Table Of Content

Ethical Digital Technology in Practice T is is an important book. Ethics is not an easy topic, and arguably the ethics of IT is less so—not least due to its potential for developing and evolving in ways that are either unforeseen or unimaginable. . . . Use this book as a practical resource, an informative and educational source of material in developing expertise, but also as an invaluable toolkit to support practical application of ethical thinking. —Declan Brady, President of the Irish Computer Society and a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies D igital technology is about people. It is about those who plan, develop and implement applications which other people use and are af ected by. It is about the impact on all these people as well as on the world at large. Ethical Digital Technology in Practice takes a real-world perspective to explore these impacts over time and discover ways in which to promote ethical digital technology through good practice. It draws upon the author’s published articles in trade magazines, professional journals and online blogs. T ese are synthesised into a blueprint which addresses, in a practical manner, the societal issues surrounding the increasing use and abuse of digital technology. It is a follow-up book to the author’s book T e Evolving Landscape of Ethical Digital Technology , which has a researcher’s perspective. T is book is a hands-on account of the computer revolution from 1995 to the current day when the world is increasingly dependent on digital technology. It explores some of the social and ethical issues that are part of this revolution. T is is not a book about deep philosophical and technical concepts. Nor does it claim to be comprehensive. It is the author’s personal account of technological change and its ef ects on people. It is written by a boy who was smitten by computer technology at the age of 15, became a computer professional and subsequently spent many years showing young people how to develop and use digital technology in a good way. It is a book based upon the author’s engagement with practitioners, academics and students during the period as well as his continued fascination with this fantastic technology. Ethical Digital Technology in Practice is a book about the real world, of what has happened and what might happen as digital technology continues to pervade. Ethical Digital Technology in Practice Simon Rogerson First edition published 2023 b y CRC Press 6 000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487–2742 a nd by CRC Press 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN C RC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, L LC © 2023 Simon Rogerson Reasonable ef orts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. T e authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint. E xcept as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microf lming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. F or permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, access w ww.copyright.com or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978–750–8400. For works that are not available on CCC please contact [email protected] T rademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are used only for identif cation and explanation without intent to infringe. I SBN: 978-1-032-31296-5 (hbk) I SBN: 978-1-032-14530-3 (pbk) I SBN: 978-1-003-30907-9 (ebk) DOI: 10.1201/9781003309079 T ypeset in Garamond b y Apex CoVantage, LLC T o my wife Anne O ver 50 years of y our love, support and friendship Contents Foreword ..............................................................................................................................xi 1 Setting the Scene ..........................................................................................................1 1.1 T e Beginning of My Digital Technology Odyssey ................................................. 1 1.2 T e First ETHIcol [1995] ........................................................................................ 2 1 .3 Ethics Man [1999] ................................................................................................... 3 1 .4 Making a Dif erence [2009] .................................................................................... 6 1.5 ENIGMA [2012] ..................................................................................................... 8 1 .6 Outline of the Book ................................................................................................. 9 2 Data and Information ................................................................................................11 2.1 How to Create Waf e! [2000]. ................................................................................11 2.2 Information for All [2001] ......................................................................................13 2.3 Information Provenance [2005] ..............................................................................14 2.4 Information Integrity in the Information Age [2011] ..............................................16 2 .5 Trustworthy Publishing [2017] ...............................................................................21 2.6 T e Data Shadow [2017] ....................................................................................... 22 2 .7 Guernica Info [2017] ..............................................................................................25 References ........................................................................................................................26 3 Systems and Applications ...........................................................................................29 3.1 Information Superhighway [1995] ......................................................................... 30 3.2 Making BPR a Success [1996] ............................................................................... 32 3.3 People Issues [1998] ................................................................................................33 3.4 Smart Cards [1998]. ................................................................................................35 3.5 Surveillance [1998] ................................................................................................ 37 3 .6 Electronic Commerce [1998] ................................................................................. 39 3 .7 Identity Crisis Online [2000] .................................................................................41 3 .8 Keeping Records Safe [2000] ................................................................................. 42 3 .9 Health Warning [2001] ......................................................................................... 44 3 .10 Facing Up to the Issues [2002] .............................................................................. 46 3 .11 Clear and Present Danger [2002] .......................................................................... 48 3 .12 At Cross Purposes [2002] ...................................................................................... 50 3 .13 Matching Cases [2002] ...........................................................................................52 3 .14 Going, Going . . . Gone! [2003] ............................................................................ 54 3 .15 Playing Your Cards Right [2003] ............................................................................57 3 .16 Trusting the System [2003] ....................................................................................59 vii viii ◾ Contents 3.17 What is Wrong with Mobile Phones? [2003] ..........................................................61 3 .18 Market~ing Forces [2004]. ..................................................................................... 63 3 .19 Tag Ethics [2004] ...................................................................................................65 3 .20 A Lesson from History [2006] ................................................................................67 3 .21 Let the Games Begin [2006] ................................................................................. 68 3 .22 Ethics of the Blogosphere [2006] ........................................................................... 70 3 .23 Voicing Concern [2008] ........................................................................................ 72 3 .24 Ethics of the Street [2009] ......................................................................................74 3 .25 Ensuring Ethical Insurance [2009] ........................................................................ 75 3.26 T e Social Side of Wireless [2009] ..........................................................................76 3.27 T e Way to Healthy ICT? [2010] .......................................................................... 78 3 .28 Ethical Robots [2011] ............................................................................................ 