CHAPTER SIX

ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM OF

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
TECHNOLOGY AND ETHICS

• Technology can serve to promote or restrict human rights.

• Ethics is particularly important for the accountancy profession, with a code for professional ethics
based on five basic principles:
 Integrity
 Objectivity
 Competence
 Due care
 Confidentiality,
 Professional behavior

• However, the emergence of new technologies raises some new challenges for the profession to
address.
NEW ETHICAL QUESTIONS

• What do you think the need for ethics in data science?

• Is it really important to include ethical rules when dealing with big data?
• AI is all about making a machine learn and decide as humans do. Do you think that it is
necessary to rely on machines and give all the opportunity to decide?
• Do you think that integrating ethical rules with emerging technologies is important?
• What are the challenges of integrating ethical rules with the new technologies?
GENERAL ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

• Common ethical rules that must be applied in all technologies

 Contribute to society and to human well-being, acknowledging that all people are stakeholders
in computing.
 Avoid harm
 Be honest and trustworthy
 Be fair and take action not to discriminate
 Respect the work required to produce new ideas, inventions, creative works, and computing
artifacts.
 Respect privacy
 Honor confidentiality
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Strive to achieve high quality in both the processes and products of professional work.
• Maintain high standards of professional competence, conduct, and ethical practice.
• Know and respect existing rules pertaining to professional work.
• Accept and provide appropriate professional review.
• Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of computer systems and their impacts, including analysis of
possible risks.
• Perform work only in areas of competence.
• Foster public awareness and understanding of computing, related technologies, and their consequences.
• Access computing and communication resources only when authorized or when compelled by the public good.
• Design and implement systems that are robustly and usably secure.
PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES.

• Ensure that the public good is the central concern during all professional computing work.
• Articulate, encourage acceptance of and evaluate fulfillment of social responsibilities by members
of the organization or group.
• Manage personnel and resources to enhance the quality of working life.
• Articulate, apply, and support policies and processes that reflect the principles of the Code.
• Create opportunities for members of the organization or group to grow as professionals.
• Use care when modifying or retiring systems. Interface changes, the removal of features, and even
software updates have an impact on the productivity of users and the quality of their work.
• Recognize and take special care of systems that become integrated into the infrastructure of society.
DIGITAL PRIVACY

• Digital Privacy is the protection of personally identifiable or business identifiable

information that is collected from respondents through information collection activities or
from other sources.
• It is a collective definition that encompasses three sub-related categories:
Information privacy
Communication privacy
Individual privacy
INFORMATION PRIVACY

• In the context of digital privacy, information privacy is the notion that individuals should
have the freedom, or right, to determine how their digital information, mainly that
pertaining to personally identifiable information, is collected and used.
• Every country has various laws that dictate how information may be collected and used
by companies.
• Some of those laws are written to give 100 agency to the preferences of
individuals/consumers in how their data is used.
COMMUNICATION PRIVACY

• In the context of digital privacy, communication privacy is the notion that individuals
should have the freedom, or right, to communicate information digitally with the
expectation that their communications are secure; meaning that messages and
communications will only be accessible to the sender's original intended recipient.
• However, communications can be intercepted or delivered to other recipients without the
sender's knowledge, in a multitude of ways.
INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY

• In the context of digital privacy, individual privacy is the notion that individuals have a
right to exist freely on the internet, in that they can choose what types of information they
are exposed to, and more importantly that unwanted information should not interrupt
them.
SOME DIGITAL PRIVACY PRINCIPLES

• Data Minimization: collect the minimal amount of information necessary from individuals
and businesses consistent with the Department’s mission and legal requirements.
• Transparency: Notice covering the purpose of the collection and use of identifiable
information will be provided in a clear manner. Information collected will not be used for any
other purpose unless authorized or mandated by law.
• Accuracy: Information collected will be maintained in a sufficiently accurate, timely, and
complete manner to ensure that the interests of the individuals and businesses are protected.
• Security: Adequate physical and IT security measures will be implemented to ensure that the
collection, use, and maintenance of identifiable information are properly safeguarded and the
information is promptly destroyed in accordance with approved records control schedules.
ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRUST

• When emerging technology creates far-reaching and rapid change, it can also bring new risks.
• Understanding and mitigating them will help to build confidence.
• Emerging technology can enhance trust in the organization’s operations and financial
processes, which is crucial for sustainable success.
• The obligation of an individual or organization to account for its activities, accept
responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner.
ETHICAL AND REGULATORY CHALLENGES

• Emerging technologies are making an impact include:

 Counter-terrorism and law enforcement informatics via predictive analytics and artificial intelligence.
 Real-time horizon scanning and data mining for threats and information sharing
 Automated cybersecurity and information assurance
 Enhanced Surveillance (chemical and bio-detection sensors, cameras, drones, facial recognition, license plate readers)
 Simulation and augmented reality technologies for training and modeling
 Safety and security equipment (including bullet and bomb proof) made with lighter and stronger materials
 Advanced forensics enabled by enhanced computing capabilities (including future quantum computing)
 Situational awareness capabilities via GPS for disaster response and crisis response scenarios
 Biometrics: assured identity security screening solutions by bio-signature: (every aspect of your physiology can be
used as a bio-signature. Measure unique heart/pulse rates, electrocardiogram sensor, blood oximetry, skin temperature)
 Robotic Policing (already happening in Dubai!)
CHALLENGES IN USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• AI is only as good as the data it is exposed to, which is where certain challenges may present.
• themselves. How a business teaches and develops its AI will be the major factor in its usefulness.
• Humans could be the weak link here, as people are unlikely to want to input masses of data into a
system.
• Another dilemma that comes along with AI is its potential to replace human workers.
• As machines become more “intelligent” they could begin to replace experts in higher-level jobs.
CHALLENGES IN USING ROBOTICS IN MANUFACTURING

• With automation and robotics moving from production lines out into other areas of work
and business, the potential for humans losing jobs is great here too.
• As automation technologies become more advanced, there will be a greater capability for
automation to take over more and more complex jobs.
• As robots learn to teach each other and themselves, there is the potential for much greater
productivity but this also raises ethical and cybersecurity concerns.
CHALLENGES IN USING THE INTERNET OF THINGS

• As more and more connected devices (such as smartwatches and fitness trackers) join the
Internet of Things (IoT) the amount of data being generated is increasing.
• Companies will have to plan carefully how this will affect the customer-facing application
and how to best utilize the masses of data being produced.
• There are also severe security implications of mass connectivity that need to be addressed.
CHALLENGES IN BIG DATA

• Almost all the technologies mentioned above have some relation to Big Data.
• The huge amount of data being generated on a daily basis has the potential to provide
businesses with better insight into their customers as well as their own business
operations.
• Although data can be incredibly useful for spotting trends and analyzing impacts,
surfacing all this data to humans in a way that they can understand can be challenging.
TREATS

• Planning for how to deal with these emerging technologies and where value can be
derived while assessing potential risks before they become a fully-fledged reality is
essential for businesses that want to thrive in the world of AI, Big Data and IoT.
• Some risks of emerging technology are:
Driverless car
Wearables
Drones
Internet of things
END