Information Systems Ethics

The area of Information Systems ethics has received a fair amount of attention in recent times. IS Professionals generally agree that we need adequate ground rules to govern the use of present day Information Technology. We have also recognized for many years the need to incorporate ethics into IS curricula. Current mechanisms which attempt to make IS professionals and students more sensitive to the ethical concerns within IT and IS may be too tightly focused in terms of both issues and audience, especially in the light of the rapid proliferation of Internet use.

To properly analyze the impact of the Internet on IS ethics, we would need to establish the appropriate context. To this end, this paper explores several aspects of computer ethics that are relevant to today's users of IT. For example, who are the people that need to be educated on these issues? What are the issues, and what has been the impact of the Internet on these issues? What are current attitudes, perceptions, and behavior in situations involving computer ethics, and what is the effect of the Internet? Do we have guidelines and codes that provide assistance for these ethical situations? What else needs to be done to help address some of the problems in this important area?

The People

Solomon and O'Brien found that software piracy didn't seem to be much of a problem until microcomputers made their first major corporate and home appearance about 20 years ago. Rapid proliferation of inexpensive technology certainly does provide an ample arena for an increase in the unethical use of this technology. Today, the pervasiveness of microcomputer and technology use is not limited solely to IS professionals and students. As early as 1984, in his testimony before the US Congress, computer security expert Robert Campbell accused the computer industry of failing to develop the necessary ethical framework for IT use. He went on to say that the technology had already breached the boundaries of the professional arena and proliferated into the public domain. Today, technology use spans the widest possible range of activities and often begins at home at an early age. The Internet promises to push this trend forward at a rapid pace. In spite of this growth in use, many people who use technology at home and at work still find it to be a new and rapidly changing phenomenon. As a result, for many users of IT today, just learning how to use this volatile technology is the most important, and often the only, consideration; ethics and other related concerns are relegated to the distant background.