Ethics is based upon the action upon a set of moral value. These moral values are in turn based upon either a set of personal or societal values that help to determine right or wrong. Because morality can be based upon societal norms, morals and ethics can and do change over time and within different context. For this essay, I would like to focus on the moral values within the context of personal privacy and informational technology. Within the article entitled, "Case Study: Privacy", it focus on the personal privacy rights of the individual.
As a person who values my own personal privacy and as an individual who has taken a few courses in security, I intentionally attempt to minimize my digital footprint and presence. I do this because of both a desire for privacy and to secure myself from possible digital threats. So far in all my classes taken here at the University of Hawaii, my classes have assumed (and expected) that when we access the internet through a local browser on our personal laptop that our browsers have kept a record of our passwords, history, and allows for automatic saving of cookies and other such items. As for myself, because of privacy concerns mentioned above, I have learned through various means that it is safer to always browse using private modes. Unfortunately, this has cause problems within my ICS classes. It has only been through trial and errors and many hours trouble shooting when working with certain programs and websites within this department that I have learned that many of these errors have been caused because of private browsing. There have been no warnings in any classes when students have been required to access websites that automatically (and secretly) perform such actions as saving cookies and other information. It is now considered a fact of life.
In many jobs, employees are now required to allow for the CV’s or Resumes to be made publicly available. Moreover, in many jobs, employee’s individual pictures with their full names are also publicly posted as a matter of fact. These required professional profiles connected to the companies that they work for could and should be considered an invasion of personal privacy. In many cases, this release of personal information is also made available on the internet for the whole world to browse. Rarely is the option to withhold information. Moreover, we find that this lack of privacy is wide spread outside of an employment context. One could find such things as an individual’s personal information through other public sources. For example, by paying a minimum fee, one could access the family history, legal/criminal history, addresses (current and past) and properties, financial history, and credit history of nearly every single person in the US.
So, what does all this have to do with ethics and morals? Well, in the "Software Engineering Code of Ethics" states in Principles 1.03 and 3.12 that software should not diminish privacy. And although this is in specific regards to the release/approval of software and related document, one could argue that software companies publishing this information on-line could be seen as a related document. Additionally, in looking over the "AMC Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct", it is even more pertanant. In sections 1.7 of their General Moral Imperatives, it basically states that it is the responsibility of everyone to “Respect the privacy of others.” In particular, it states that it is the “responsibility of professional to maintain the privacy and integrity of data describing individuals. It goes on to describe that only a minimum necessary amount of information should be collect and retained.
So where does this leave the individual who wishes to maintain their personal privacy right versus a company/schools desire to operate in a manner they believe is in their own best interests? Well, I guess that the individual always has the right to not take the classes or jobs that are being offered. But that is not really a solution and if that is the only option offered to an individual, there might also be legal and/or ethical implications. What about the fact that now with all the information listed above, just because the technology exists to allow access to individual’s personal information, should that information be provide? Moreover, should companies be allowed to sell and profit from our personal information?
This is definitely a topic that will need more discussion, because as technology improves it will only complicate matters. For example, what happens if a company would like to use personal dna (or fingerprint, iris prints, or …) as part of their security system? Will employees be forces to submit?