A Reflective Essay On Information Technology Ethics

Ethical Responsibilities in Information Technology

Ethics is stated as the basic and specified rules or regulations regarding conduct, which are being identified or recognized in respect to the specific classes of several human activities as well as specified groups and cultures (Trevino and Nelson 2016). The following reflective essay provides a brief description that I have learnt about information technology ethics. I have got the idea that this IT ethics would be quite vital and significant within the sector of IT. I would be providing the proper reflection of all the tutorials that my professor has given in the class. The social impact of the information technology as well as the corporate social responsibility of the various IT professionals would be described here. Furthermore, the codes of conduct in work place, trademarks, patents and many others would also be described in this reflective essay.

Ethical Responsibilities

From the presentations and tutorials, given by my professor, I have learnt that the ethical responsibilities could be present in three distinct levels. These are as follows:

1. i) Professional Level: The first and the foremost level for ethical responsibility is the professional level (Acevedo 2013). In this level, the professionals of the organization have to fulfil their ethical responsibilities properly for bringing efficiency in business.
2. ii) Business Level: The second level is business level, where the business operations of the specific organization are being performed. These business operations should be absolutely ethical in nature.

iii) Work Level: The third and the final level that I have learnt for the ethical responsibility is the respective work level. In this level, the works of the individuals should be completed.

Ethical Issues with IT

I have learnt that there are three types of ethical issues related to information technology. These three ethical issues are as follows:

1. i) Privacy: This is the most significant and noteworthy ethical issue that is being faced in the sector of information technology. There is always a major threat of false security in this type of problem related to privacy (Koslowski 2013). The lack of privacy could lead to the loss of sensitive data.
2. ii) Physical Security: The next issue is the physical security. The IP data properties are being checked and updated with the help of this physical security.

iii) Computer Crime: Another significant ethical issues with IT is the computer crime. These are organized by illegal access, system interferences, misuses of the devices and finally any type of electrical fraud.

Examples of Codes of Conduct in the Work place

I have got proper knowledge from the tutorials and presentations that this ethics eventually define the correct or incorrect actions for any social system. An individual often faces various peer or societal disapproval when they try to follow the ethical rules. However, there are certain morals or principles that should be followed properly for this type of issues (Fromm 2013). The best examples of the codes of conduct within the work place are as follows:

1. i) BP
2. ii) Intel

iii) Macquarie Group

1. iv) University of Technology Sydney.

The above mentioned four organizations are following ethical codes of conduct within their work place to maintain work ethics.

Identifying Stakeholders

After attending the lectures of my professor, I have properly identified all the stakeholders of any specific organization. The stakeholders are defined as the people, who have direct impact by the IT project or work (Peters 2015). The major stakeholders of an IT organization are as follows:

1. i) Clients.
2. ii) Managers, Directors and Senior Level Staffs.

iii) Employees as well as Contractors.

1. iv) Communities.
2. v) Stockholders and Investors.
3. vi) Competitors.

vii) Software Companies.

viii) Other Support Groups like Accounting and Contracts.

These above mentioned stakeholders are responsible for bringing any type of change or alteration within the company.

Cross Cultural Issues in Work place

I have understood that there could be several cross cultural issues within the work place of IT organization (Runciman, Merry and Walton 2017). The major cross cultural issues are as follows:

1. i) Cultural Factors Arising in Different Work Environments: The significant religious belief and practices as well as the historical factors are the main cultural factors. Moreover, the beliefs from the upbringing of an individual and the language barriers are the cultural factors that arise from the different work environments.
2. ii) Global vs Regional Work places: The different laws as well as the regulations and the different ethical decisions are the best examples of this issue. Furthermore, the different views on the individual roles and work ethics are the other important factors.

iii) Outsourcing in Different Regions: Ethics with the labour laws and the cultural differences or barriers are the main factors that are common in the cross cultural issues (Lacan 2013).

1. iv) Ethical Dilemmas with Cross Cultural Environments: The various separate factors as well as environments could shape the decisions, however the ethical beliefs to do the correct things should not be compromised.

This ethics or the moral philosophy is responsible for the proper involvement of systematizing, defending as well as recommending the major concepts of the correct or incorrect conducts. The various questions of the human morality are easily resolved with the help of these concepts like good and evil, virtue and vice, right or wrong and finally justice and crime. Hence, from the tutorials on the IT ethics as well as morals, I have acquired significant knowledge on the IT or information technology professional and how these professionals must be morally or ethically correct within the work places for eradicating any type of issues related to ethics (Crane and Matten 2016). There are several organizational responsibilities of the professionals of IT, where they could implement or have a significant control on the process in an effective manner. Several responsibilities are present for the clients, employers and the colleagues for any specific organization.

Cross-Cultural Issues in the Workplace

As per my professor, there are various types of roles in IT within any particular organization. These IT roles are given below:

1. i) Website Developers or Application Developers.
2. ii) Systems Consultants as well as Computer Consultants.

iii) Database Services.

