Social issues in computer ethics

New social problems related to computers

Impact of social medial in society
Technology, business and your data

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New social problems related to computers
The growth in the availability of affordable computing
technology has caused a number of major shifts in the way
that society operates.
The majority of these have been for the better, with home
computers and the internet providing unlimited access to all
of the information ever created and discovered by humanity.
There are, however, some less positive social issues generated
as a direct result of technological advances.
In the interests of balance, it is important to analyse these and
assess the severity of their impact so that steps can be taken
to better understand and combat the negative effects.
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1. Communication Breakdown
Socialising within a family unit has always been important, as it
strengthens the bonds between us and ensures cohesion within the
group. But with more and more households owning several computers
and numerous portable devices granting access to information and
entertainment, some argue that this is leading to a lack of family
communication.
If each member is engrossed in their laptop, smartphone or tablet each
evening, even communal things like watching television are
compromised. Meanwhile, you can see whole families who are out to
dinner and still staring into a touchscreen rather than talking to one
another.
And if you’re the one driving to that family dinner and texting while
driving, you’re a distracted driver, increasing your risk of crashing, and
potentially causing death and injury.
Increase your digital wellbeing by allowing technology to improve your
life and not to become a distraction to your life and others. Your life and
others are more important than technology.
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2. Defamation of Character
The only means of getting in touch with major corporations or
famous people in the public eye prior to the advent of digital
communication was via a stiffly written letter. This was, of
course, accessible only to the intended recipient and thus a
very private way for the disgruntled to vent their spleen.
But first message boards and now social media services like
Facebook and Twitter are being used to defame people and
businesses in an intrinsically public manner.
This has led to arrests, lawsuits and the threat of placing
stricter controls over what can and cannot be posted to such
services. It has also caused heartache and woe for many
individuals, helping to perpetuate a massive, international
rumour mill which pays little heed to facts or the threat of
legal action.
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3. Identity Theft
Fraud is another spurious activity that has been able to evolve
in the wake of easily accessible computers and the internet.
Perhaps most problematic and prevalent of the various
fraudulent activities is identity theft, in which personal details
of innocent people are harvested by a third party so that they
can be used for malicious purposes.
This includes carrying out illicit online transactions and other
damaging activities that can have serious ramifications.

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4. Cyber Bullying
As with the defamation of public figures, the internet and
computers have also made it easier for spiteful people to
attack people they know personally as well as perfect
strangers via the anonymous platforms that are available to
them.
This has led to serious incidents of cyber bullying involving
both children and adults, sometimes with tragic
consequences.
The problem with these techniques is that they tend to go
under the radar to an even greater degree than traditional
bullying, which makes it harder to detect and correct.

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5. Gaming Addiction
Whilst computers and the internet have made it easier for
gambling addicts to get their fix, a new type of addiction has
also arisen, in the form of addiction to videogames.
This is something that can impact people of all ages and leads
inevitably to a number of problems, from the social to the
financial.
Professionals are beginning to take gaming addiction seriously
and combat it in the same way as other diseases.

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6. Privacy
Whilst high profile cases of online identity theft and fraud
should have caused people to become more careful about how
they use their personal information, issues of privacy and a
lack of appreciation for the risks are still widespread.
This extends beyond simply giving away private data via chat
rooms, message boards and e-commerce sites and extends
into the compromising world of social media.
Employers are now combing Facebook and Twitter to
effectively do background checks on potential employees,
paying particular attention to those that have not chosen to
use privacy settings to prevent anyone from getting a look at
their details.
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7. Health & Fitness
We are living increasingly sedentary lifestyles, because
computers are removing the need for us to physically carry out
many tasks, as well as keeping us rooted to one spot
throughout our working days and during our leisure time.
Not to mention the physical issues that can arise from
constantly looking down at our smart devices, forever buried
in a blur of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) delirium.
This is leading to an epidemic of childhood and adult obesity
throughout the developed world, with the UK possessing one
of the worst records in this respect of any of its Western
neighbours.

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8. Education
The educational properties of computers are well known and
universally lauded, but having all the information in existence
on tap has its own issues.
In particular, the practice of plagiarism has become a major
problem, as students can simply copy and paste whole chunks
of text from online sources without attributing the work to
anyone else.
This has become the bane of educational institutions, which
tend to come down hard on detected plagiarists in order to
discourage similar activities from others.

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9. Terrorism & Crime
Computers have been a positive force in allowing for the
creation of global movements and righteous activism in a
number of forms. However, the other side of the coin is that
terrorists and organised criminals also exploit the web for
their own nefarious purposes.
Businesses, governments and individuals are all at risk of
cyber attack and the perpetrators can often act anonymously
from a country with no extradition agreements.

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Impact of social medial in society
Social media can be very influential on society in both positive and
negative ways. It gives people a way to stay in touch with people
who live far away.
It lets people share fun, interesting and informative content. It
gives businesses a way to engage with customers.
One of the problems, however, is that anybody can share anything,
including material that may not be accurate. In some cases, real
harm is done when people spread inflammatory, unverified or
outright false information.
This can harm private individuals, as when someone is bullied
online. It can also have a harmful impact on society as a whole. The
2016 presidential election, however, gave us many examples of this
problem.
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Almost a quarter of the world’s population is now on
Facebook. In the USA nearly 80% of all internet users are on
this platform.
Because social networks feed off interactions among people,
they become more powerful as they grow.
Thanks to the internet, each person with marginal views can
see that he’s not alone.
And when these people find one another via social media,
they can do things — create memes, publications and entire
online worlds that bolster their worldview, and then break
into the mainstream.

