Topic 5a- Chapter 3- Ethics and Privacy

• Ethics


  The principles of right and wrong that individuals use to make choices that guide their behaviour
• Ethical frameworks


  • Utilitarian approach
  • Rights approach
  • Fairness approach
  • Common good approach
  • Deontology approach
• Ethical decision making


  Using the five ethical frameworks to develop a general framework
• The traditional approach and the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) approach are two ways to resolve ethical issues
• Steps in the traditional approach to resolving ethical issues

  • Recognize an ethical issue
  • Get the facts
  • Evaluate alternative actions
  • Make a decision and test it
  • Act and reflect on the outcome of your decision
• Steps in the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) approach to resolving ethical issues

  • Identify an ethical issue
  • Purpose and choice
  • Stakeholder analysis
  • Powerful response
  • Scripting and coaching
• Code of ethics


  An organization's guidelines for protecting the privacy of its customers, clients, and employees
• Fundamental tenets of ethics

  • Responsibility
  • Accountability
  • Liability
• What is unethical is not necessarily illegal
• Four general categories of ethical issues related to IT

  • Privacy issues
  • Accuracy issues
  • Property issues
  • Accessibility issues
• Privacy


  The right to be left alone and to be free of unreasonable personal intrusions
• Information privacy


  The right to determine when, and to what extent, information about you can be gathered and/or communicated to others
• Privacy concerns


  • Electronic surveillance
  • Personal information in databases
  • Information on Internet bulletin boards, newsgroups, and social networking sites
  • Privacy codes and policies
  • International aspects of privacy
• The right of privacy is not absolute. Privacy must be balanced against the needs of society.
• The public's right to know supersedes the individual's right of privacy.
• Digital dossier


  A detailed record of an individual's activities, purchases, and other personal information compiled from various sources
• Profiling


  The process of using data to create a profile of an individual
• Data aggregators


  • LexisNexis
  • Acxiom
  • Statistics Canada
• Advertising companies defend tracking users on websites and across the web because they enable advertisers to produce highly targeted ads.
• The problem with this type of marketing is that users surrender their privacy.
• Electronic surveillance


  Using technology to monitor individuals as they go about their daily routines
• Examples of electronic surveillance


  • Surveillance cameras in airports, subways, banks, and other public venues
  • Inexpensive digital sensors in laptop webcams, video game sensors, smartphone cameras, utility meters, passports, and ID cards
  • Smartphones creating geotags
  • Google and Microsoft street view images
  • Drones
• Personal data/record keepers


  • Credit reporting agencies
  • Banks and financial institutions
  • Utility companies
  • Employers
  • Hospitals
  • Schools
  • Government agencies (CRA, province, municipality)
• Major concerns about information you provide record keepers

  • Do you know where the records are?
  • Are the records accurate?
  • Can you change inaccurate data?
  • How long will it take to make a change?
  • Under what circumstances will personal data be released?
  • How are the data used?
  • To whom are the data given or sold?
  • How secure are the data against access by unauthorized people?
• Derogatory information on the Internet can influence hiring decisions, with little to no recourse for victims.
• Opt-out model


  An organization's privacy policy where individuals must actively choose to have their personal information excluded from the organization's use
• Opt-in model


  An organization's privacy policy where individuals must actively choose to have their personal information included in the organization's use
• Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P)


  A protocol that communicates privacy policies between a website and its visitors
• Privacy policy standards


  • US Federal Trade Commission's Fair Information Practices Standard
  • European Directive on Data Privacy
• Approximately 50 countries have data-protection laws, with inconsistent standards from country to country and issues with transborder data flows.
• Canada's Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, is at second reading in Canada's House of Commons as of March 14, 2023.
• The European Union has the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• Privacy policy guidelines


  • Data collection
  • Data accuracy
  • Data confidentiality
• Canada's PIPEDA privacy legislation principles

  • Accountability
  • Identifying purposes
  • Consent
  • Limiting collection
  • Limiting use, disclosure and retention
  • Accuracy
  • Safeguards
  • Openness
  • Individual access
  • Challenging compliance
• Benefits of high-quality information privacy from a business perspective

  • Protecting public image or brand
  • Maintaining trust and consumer confidence
  • Achieving competitive advantage
  • Meeting legal requirements
  • Efficient information management
• Tim Horton's capture and use of the location data of its customers was a privacy violation.
• Apps that potentially place Canadian data in the hands of foreign governments should be banned.