justin Hughes, an
American law professor is characterized as “nonphysical property that is a product of
cognitive processes and whose value is based upon some idea or collection of ideas.”
Intellectual Property is legally protected by copyright, patents, trademarks, trade secrets
and design rights. One common violation of this right and almost everyone is guilty of, is
the rampant uploading or downloading an electronic files through peer-to-peer sharing
(P2P) network and mostly this is without the permission of the original author.

Though, P2P file sharing itself is not illegal. But, the spread of file sharing
implicated the growth of unauthorized sharing of copyrighted electronic files as well. The
unauthorized downloading harmed the business of copyright holders, publishers and also
the global economy. The music industry as an example has dropped approximately 15%
on its 2003 sales compared to 1999. There was an attempt to stop these copying and
sharing of electronic files. But, all was unsuccessful, even in countries with eminent
intellectual property rights law such as the US and Europe. Later, it found out that this
file sharing can work to their benefit and can promote sales. Record companies allow
users to download sample songs from a record album. They also gave the option of
rating the songs to influence others. Thus, creating a fan base and in turn augment the
album’s sales. The same with the case of software, where trial versions were now
release by its creators to beat the illegal downloading. The movie industry is also
thinking of a way now to use the file sharing network and applications for its own
benefit. But despite the fact that file sharing specifically unauthorized P2P sharing is
working somehow positively to authors, companies and publishers, still a number
considers it as theft and unethical.

In addition, a lot of internet users predominantly students “copy and paste” text
from websites without proper citation from the original author. Sadly, some claims
ownership of the work afterwards. Plagiarism became dominant in the internet. Some
website blocks the right-click function to prevent the “copy and paste” command of web
visitors. But, the act is still widespread. Even journalist and writers are guilty of this act.
A senior student in Dublin, Shane Fitzgerald placed a fake quote in www.wikipedia.org
under a famous dead musician, Maurice Jarre’s biography for his experiment study. To
his surprise the bogus quote was copied and paste in the obituary and articles about Jarre.
Only a few weeks later upon his admission that the writers found out that it was a hoax.
Also, this brings up the social responsibility of content providers in presenting reliable
information.

Another case is the Missouri’s family Christmas card photo. The photo was
published by the wife in her personal Facebook account and blog. To her surprise their
family photo was then edited and was used as an advertisement photo by Czech store
without her or her husband’s permission. The store owner thought the picture was
computer generated and admitted the mistake.

Second is privacy. Something that intrudes the privacy of others is considered

unethical. These include accessing one’s email account, records and personal
information such as credit card number, address, etc. There are companies who practice
monitoring of both personal and business emails, as well as internet usage of their
employees. A number of office workers are accessing and using personal email account
for business and personal reasons. This oftentimes leads to information leakage and
expose the company to unstable situations. According to the survey done by Proofpoint
Inc. in the U.S., more than 80 out of 220 large companies hire staff to read and analyze
outgoing emails of their staff. This is legal in most areas and done by companies to shun
them from any legal liability that may arise by the unlawful act of their employees in the
internet. However, the question on invasion of privacy arises and objected by a lot of
workers. The European Union together with its member nations enacted a ban from
transacting to businesses without workplace privacy. In some U.S. states, companies are
required to inform their employees that they are electronically monitored which will
serve as balance between ethical/privacy issues and business information security.

On the same note, some individuals collect email address and sell this information
to companies whose aim is to promote their products through spam email. Some uses
credit card information for computer theft. Consequently, with the rise of blogs and
social network, this personal information of individual became handy to anyone. Now,
some social websites are giving the option to its members to increase their privacy setting
to avoid information exploitation.

Next is honesty which refers to acting with integrity. Generally, everyone knows
and can distinguish what is right from wrong. But, not everyone can act honestly at all
times. Even with the creation of company conduct code or policy, it cannot stop
someone in doing unethical or dishonest habits in the workplace for honesty is something
intrinsic. These are common unethical and unprofessional business habits and serves as
current challenges of most companies:
1. Spamming – sending unsolicited email to many users and usually for commercial
purposes.
2. Flaming – sending grave and offensive email or posting offensive messages to
social / group bulletins.
3. Forwarding non-business emails
4. Moonlighting - doing side jobs or personal business using company’s network
and computer system
5. Sharing of password, data and access to other users
6. Hacking – unauthorized used or access of networked computer systems
 7. Internet hijacking – unauthorized use of another user’s email account and
information.
8. Use of internet for personal use such as online shopping, browsing, social
networking etc.
9. Acts which threatens the security of company’s information.

Information Technology and Law

Information technology boosted high with the emergence of internet.

Consequently is the rise of issues that placed internet users in legal threat and argument.
In addition, there is a conflict of international law that governs internet users which is
considered one of the greatest challenges of I.T. today. Web content can be illegal to one
country and can be legal to some. Internet wagering is one example. In most countries
online gambling is illegal, but like in Antigua and Curacao it is lawful and web servers in
such websites is located there. In some states of U.S. gambling is legal but regulated.
The question now is this, if the internet user in Saudi Arabia for instance engages in
online gambling (which is illegal this country), is the internet user liable to any legal
violation? One electronic transaction can be under three jurisdiction and these are (1)
location of the user; (2) location of the server that host the transaction; (3) location of the
business of company whom the user transacted with. So, it means one transaction can be
under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of three nations.

Today, e-business and transactions are being done online so security measures are
highly needed and should be in high regard. New law has been enacted in different
countries as new criminal behavior in the cyberspace come into surface. Like in Saudi
Arabia where in January 2008, it started implementing laws to fight against cyber crimes
which increasingly threatens security and welfare of users. The new laws concerns about
computer theft, computer hacking, anti-terrorism, pornography and computer privacy to
name a few.
 According to www.intenetworldstats.com and as published by Nielsen Online,
International Telecommunications Union and GfK there are over 1.7 billion internet users
as of September, 2009. And there is a growth rate of almost 400% on the number of
users compared to year 2000. With these high figures, it makes it impossible to control
users’ behaviors. Some countries regulate and filter websites with illegal content lead by
Asian countries and Middle Eastern nations such as China and Saudi Arabia. As each
nation self-regulates the internet usage and websites in their respective country, the
control on the behavior of users is higher and criminal acts can be more prevented.
Though, debates on this arise as users and web publishers feel that it suppress their
freedom of speech.

Awareness is another key to lessen unethical, unprofessional and unlawful

behavior in information technology especially in internet. Most users are
unknowledgeable that their certain acts have violated ethical standards and worst certain
law. Information technology is for everyone’s freedom to use. But, everyone should also
be aware that with this freedom comes a responsibility to act ethical, professional and
abide the laws that administers it.

References:

Bick, Jonathan. 101 Things You Need to Know About Internet Law. New York : Three
Rivers Press, 2000

Ess, Charles and Hongladarom, Soraj. Information Technology Ethics: Cultural

Perspective. London : Ideal Group Reference, 2007

Ghafour, Abdul P.K. “New Law to Combat Information Technology Crimes”

Arab News 26 January, 2008.
Himma, Kenneth Einar & Tavani, Hernan T. The Handbook of Information and
Computer Ethics. New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2008

Stead, B. & Gilbert, J. (2001). Ethical Issues in Electronic Commerce. Journal of

Business Ethics
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