Social, Professional and Ethical Issues in Information System Privacy

Social, Professional and Ethical Issues in Information System Privacy

Introduction

An information system is a complex object that evolves in an even more complex. It would therefore be unrealistic to undertake the development of such a system without using an appropriate method and without a thorough knowledge of some tools and techniques. The manual, entitled the development of information systems: an integrated approach to the transformation process, which can be sometimes referred noting Rivard and Talbot, proposes a method that emphasizes the importance of an integrated approach to process improvement and business development of information systems. It describes the main tools available to the analyst, whose information-gathering techniques, modeling tools and documentation of business processes and information systems, data normalization and entity-relationship modeling.

The number of computerized databases has increased rapidly over the past three decades, and the advent of the Internet and networking capabilities has made it increasingly easy to access this data. As a result, the need to develop techniques for protecting stored data became urgent in every sphere, from food to infrastructure, including government, industry, and institutions such as hospitals and universities. These concerns are associated with the information security as it is vital with respect to information retrieval in diverse fields.

Ethical, Social and Legal Issues Relevant to Information Systems

The advent of mass computing and telecommunications has brought new ethical problems to society. The problem of software piracy—the obtaining of copies of programs by people who have not paid for them—has brought lawsuits, financial settlements, and debates. The ability to copy electronic documents surreptitiously without destroying the original has raised questions concerning intellectual property and the value of information. The advent of electronic publishing—the distribution of material to online subscribers—raises legal questions, since electronic publishers do not receive the same protection as publishers of printed material.

The filing of “look and feel” lawsuits (pertaining to ownership of the way programs appear on the computer screen) by Apple, Ashton-Tate, and Lotus raises questions of copyright law and industry practices (Agarwal, Prasad, 1999, 361-391). MP3 data compression now allows high-quality music to be downloaded from the Internet in reasonable times, a development that is wreaking havoc with longstanding copyright and licensing practices. The proven ability of computer hackers to gain unauthorized access to computer systems raises serious questions about security and ownership of information (global communications has even brought espionage by computer).

Nonetheless, privacy and freedom seem inextricably linked in this perspective, and just as there are ethical limits on freedom—even in democratic societies—the same appears to be true for privacy as well. Ethical discussions of privacy thus provide a foundation for further analysis, but they do not necessarily provide a clear account of the thoughts and feelings of people who are potentially affected by the privacy invasions resulting from new technologies. Put differently, ethical writings do not show how privacy works in the minds of people who are affected by new forms of technology (Alavi, Carlson, 1992, 45-62). Law and philosophy can draw boundaries around ...