Unit 1 Fundamentals of IT LO5 – Understand ethical and operational issues and threats to computer systems 5.1 – Ethical Issues

Starter What are the ethical issues here? American student Joel Tenenbaum was taken to court for downloading and sharing songs using the peer-to-peer file sharing program Kazaa. Under US law, recording companies are entitled to $750 to $30,000 per infringement, or more if the jury believes the infringements were wilful. In the first case of this kind, a Minnesota jury awarded $80,000 per song, amounting to $1.92 million for sharing 24 songs. Joel was found guilty and ordered to pay $675,000 (£404,000). He now must either pay the fine or declare bankruptcy. Tenenbaum said an entire generation has grown up downloading music and his case is not unusual, but in a press release, Recording Industry Association of America President Mitch Bainwol said music fans know right from wrong when it comes to illegal downloading.

Learning Objective You should know about different ethical issues These can include: whistle blowing disability/gender/sexuality discrimination use of information codes of practice staying safe online bias This should lead to an understanding of how these issues can be addressed.

Task Using today’s lesson slides and the word document. Please complete notes on ethical issues.

What does it mean to be ethical? Ethics are a system of moral principles and a branch of philosophy which defines what is good for individuals and society. What is ethics? At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives. Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character or disposition. Ethics covers the following dilemmas: how to live a good life our rights and responsibilities the language of right and wrong moral decisions - what is good and bad? Our concepts of ethics have been derived from religions, philosophies and cultures. They infuse debates on topics like abortion, human rights and professional conduct. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml

Whistle Blowing This is when an employee makes a disclosure that is of the interest of the company or manager. They are normally disclosing unlawful practice within the place of work. Examples: Miscarriages of justice Illegal activity Threats to individuals Damage to the environment Any whistle blower is protected by UK law against any form of “punishment” by their organisation. (eg. Unfair dismissal or not being promoted) Task – Look at this website and summarise in your notes what can happen with whistle blowing drawing on these different case studies http://www.pcaw.org.uk/law-policy/legal-updates/whistleblowing-case-summaries

Disability/Gender/Sexuality Discrimination Behaving ethically can be underwritten by law (eg. Equality Act 2010). The Equality Act (2010) ensures equality of treatement for all people, irrespective of colour, race, disability or gender. These and other characteristics are classified as protected. Examples: Equal pay for the same job (Gender Pay etc.) Not employing them because of race, gender, disability Treating others unfairly because of race, gender, disability

Use of information Data Protection Act (1998) ensures that personal data is used responsibly. When designing, developing and/or using information systems, ethical considerations should be made with respect to how the information is collected, processed, stored, used and distributed. Task - Can you find and make notes on the current DPA (1998) Current changes of DPA to GDPR. In May 2018 there will be changes. The Data Protection Act will become the EU General Data Protection Regulation  Task - Can you add to your notes for today’s lesson what these changes are and how they will affect companies/organisations. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/connect/small-business/business-networks/bt/data-protection- laws-changing/

Codes of Practice There are many codes of practice within the workplace to provide ethical guidance. An organisation may have a code of practice for confidentiality in relation to its clients (eg. If you saw confidential information while developing an information system you would be bound by your organisations code of practice to not share the information you have seen) There are codes of practice for: ethics (how you behave) quality assurance (How the organisation ensures that quality is maintained with respect to product/services it provides) Equality and discrimination (being fair and objective with advice and actions provided to employees and clients)

Staying Safe Online There are guides on staying safe online to avoid problems with individuals who do not behave ethically or perhaps have a different ethical code from those of society as a whole. Refer to your work in Unit 3 with Mr Satari on this.