Ethics and IT Professionals and Users Computer Ethics and IT Professionals A.O.

Aliyu and Adedayo Stephen Energy Commission of Nigeria, Abuja. Nigeria

Abstract The issue of ethics among information technology users and professionals is considered to be of great significance, the field requires study and researches at all levels. The analysis from survey conducted by Pierce and Henry (2000) shows that organizations, users and IT professional have various ethical roles to play in this information age. Computer ethics as a field, deals with the nature of moral action and responsibility. Moral actions are taken based on either personal or formal code of ethics, in form of law, code of practice, professional ethics and personal ethics (Kimppa, 2008). The various rules and regulations setup up by IT professional bodies and organizations has led to a positive ethical use of information technology as revealed in this paper. Keyword:

computers, ethics, information technology, professionals, users

Ethics and IT Professionals and Users

Ethics and IT Professionals and Users Information Technology and Computer Ethics Business organizations now are comprised of a number of information technology( IT)

applications, including e-mail, office automation programs, accounting programs, databases, e-commerce, and more. The Internet growth is one of the greatest innovations of the 21st century altering most aspect of life today (Computer and Information Ethics, 2008). Transferring of information, e-commerce, and unify communication are some of the typical gain of using the Internet (Bojanc & Jerman-blazic, 2008). Definitions of Terms Societies generally have a set of rules or guidelines that are acceptable, these guidelines are compiled to form moral code by which the society all abide by (Reynold, 2007). Ethics from the original Greek word mean character, custom or disposition, and is generally referred to as systematic study of morality (Kimppa, 2008). Ethics is referred to as a set of moral ideology that can be used to guide the behavior of a group of people. Morality is social principle about both wrong and right things that are generally shared and accepted among societies. It varies across ages, cultural groups, gender, ethnic sets and religion (Reynold, 2007). The study of morality covers various areas of practical reasoning, like liberty, confidentiality, equality, duty, obligations, and preference. Other areas include validation of judgments, rights and claims (Kimppa, 2008). The aims and objectives of studying ethics are ; to provide common basis that guide moral action and to classify, compare and defend various ethical theories. Individual uncertainty or misconception of normal behaviour has being identified as one of reasons of most unethical action (Pierceand Henry, 2000). According to Paradice, Acceptable behaviour may be a particularly ambiguous concept in the information system field, since the field is still relatively young and is evolving at a tremendously rapid pace (Paradice, 1990). There are many cases in which either there are no rules or vague guideline to direct peoples conducts (Pierce & Henry, 2000). The term technology comes from a combination of two Greek words. Techne was the Greek for art, craft, practical skill of craftsman or intellectual activities while logos is for reasoning, speech or word

Ethics and IT Professionals and Users

(Kimppa, 2008). Information technology (IT) is defined as the application of appropriate technology to the organization, manipulation, and distribution of information by computer and telecommunication (Kimppa, 2008). Without the basic understanding of how information technology affects our choices, potentials and action, it is impossible to establish any ethics in IT (Laudon, 1995). Historical Background of Computer Ethics The unethical use of IT risk is on the increase due to the global increase in interconnectivity of computer system and online storage systems (Reynold, 2007). Computer ethics was first mentioned by a MIT professor in his books where he established the theoretical framework for computer ethics. (Kimppa, 2008). Moor (1985) defines computer ethics as the analysis of the nature and social impact of computer technology and the corresponding formulation and justification of polices for the ethical use of technology A detailed view of the nature of computer ethics was also published by Moor in many of his books and articles stating as follow: A typical problem in the computer ethics arises because there is a policy vacuum about how computer technology should be used. Computer provides us with new capabilities and these in turn give us new choices for existing policies seem inadequate. A central task of computer ethics is to guide our actions. Of course, some ethical situations confront us as individuals and some as a society. Computer ethics includes consideration of both personal and social policies for the ethical use of computer technology. (Moor, 1985) Moors definition for computer ethics has formed the foundation for other books, articles and related research work in the field. Despite the increasing growth and development in the I.T sectors, ethics and human values had been grossly under emphasised resulting in various forms of ethical problems (Reynold, 2007). The ethical problems in information technology can be categorised into exaggerated traditional ethical problem, converting ethical problem and created new ethical problem (Kimppa, 2008). Today, there are various major ethical use concern in I.T which includes: email and internet use at work, unlawful

Ethics and IT Professionals and Users

download of copyright materials , unsolicited email distribution, unauthorized access to computer and spyware and virus attacks (Reynold, 2007). Most unethical I.T problems are solved within the organisation with little or no publicity (Straub & Nance, 1990). Unethical acts and other related issues like lawsuits, effects on employee moral, and unauthorized release of organisation information are generally avoided by most organisations. Due to the fact that they are resource-intensive and there are other more complex external environmental factors that require attention (Pierce & Henry, 2000). Roles in Ethical Use of IT Methodology in IT Ethics The roles stated by Pierce and Henry (2000) can be group into two; the workers roles and the organizational roles depending on the ethical situations as shown in Table 1. Most people are confused when it comes to how to choose the right action in an uncertain situation. Individuals tend to look for guidance from various source and previous experiences. In an organizational environment, ethical behaviors are derived from social norm, personal, co-worker norms and organizational norms (Sim & Keon, 1999). The establishment of code of ethics is one of the important roles of any organizational management Cassell et al. (1997) stated as follows; Given the probability of the existence of a cultural plurality in any organization, how members respond to the ethical injunctions are articulated by an organization-wide code of ethics may be mediated by and dependent upon, the nature of established customs, values and mores of the group of significant others with whom any individual identifies. In business environment , one of the method used to establish ethics is through format code or regulation of the company (Nijhof & Rietdijk, 1999).