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Without social media, social, ethical, environmental and political ills
would have minimal visibility. Increased visibility of issues has
shifted the balance of power from the hands of a few to the masses.
The flipside: Social media is slowly killing real activism and replacing
it with ‘slacktivism’.
While social media activism brings an increased awareness about
societal issues, questions remain as to whether this awareness is
translating into real change.
Some argue that social sharing has encouraged people to use
computers and mobile phones to express their concerns on social
issues without actually having to engage actively with campaigns in
real life. Their support is limited to pressing the ‘Like’ button or
sharing content.

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This is a very human reaction when
people are given options that
absolve them from the
responsibility to act. A 2013 study
by the University of British
Columbia’s Sauder School of
Business found that when people
are presented with the option of
‘liking’ a social cause, they use this
to opt-out of actually committing
time and money to a charitable
cause.

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On the other hand, when people are allowed to show support
in private, they are more likely to show meaningful support in
terms of making a financial contribution.

The researchers found that a public endorsement is an action

meant to satisfy others’ opinions, whereas people who give in
private do so because the cause is aligned to their values.

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Technology, business and your data
The industrial revolution of the nineteenth century gave rise to a number of
unforeseen ethical and social issues—for instance, concerns about workplace
safety, wages, discrimination, and child labour—which led to real changes in
worker protections, labour practices, and law.
Similarly, the technology revolution of the twentieth century—starting with
the widespread use of the Internet and home computers—has spawned a new set
of ethical and social concerns that people a hundred years ago couldn’t have
imagined: for example, how should personal information and online privacy be
protected?
Who gets to own the information about our habits and “likes”? Before the
advent of the Internet, people thought about and controlled their personal
information in very different ways.
Today, many of us lead complex online lives, and we may not even realize how our
personal information is being collected and used. Companies like Caesars can
collect data on the purchasing patterns, personal preferences, and
professional/social affiliations of their customers without their even knowing
about it. In this section we’ll explore some of the ethical and social issues related
to network security, privacy, and data collection that businesses must address.
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Ethical and social issues arising from the use of technology in
all areas of our lives—and in business, in particular—have lead
to the creation of a new branch of ethics: technoethics.
Technoethics (TE) is an interdisciplinary research area
concerned with all moral and ethical aspects of technology in
society.
It draws on theories and methods from multiple knowledge
domains (such as communications, social sciences information
studies, technology studies, applied ethics, and philosophy) to
provide insights on ethical dimensions of technological
systems and practices for advancing a technological society.

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Technoethics views technology and ethics as socially
embedded enterprises and focuses on discovering the ethical
use of technology, protecting against the misuse of
technology, and devising common principles to guide new
advances in technological development and application to
benefit society. Typically, scholars in technoethics have a
tendency to conceptualize technology and ethics as
interconnected and embedded in life and society.
Technoethics denotes a broad range of ethical issues
revolving around technology- from specific areas of focus
affecting professionals working with technology to broader
social, ethical, and legal issues concerning the role of
technology in society and everyday life.

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Recent advances in technology and their ability to transmit vast
amounts of information in a short amount of time has changed the
way information is being shared amongst co-workers and managers
throughout organizations across the globe.
Starting in the 1980s with information and communications
technologies (ICTs), organizations have seen an increase in the
amount of technology that they rely on to communicate within and
outside of the workplace.
However, these implementations of technology in the workplace
create various ethical concerns and in turn a need for further analysis
of technology in organizations. As a result of this growing trend, a
subsection of technoethics known as organizational technoethics
has emerged to address these issues.
Technoethical perspectives are constantly changing as technology
advances into areas unseen by creators and users engage with
technology in new ways.
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Technology makes businesses more efficient, makes tasks
faster and easier to complete, and ultimately creates value
from raw data.
However, as much as technology impacts the way that
companies do business, it also raises important new
issues about the employer-employee relationship.
If you send personal emails from your office computer, do you
have the right to expect that they’re private?
Does your employer have a legal and ethical right to “cyber-
peek” at what you are doing with company assets?
Twenty years ago this was not an issue; today it’s a case
before the Supreme Court.

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Information As a Business
The fact is that technology has put our information at the
fingertips of businesses—there for the taking and, in some
cases, the selling. Is it ethical for a business to collect data
about a person and then sell that information to another
business? Many organizations collect data for their own
purposes, but they also realize that your data has value to
others. As a result, selling data has become an income stream
for many organizations. If you didn’t realize that your data was
collected by Company A, it’s even less likely you knew that it
was sold to Company B.

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Questions?

Homework
Watch the following videos
https://youtu.be/LVTvbpo8oH0
https://youtu.be/vsjHABfgaLc
https://youtu.be/nOyvHHWHYSo

Next Lecture
Gaining advantage in virtual environment

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