1. iv) Network Administrators.
2. v) Security Consultants.
3. vi) IT Support Services.

vii) Project Management.

viii) Software Developer’s Systems Procurements.

1. ix) Transactional Internet Services.
2. x) Cloud Service Providers.

The ACS Code of Professional Conduct depicts six factors:

1. i) The Primacy of the Public Interest.
2. ii) The Enhancement of the Quality of Life.

iii) Honesty.

1. iv) Competence.
2. v) Professional Development.
3. vi)

There are two types of IT roles for the professionals, which are:

1. i) Traditional IT Role: These roles are defined and outlined and are independent in nature. Moreover, these IT professionals are followers and do not have the ability of decision making.
2. ii) Evolving IT Role: They comprise of multi role functionality and also have leadership skills. They are decision makers and have liaison roles (Moor 2017).

My professor has helped me in understanding that five ethical issues are eventually faced in the work place and these are as follows:

1. i) Behaving in Professional Manner: The lack of behaviour in professional manner is the first ethical issue.
2. ii) Privacy: The lack of privacy and security of the confidential data is the next important ethical issue here.

iii) Harassment: Harassments are the common issues in work places.

1. iv) Work Life Balance: Often the IT professional is unable to balance his work life and hence issues are faced (Christen 2014).
2. v) Utilization of Company Time for Personal Uses: The utilization of the company time or any other resource for the personal uses is the next popular ethical issue.

CSR or corporate social responsibility is defined as the initiative taken by a person or organization for welfare of environment and society. I have known that a strong impact is present for the CSR and there are six principles related to this responsibility, which are as follows:

1. i) Purpose: It helps in identifying the requirement of CSR in a company (Van Hooft 2014).
2. ii) Values: The globalized or the total social responsibility values are observed here.

iii) Methods: This method includes the way of execution of CSR within the organization.

1. iv) Research: It is based on empirical or conceptual factors.
2. v) Partnership: There is a distinct collaboration with the businesses in CSR.
3. vi) Dialog: The proper communication with several stakeholders about sustainability and globalized social issues is checked by dialog.

The most significant examples of the CSR reports from the airlines are Virgin Atlantic and British Airways (Noddings 2013). The examples of negligent CSR are Texas City Explosion and BP oil spill.

The Australian legal system has several laws and regulations. The federation stated in 1^st January 1901. The example of state law is Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) and the example of federal law is Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). This legal system is even termed as the Common Law system that came from English legal system. Civil Law and Islamic Law are the other important examples of legal systems.

I have known that there are few sources of laws in the Australian legal system. These are as follows:

1. i) Statute: The legislation has enacted in both the levels of state and federal.
2. ii) Common Law: The next source is common law. It is a judge based law that is completely based on the decisions made in court (Bertrand 2018).

iii) Other Sources of Laws: The two other sources of law are administrative law and international law. These are extremely vital for the Australian legal system.

There are various principle of this legal system and the courts are sub divided into three hierarchy. The first is the High Court of Australia, from which four sub divisions are present of State Court of Appeal, State Supreme Court, Federal Court and Family Court. The State Court of Appeal and State Supreme Court Have further sub division of State Lower Courts and the Federal Court and Family Court have sub division of Federal Circuit Court.

I have also learned about the regulation of the profession of information technology. The major regulations are as follows:

1. i) The first regulation is that there is no specified law for this purpose.
2. ii) A distinct number of IT professional association and the interest and advocacy group like Australian Computer Society, AIIA and ITPA (Fraser 2018).

iii) The IT organizations eventually provide proper guidance and support. Moreover, they even perform research in various areas. Advocates are present for these IT professionals and the best practice guideline is published for the purpose of providing accreditation and certification. Finally, several specialist courses are offered.

1. iv) The several industry practices and standards are covered in various areas like accessibility, data identification, software systems or engineering, computer modelling as well as simulation, data management, IT services management, information security and design or safety of the electrical equipment.
2. v) Several IT standards are present here and there is a strict compliance with the several standards of legislation (Bennett 2016).
3. vi) It is extremely vital for obtaining the correct subject matter advices while building solutions of IT.

I got significant knowledge of contracts. This contract is the legal agreement within two or more parties that is common in all organizations. The contracts could either be verbal or be written. IT covers all types of subject matters. The Contract Law is absolutely relevant to the profession of information technology. The most prominent examples of the contract are contract of employment, IT service agreement, terms and conditions of sale, end user license agreement and website terms of use.

Stakeholders and Roles in IT

The electronic contracting is done by verification of the signatures and also by knowing the identities and agreements (Hursthouse 2013). In Australia, as per Electronic Transactions Act 1999, any transaction is not considered as invalid only because that is being conducted electronically. Moreover, enforceability of contracts is maintained by the fact that both the parties require to be completely aware of every term in the contract and the terms are bound by making them visible and available. Consumer protection is the next important factor for any contract.