Ethics and IT Professionals and Users

Table 1 Scenarios Used in the Study

Type of scenarios Scenario _____________________________________________________________________________________ Obligation Responsible use The company provides computer time on a large computer. Action: An employee plays games on the system. Responsibility A program is written to manage each employees pension fund allocations. The code was erroneously written so that the stock fund allocation for each person was credited to the bond fund. Action: The programmer refused to take any monetary responsibility for the mistake. Acknowledgment An employee designed a computer application which was the key to a discovery made by the Engineering Division of the company. Action: The Engineering Division was given various award and recognition with no mention of the program or programmer. ______________________________________________________________________________ Opportunity Obtain software An employee is given a PC at work but not all the software needed to do his/her job. Action: The employee copies licensed software from a friend outside of the company to use at work. Unauthorized use An employee discovered a way to access all accounts on the company computer system. This flaw in the system security was reported to the appropriate authorities in the company. Action: Until the problem was corrected, the employee continued to browse the system. Disruptive behavior Many worker who use the computer system in the company do not take the time to log out properly. Action: A system programmer decided to lock out those who had violated the log out procedure for 24 hours. Resources Use Personal non-profit An employee is considering applying for a new job with another company. Action: The employee returns to the office after work and uses computer with word-processing package to type a resume. Personal profit An employee with access to personnel records is going to ask for a raise. Action: Before meeting with the boss, the employee accesses salary information of others in similar jobs to document his/her case for the raise. Company profit While attending a professional conference, a DP professional overheard a private conversation about the development of a top secret user interface being developed by competing company. Action: The employee used the information in his/her company to gain a competitive advantage. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Note. Adapted from Judgments about computer ethics: Do individual, co-worker, and company judgments differ? Do company codes make a difference? by Pierce, M. A., & Henry, J. W., 2000, Journal of Business Ethics, p. 307

Ethics and IT Professionals and Users

Ethical Roles by the Organizations

The roles of the organization as shown in Table 1 are; responsibility for provision of computer hardware and software and establishment of formal code or IT policy. About 48% of the respondents in the survey research by Pierce & Henry (2000) shows that their organization had formal code or IT policy. These will eventually lead to the ethical use of IT resources in the organization. The unethical roles played by are the organizations are inability to provide all the necessary software for the employee and acknowledgment of intellectual property right of software developed by an employee without mentioning the programmer. Most organizations tend to neglect their ethical obligation to the employee due to lack of standard written code for employers to observe (ACM Code of ethics and professional conduct, 1992). Ethical Roles by the IT Professionals The IT professionals in the survey by Pierce & Henry (2000) performed various important roles that encourages the ethical use of information technology. These include; design of high quality, efficient and breakthrough computer application for the engineering section of a company. Comprehensive and thorough evaluation of computer systems and analysis of possible risks from both employees and outsiders was also conducted as required by ACM Code of ethics and professional conduct of 1992. Other roles are enforcement of the organizational code of ethics by locking out offenders and engaging in defensive information warfare to gain competitive advantage for the organisation. Ethical Roles by the Users The employee engaged in various roles that are contrary to ethical use of information technology in their workplaces. These include illegal use of licensed software, unauthorized use and access of IT resources for personal gain and violation of other employee privacy. Other roles are hacking into the company computer security system, taking undue advantage of the flaw in the security system and playing games on official system.

Ethics and IT Professionals and Users

Conclusion

The use of code of ethics among IT general users and professional has a positive effect on the ethical use of information technology as reveal in this paper. The policy vacuum created by the advancement of IT can easily be addressed by constant research and study in field of computer ethics by computer science and information technology related students (Gotterbarn, 1992). The teaching of computer ethics courses will be of great importance in reducing computer disasters, lead to the development of error-free computer applications and eradicating unethical computer activity in this 21st century (Gotterbarn, 1992).

Ethics and IT Professionals and Users

References

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Ethics and IT Professionals and Users

http://proquest.umi.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/pqdweb?did=65553767&sid=1&Fmt=6&clientId=52110 &RQT=309&VName=PQD Reynold, G. W. (2007). Ethics in Information Technology. Boston: Thomson Course Technology. Straub, D. W., & Nance, W. D. (1990). Discovering and Disciplining Computer Abuse in Organizations: A Field Study. MIS Quarterly 14 , 45-60.