BIS4225.

13
Professional, Legal,
and Ethical Issues

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 Reading Materials
Laudon and Laudon (2002)
Chap. 15

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 Controls
Create legislation to prescribe
behaviour.
Ascribe liability for certain
actions.
Regulate entry into a profession
(based on competency)

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 Moral Dimensions
Information rights and
obligations
Property rights and obligations
Accountability and control
System quality
Quality of life

L&L(2002, 469-70) 4
 Information Rights
Privacy
Aspects of individuals which
is to remain confidential (from
third parties)
includes data and
behavioural characteristics.

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 Property Rights
Intellectual Property
The valuable property of a
non-physical nature resulting
from mental labour
Intangible, creative product
of the human mind
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 Property Rights
Copyright
Certain uses of the work
are lawful only if they are
done with the authorization
of the owner of the
copyright
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 Property Rights
Copyright protects the
form in which the idea is
expressed.

International Protection

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Accountability and Liability
If a software does not
work properly, the user
may incur losses and be
entitled to some
compensation.

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 System Quality
System quality
(correctness, reliability,
and robustness) can be
improved if enough
resources are committed
to achieving it.

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 Quality of Life
Information as a commodity.
IT effect on employment.
Health risks.
New crimes.

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 IT Professional
A professional is somebody:
who is employed to perform
some service.
with special knowledge and
skills to perform their duties
effectively.

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 Professional Bodies
Control entry into the
profession by defining
required knowledge and skills.
Control membership (incl
defining behaviour in
performing duties)

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 Professional Ethics
Ethical issues deals with
what is generally
considered as right or
wrong.

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 Professional Ethics
Typical ethical issues in
the IT profession:
regards for data privacy
ensuring high degree of data
accuracy
obtaining consent for data maintained
proper access and dissemination of
data
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 Professional Ethics
Database owners have to make
appropriate security measures to
avoid unauthorised:
access to the data
alteration of the data
disclosure to third parties
accidental loss of personal data

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 Professional Ethics
Organizations should adhere to
the Fairness of Information Use
principle which covers:
Knowledge
Control
Notice
Consent

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 Professional Ethics
Data subjects have a right
to:
know if personal data is held
access the data held on him
have erroneous data corrected
or erased

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