My professor has explained me about the intellectual properties. These are monopoly rights that are granted for the encouragement of the creation of all newer forms of the creative expression and these properties even protect the expressions of ideas. Various types of intellectual properties are present like copyright, patents, trademarks, domain names and cybersquatting and many others.

The copyright ensures to protect the properties under Copyright Act 1968. |It protects the original expression of ideas of the owner and not the ideas. This is applied to the books, musical works, photographs, broadcasts and films (Russell 2013). Moreover, the moral rights of right to attribution, right against the false attribution and the right of integrity are also protected by this. This is extremely important for the IT. The copyright owners could take action against the people for using copyright protected materials without consent.

Patents

The second intellectual property that I have learnt here is the patent. The statutory monopoly that is granted to the interventions is termed as patent. It ensures the right to stop any person from making, hiring, selling, importing and offering the sale. There is a limit in the duration of patent and the average duration of a standard patent is 20 years. This intervention is the new device, substance and method and it is the invention that solely involves the physical phenomenon. Another popular type of patent is the software patent (Thompson 2018). This is also termed as business method patent and it establishes the intervention of producing the tangible outcomes.

Another significant type of intellectual property is the trade mark. It is the sign that is utilized for the proper identification of goods and services that is provided by trade courses by any person. The most significant and important examples of these trade marks are names, logos, slogans and sounds. These trade marks eventually need the registration and the protection lasts for 10 district years (Dahlstrom, Walker and Dziuban 2013). The trade mark is the most valuable business property and it protects the brand in relation to the goods and services. Bidding is easily done by using the trade mark online.

Domain Names and Cybersquatting

The domain names are subsequently protected and used as the trade marks. The significant registration of the domain names is extremely important and could be the deterrent to the trade mark infringement. There are various procedures for the resolution of the domain name dispute. Two policies are present for this purpose, which are Universal Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and .au Dispute Resolution Policy (Eason 2014). These domain names could protect the confidential information, trade secrets and knowhow. The failure for keeping something sensitive might destroy the novelty. The cybersquatting ensures website blocking as per the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) Section 115A.

Ethical Issues in Information Technology

The privacy and information security is maintained by all organizations of IT. I have learnt that most of the IT companies as well as the online service provider collects or stores the personal data electronically. Hence, data breaches are stopped easily and promptly (Dahlstrom and Bichsel 2014). The Australian Privacy Principles as per Privacy Act 1988 are as follows:

1. i) Open or Transparent Management of Personal Information.
2. ii) Pseudonymity and Anonymity.

iii) Collection of Solicited Personal Data.

1. iv) Deal with Unsolicited Personal Data.
2. v) Notifying the Collection of Personal Information.
3. vi) Use or Disclosure of the Personal Information.

vii) Direct Marketing.

viii) Cross Border Disclosure of Personal Information.

1. ix) Adoption of government related identities.
2. x) Access to Personal Information.
3. xi) Quality of Personal Information.

xii) Security of Personal Information.

xiii) Correction of Personal Information.

Ethics are the behavioural decisions, which are made on the universal rules and have validity across national boundaries. The technicalities in law could impede justice or moral outcomes. The decision making is quite easier with ethics and the codes of ethics are required here. This code of ethics ensures that the personal ethical or moral values of any person should be of minimum standard. According to out professor, ethics and morals are the major factors for the information technology for making them more effective and efficient (Bilbao-Osorio, Dutta and Lanvin 2013). The various peer and societal disapprovals are being faced by several individuals within their work places and with the help of several ethical methodologies, we would be able to remove all of these issues efficiently and effectively.

The profession is the number of characteristics like specialised body of knowledge and is oriented towards public interest. The autonomy is offered here and is self-regulatory. Moreover, the profession is the professional body and is collegial. It is important for all employees. As per our professor, morals are solely defined as the significant process for working on morals in respect to the ideas as well as principles of the specific individual (Marchewka 2014). When any person is majorly involved in any type of wrong deed, I could clearly conclude that the person is morally or ethically incorrect.

The ICT professional often faces various ethical issues like:

1. i) Compromising the quality for meeting deadlines.
2. ii) Unprofessional behaviour.

iii) Discrimination.

1. iv) Privacy.
2. v) False promises.
3. vi) Conflict of interest

vii) Intellect property, piracy, security and copyright.

viii) Compromising environment and bribery and corruption (Holtshouse 2013).

Conclusion

Therefore, from the above discussion, I could conclude the fact that ethics is one of the most important and significant requirement for maintaining morality in the work place or in any sector of information technology. I have provided the various tutorials in the above reflective essay properly and with significant details. I have described about the ethical responsibilities and several ethical issues related to IT. Moreover, I have even identified the stakeholders of the information technology sector as well as the cross cultural issues within the work place. The various cultural factors and outsourcing are also given here. Furthermore, the ethical dilemmas and the organizational responsibilities of the IT professionals along with the corporate social responsibility, the Australian Legal System and the regulations of IT are also explained here. In the final part of this essay, I have described about copyright, patents, trademarks and business ethics.

References

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