80 3 .29 Ethics Omission Increases Gases Emission [2018] ................................................. 82 3 .30 People are Data in the Connected World [2018] .................................................... 86 3 .31 Hospital Safety [2021] ........................................................................................... 89 References ........................................................................................................................ 91 4 Practice and Method ..................................................................................................93 4.1 Training for Ethics [1996] ..................................................................................... 94 4.2 Social Responsibility [1996] ................................................................................... 95 4.3 New Horizons [1996] ............................................................................................ 97 4.4 Women in IT [1997] .............................................................................................. 99 4.5 IS in the Workplace [1998] ...................................................................................101 4.6 Closer to Y2K [1999] ............................................................................................103 4.7 Use and Abuse [1999] ...........................................................................................105 4.8 E-mail Etiquette [2000] ........................................................................................106 4 .9 Doing One’s Civic Duty [2001] ............................................................................108 4 .10 Integrity and Knowledge [2002] ...........................................................................109 4 .11 Make Your Actions Count [2004] ........................................................................111 4 .12 Risky Business [2005] ...........................................................................................112 4 .13 All-inclusive Opportunities [2005] ....................................................................... 115 4 .14 Women in the IT Industry Today [2005] .............................................................116 4 .15 Framing Up to Ethics [2006] ...............................................................................118 4.16 T e Need for Ethical Leadership [2007] .............................................................. 120 4 .17 Ethical Dilemmas [2009] .....................................................................................121 4 .18 Coding Ethics into Technology [2017] ................................................................ 123 References ...................................................................................................................... 126 5 Regulation and Policy ..............................................................................................127 5 .1 Data Matching [1997] ......................................................................................... 128 5.2 Privacy [1997] .......................................................................................................129 5 .3 Corporate Issues [1998] ........................................................................................131 5 .4 Data Protection for the People [1999] ...................................................................133 5 .5 Serving Two Masters [2001] ................................................................................ 134 5 .6 New Code of Ethics [2001] ................................................................................. 136 5 .7 Police Intelligence? [2004] ....................................................................................140 5 .8 Justice for All [2006] ............................................................................................141 Contents ◾ i x 5.9 Waking Up to a Surveillance Society [2006] ........................................................143 5.10 T e Ethics of E-Inclusion [2007] ..........................................................................145 5 .11 Data Prof ling in the European Information Society [2007] .................................147 5 .12 Ethics and ICT Governance [2008]. .....................................................................149 5.13 T e Surveillance Society [2008] ...........................................................................150 5 .14 Identity and DNA [2008] .....................................................................................152 5 .15 Responsibilities in Product Creation [2011] ..........................................................153 5 .16 Ethics of ICT [2012] ............................................................................................155 5 .17 Ethics and the IT Profession [2017] ......................................................................157 References ...................................................................................................................... 161 6 Practical Considerations ..........................................................................................163 6.1 Teleworking [1997] ...............................................................................................164 6 .2 Alternative Views [1997] .......................................................................................165 6 .3 Understanding in the Community [1999] ............................................................167 6 .4 Internet Ethics are Not Optional at Business or at Home [2000] .........................169 6 .5 Beware of False Gods [2000] ................................................................................172 6 .6 A Week is a Long Time [2004] .............................................................................173 6 .7 Student Rights [2004] ..........................................................................................175 6 .8 A Global Phenomenon? [2005] .............................................................................177 6 .9 Safety on the ’net [2007] .......................................................................................179 6.10 Ref ections from China [2007] .............................................................................181 6 .11 Digital Slavery [2007] ...........................................................................................185 6 .12 Inclusive ICT [2009] ............................................................................................186 6.13 T at Was T e News T at Was! [2009] ..................................................................187 6 .14 Assessing All the Risks [2011] ...............................................................................190 6 .15 Academic Publishing in the Information Age [2017] ............................................191 6 .16 Digital Outcasts & COVID-19 [2020] .................................................................194 6 .17 Is the Digital Divide of the Past, Present or Future? [2020] ..................................195 References ...................................................................................................................... 196 7 Synthesis ...................................................................................................................197 7.1 Computers and Human Values [1996] .................................................................198 7.2 Practice and Virtual Behaviour [1997] ..................................................................201 7.3 IS IT Ethical? 1998 Report [1999] ....................................................................... 203 7.4 T e Impact of Change [2001] .............................................................................. 207 7 .5 IS IT Ethical? 2000 Report [2001] ...................................................................... 209 7.6 IS Staf and Privacy and Data Protection [2002] ..................................................210 7.7 Human Rights in the Electronic Age [2003] ........................................................213 7 .8 IS IT Ethical? 2002 Report [2003] .......................................................................216 7 .9 IS IT Ethical? 2004 Report [2005] .......................................................................218 7 .10 IS IT Ethical? 2006 Report [2008] .......................................................................221 7.11 Beyond Technology [2008] .................................................................................. 222 7 .12 Direction of Change [2010] ................................................................................. 224 7 .13 IS IT Ethical? 2010 Report [2010] ....................................................................... 225 7 .14 Social Impact of Social Networks [2011] ............................................................. 227 7.15 An Ethics Progress Litmus Test [2015] ................................................................ 229