Chapter 8 Ethics and Technology Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Ethics and Technology Vast amounts of information is available to employees and customers on their: Internet sites Intranet sites: Company’s internal Web site, containing information for employee access only Extranet sites: Private piece of a company’s Internet network that is made available to customers and/or vendor partners on the basis of secured access by unique password

Ethics and Technology Loss of privacy Companies have ability to send customers’ personal data anywhere in the world Employee monitoring

Do You Know Where Your Personal Information Is? Call centers were the result of the first wave of technological advancement Ethical obligations Notify the customer the country in which the call center is based Notify the customer the real name of person answering the call Notify the customer that their personal information is being transferred to other countries

Employer Position Monitoring of work-related activity will not be infringement of privacy Organization has an obligation to its stakeholders to operate efficiently It must ensure that company resources are not being misused or stolen It must ensure company data and proprietary information are closely guarded

Employer Position Technological advancements has made it difficult to determine where work ends and personal life begins Employees be notified of any electronic surveillance and the purpose of that surveillance Actions of a small number of employees in breaking company rules should not be used as a justification to take away everyone’s civil rights

Employer/Employee Position Arriving at a resolution of the arguments is difficult Technological advancements has made it difficult to determine where work ends and personal life begins Willingness to compromise has risen and fallen in direct relation to the prevailing job market

When Are You at Work? Telecommuting: Working from anywhere by logging into your company’s network remotely Computer and Smartphone has made the concept of being at work flexible Availability is now defined as accessibility

Employee Consent Thin consent: Employee has little choice When an employee receives formal notification that the company will be monitoring all e-mail and Web activity and it is made clear in that notification that his or her continued employment with the company will be dependent on the employee’s agreement to abide by that monitoring

Employee Consent Thick consent: Employee has an alternative to unacceptable monitoring When jobs are plentiful and the employee would have no difficulty in finding another position, then the employee has a realistic alternative for avoiding an unacceptable policy

The Dangers of Leaving a Paper Trail Documents written on the machines do the most harm Offensive email postings Viewing inappropriate Web sites Internet communication Damage from electronic trail of emails

Vicarious Liability A party may be held responsible for injury or damage even when he or she was not actively involved in an incident Cyberliability: Employers can be held liable for the actions of their employees in their Internet communications to the same degree as if those employers had written those communications on company letterhead

Vicarious Liability Extent of cyberliability in the top categories of litigation Discrimination Harassment Obscenity and pornography Defamation and libel Information leaks Spam

Figure 8.1 - Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics Source: Computer Ethics Institute, “Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics,” Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, http://cpsr.org/issues/ethics/cei.