1. MIS 2000 Social Implications of IST

2. Outline Law & Ethics Accountability and Liability Information Rights Privacy Computer Abuse and Crime Intellectual Property Fair Information Practices Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management2

3. Areas of IST Implications Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management3 Influences of IST Law: What is & is not legal Ethics: What’s good, what not; part of culture International/World: Economy, Culture, Law Single Country

4. Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management4 Discussion Questions for Ethics & Legality 1) Employer can monitor email of employees? Is this ethical? Legal? 2) A disk with business data is found in a bank employee’s bag and the company sues him. Who does win? Ethical? Legal? 3) Company A sues company B for copying design (screen layout— user interface) of A’s Web site. Is Company B’s behavior moral? Legal? 4) Marketers send unsolicited emails. Ethical, legal?

5. Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management5 Ethics and Law Principles of right and wrong acquired through socialization. Also called morale (ethical=moral) Unwritten norms, more stable over time – part of culture There are different ethics, we usually talk about norms shared by a majority Violation leads to social sanctioning/condemnation Law: Legislative pronouncements of rules to be followed in society Written, changeable Violation leads to financial and physical liability before court

6. Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management6 Computer-based IS and digital data are related to both ethical and legal issues. Previous examples New kinds of IST open up new marketing venues. Fore example, collecting large amounts of data on customers (data warehousing), and processing the data to profile customers potentially violates norms of privacy and borders with law. Ethics and Law

7. Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management7 Law: Computer Crime Illegal acts through use of computer system or against a computer system (hacking, sniffing, phishing, spamming*) Ethics: Computer Abuse Acts involving a computer that may not be illegal, but are unethical (e.g., using firm’s computer for private business, like “cyberslacking”) Internet is implicated in both problems above. In general, the Internet brings up more legal & moral challenges. Ethics & Law: Computer Crime vs. Abuse

8. Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management8 In new segments of social relationships it often happens that ethics precedes law. This applies to information systems; examples: hackers damaging property of others had been condemned as bad behavior, but then become illegal selling data about customers was sometimes criticized as inappropriate, but then became illegal Ethics Becomes Law

9. Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management9 Privacy A cultural (ethical) belief that individuals are to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other individuals, organizations, or government Backed by law Canada’s Privacy Legislation Bill C-6 (PIPEDA), Privacy Commissioner; Businesses must also comply since 2004 (Note) Compliant with Fair Information Practices (Note) Every province has its own laws too

10. Social ImplicationsMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management10 Intellectual Property Law and IST & Information Intellectual Property is intangible property created by individuals or organizations. Three main kinds: Trade Secret – Any content communicated in confidence (biz report, idea on product, planning data) Copyright - Law protecting artistic products and software in Canada from being copied for 50 years (literature, music, software in Canada) Patent – Law guaranteeing monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years (machines, medical drugs, software in U.S.)