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Article Excerpt
Background and Purpose
Information technology (IT) ethics play a new and important role in the 21st century. However, concern over ethical uses of computer technology is not new. The historical basis is rich and well-documented, including the voices of such pioneers as Norbert Wiener (1948), Donn Parker (1968) and Joseph Weizenbaum (1976). Wiener, for example, explored what he saw as the ethical implications of computer technology, engaging basic questions, principles involving justice, mission and purpose, as well as computer ethics in practice (1950; Bynum, 1999).
Typically, electronic information is generated from data using some form of IT, stored, maintained, distributed, and variously employed. The impact on and challenge facing those who manage and implement these processes has significant, compelling ethical ramifications. Therefore, the objectives in this paper are: 1) to analyze the ethical challenges facing IT personnel; 2) to illuminate and delineate the responsibilities and consequences of using and managing several facets of electronic information (EI); and 3) to assess IT and El policies and recommend a new, practical--yet value-based--proactive, ethical and legal approach providing both specific and broad policy guidelines.
Importance of the Study
It is almost unnecessary to chronicle the universal effects of electronic information technology (EIT). Suffice it to say that for at least tour decades EIT has influenced the nature of commerce, human interaction, living, and of life itself. Several of the early leaders in the field foresaw the potential consequences of EIT, positive and negative. Because of its malleability, as Moor (1985) described it, EIT has virtually limitless possibilities. While its use can uplift the human condition in countless ways, it can also become a tool for ignoble activity.
While consumers primarily determine EIT's application, providers are largely responsible for its authenticity, shape, and usability. Accountability thus devolves to those who create, manage, produce, and protect the integrity of EIT. These professionals are among the most vulnerable in the organization to ethical and legal missteps. They are unique in that their specialized knowledge commands respect among colleagues, clients, and the larger community. Gotterbarn (2001) gives them the power to affect relationships and values. Their impact on the integrity of EIT cannot be overstated, yet, the ethical and legal guidelines are often vague or misunderstood. Further, while organizations should have clearly defined codes of ethics and consequences for violating them, it is top management's responsibility to delegate and empower the CIO with the responsibility to develop and articulate IT policies, including ethical and legal imperatives.
This study builds upon the ethical framework developed earlier by the present authors and extends it to the CIO and associates' unique and pivotal role in the use of electronic information (EI), which is rapidly becoming the lifeblood of today's organizational activities. Our framework is based on analysis of activities involved in generating electronic information. Optimally, ethical considerations should accompany each activity, anchored on clear, concise policies based on ethical principles and legal requirements.
Are Legal Guidelines Sufficient?
The legal approach is typically the safe path. This is especially the case if legal guidelines are well-defined, along with the penalties for violations. However, this is not necessarily the situation. Privacy protection is a case in point. Legal guidelines and concerns pertain mostly to Internet consumer privacy rather than to the provider's internal handling of electronic information. Even in consumer privacy, the regulations extend only to protection of information about children under 13, unless with parental permission. (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, 1998) Unlike product liability, intellectual property, and outright computer system invasion, the legal answers to privacy issues remain in limbo while groups and agencies such as the Online Privacy Alliance and the Federal Trade Commission clamor for federal legislation on electronic communication privacy (techweb .com, 2003; www.informationweek.com, 2003; www.ftc.gov, 2000). Further, among scholars there is little agreement over how privacy is to be defined and how its breaches should be controlled in the workplace. As Itrona (1997) notes, the debate over privacy's meaning is likely to intensify as EIT continues to advance in every phase of information production and dissemination.
Electronic information privacy is but one of many areas where laws are either nonexistent or too general to serve as everyday guides to action. For example, an overly strict interpretation of employee rights protections could discourage legitimate surveillance activities and thus encourage misuse of resources and information. Had the Pillsbury management not monitored its employees' email activity from fear of violating their privacy rights, the employee in question (Smyth v. Pillsbury, E. Dist. PA, 1996) would have spread defamatory remarks about his supervisor, thus undermining morale in the plant. While the courts have largely upheld employer surveillance practices, companies might still balk at implementing them because of vague legal guidelines and fear of costly litigation.
One of the salient legal issues today that directly affects IT professionals is intellectual property. IT specialists have a special role in observing and protecting rightful ownership of legally-protected software and information. Even here, legal complexities abound, including international differences in laws and customs. Scholars such as Stallman (1993) argue that software and information should be available for all to use as they wish. Meanwhile, others propose that, at the least, copying for informal, personal reasons should be permissible. Compounding the issue are questions about what can and should be owned,...
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