(Study Program)
Over the years, there have been evolvements of new and exciting technologies. Such technologies include; mobile phones, email, the World Wide Web, etc. Such is the proof of life in the information age. Despite all the benefits presented by the information age, there has also been the introduction of new ethical predicaments (Quinn, 2013). The ethical predicaments presented by the information age may appear as ordinary circumstances for many. However, for others, the ethical dilemmas are quite realistic and present substantively new challenges for them. Agreeably, the main objective of adopting new technologies is to provide solutions to problems. On the contrary, such technologies are ironically the source of problems. As the main contributor of modern technologies, information technology is the most essential ethical concern for both individuals and the community at large. Dealing with modern technology on a daily basis calls for decisions to differentiate between ethical and non-ethical issues.
The judgment of human actions as good or bad has grounds on ethical theories. Such theories then give rise to the code of ethics (Quinn, 2013). Rationale, elucidations and justification all use theories as a basis. Some of the ethical theories include; consequentialism, deontology, human nature, relativism, hedonism, and emotivism. The ethical theory that most closely reflects personal beliefs is the consequentialist theory. In this ethical theory, the results of human actions form the basis for judging the actions as good or bad, or, right or wrong. Consequential theory comprises of the following basic forms:
- Egoism: This places the joy and welfare of individuals over all other things. With egoism, any action is classified as “good” provided that there are maximum joy and well-being for an individual. Egoism can further have two classifications that include:
- Ethical: this gives directions as to how people should behave as they go about their business.
- Psychological: This gives the description of the actual behavior exhibited by the individuals.
- Utilitarianism: This approach deals with the consolidated benefits of a group’s happiness and interests unlike egoism that deals with individuals. The group’s interests fall above those of an individual for the benefit of the many. The action, therefore, is classified as “good” if most people rip its benefits (Kizza, 2007). The different forms of utilitarianism include:
- Act utilitarianism: this approach urges one to consider the consequences of all actions before settling on the one that is most likely to benefit the most people.
- Rule utilitarianism: This approach urges one to follow the rules that maximize happiness for most people.
- Altruism: In this approach, an action is “right” if its consequences favor all other people apart from the initiator.
Ethical theories seek to address four main ethical issues of the information age that include; confidentiality, correctness, ownership and access (Mason, 1986).
Moral Issues in Technology
Information technology has today become universal in people’s lives worldwide. It’s sprouting at a fast pace creating a gap in which the society struggles to sustain the social and moral effects created in the process. Professionals in the technology industry consider this as both exhilarating and perturbing in equal measures. There is an astounding gap in knowledge between the society and technology industry on issues regarding online confidentiality, content and safety that has the effect of potentially precarious consequences. Most users opt for quick, easy and less costly information. Additionally, they want critical and sensitive information to remain safeguarded and confidential so as to retain reliability. Enhancing information for quick access and low-cost lowers security and quality and vise-versa. Such is the moral paradox of information technology that raises concerns about the moral impacts of information technology to individual users (Lotti, n.d.). Some of the issues include:
- Moral Values in Information Recording: The main moral concern is a fair and just method of data collection, storage and access for all people involved.
- Moral values in communication and information access: here, the main moral concerns are confidentiality, ownership, and reliability of the communicated information.
- Moral Values in Organizing and Synthesizing Information: The main moral concern lies in organizing and synthesizing new information.
Technology also inspires morals at the community level. The Internet, for example, offers the vast capability of intermingling with others. Some of the moral challenges at the cultural level include the following:
- Social media and networking: This involves online social communications with the main focus being the sharing of information between users via the internet. Based on the Aristotelian theory of friendship, social media platforms, for instance, Facebook, transform and even defy our perception of friendship. Privacy issues arise with the use of social media.
- Malware, Spyware and Informational Warfare: Malware and Spyware are threats that challenge the security of information technology. The intentional distribution of Malware and Spyware raises morality questions. Likewise, there are also morality questions raised on the use of Malware protection software and its value to customers. For informational warfare, the moral question lies on the use of technology for just warfare (Lotti, n.d.).
- Future Concerns: Future concerns revolve around the acceleration of change, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. All these fields raise moral concerns.
In conclusion, information technology development creates moral systems for human and artificial agents to interrelate. Arguments are in favor of using information technology to create artificial moral agents. The issues raised by the ethical impacts of information technologies stress our traditional moral theories since information on its own, is worthy of ethical concern (Kizza, 2007).
References
Kizza, J. (2007). Ethical and social issues in the information age (3rd ed.). London: Springer-Verlag.
Lotti, M. (n.d.). Ethics and the Information Age: LarsonAllen LLP. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.larsonallen.com/EFFECT/Ethics_and_the_Information_Age.aspx
Mason, R. (1986). Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/248873?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21105227221703
Quinn, M. (2013). Ethics for the information age (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education/Addison-Wesley.
