Cyber Ethics

iSchools Project Team

HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP

Source: Rommel Andong & Mel Tan
Commission on Information and Communications Technology

Issues

Privacy and Personal Information

Trust
Freedom of speech
Intellectual Property
Computer crime
Computers and Work
Professional Ethics and Responsibilities

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Computer Ethics
Category of professional ethics similar
to medical, accounting, legal ethics
For computer professionals & those
who select, manage or use computers
in a professional setting
many people do not understand
technology well...
Concerns relationships & responsibilities
towards customers, clients, coworkers,
users, people affected by computers, ...
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What is Ethics ?
Study of what it means to "do the right
thing"
View ethical rules as
fundamental & universal
made up to provide a framework to
interact with other people

Behaving ethically is often practical

Needs courage sometimes ...
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Some important distinctions

Right, wrong, OK, prohibited,
acceptable
Distinguising Wrong and Harm
Separating Goals from Constraints
Personal Preference and Ethics
Law and Ethics

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Introduction
To handle information in a responsible
way you must understand:
The importance of ethics in the ownership and
use of information.
The importance to people of personal privacy and
the ways in which it can be compromised.
The value of information to an organization.
Threats to information and how to protect against
them (security).
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Ethics

Ethics - the principles and

standards that guide our behavior
toward other people.

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Ethics

Two Factors That Determine How You Decide Ethical Issues

1. Your basic ethical structure, which

you developed as you grew up.
2. The set of practical circumstances
involved in the decision that youre
trying to make that is, all the
shades of gray in what are rarely
black or white decisions.
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Ethics: Practical Considerations

how much or how little
benefit or harm will come
from a particular decision?
how much do
you identify
with the
person or
persons who
will receive
the benefit or
suffer the
harm?

what length of
time will it take
for the benefit or
harm to take
effect?

what is your perception

of what society really
thinks of your intended
action?

what is the
probability
of the harm
or benefit
that will
occur if you
take the
action?

how many
people will be
affected by
your action?

Intellectual Property
Intellectual property - intangible creative
work that is embodied in physical form.
Copyright - the legal protection afforded an
expression of an idea, such as a song,
video game, and some types of proprietary
documents.
Fair Use Doctrine - says that you may use
copyrighted material in certain situations
for example, for teaching purposes .
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Intellectual Property
Pirated software - the unauthorized
use, duplication, distribution or sale of
copyrighted software.
Counterfeit software - software that is
manufactured to look like the real thing
and sold as such.

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Privacy
Privacy - the right to be left alone when
you want to be, to have control over
your own personal possessions, and not
to be observed without your consent.

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Privacy
E-mail is completely insecure.
Each e-mail you send results in at least 3 or 4 copies
being stored on different computers.
You can take measures to protect your e-mail.

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Privacy

Cookie - a small record deposited on your

hard disk by a Web site containing
information about you and your Web
activities.

Adware - software to generate ads that

installs itself on your computer when you
download some other (usually free) program
from the Web.

Trojan-horse software - software you dont

want hidden inside software you do want.

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Privacy
Spyware (also called sneakware or
stealthware) - software that comes hidden in
free downloadable software
tracks your online movements
mines the information stored on your computer
uses your computers CPU and storage

Key logger, or key trapper, software, -a

program, when installed on a computer,
records every keystroke and mouse click.
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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

FOR COMPUTER ETHICS
from the Computer Ethics Institute

Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.

Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.
Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files.
Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid.
Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without
authorization.
Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program
you write.
Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and
respect.

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NETIQUETTE
From Computing for Life - Book A by Tan, 2nd edition. FNB Publications, 2005.

1. be responsible enough not to waste other

peoples time or bandwidth by posting
unnecessarily long messages or
unimportant messages and sending large
attachments

Keep your messages to the point - you may

opt to use common abbreviations
Limit the size of attachments to 100 kb.

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NETIQUETTE
2. Promote civility. Be pleasant and polite.
Although the Internet advocates freedom
of speech, it does not give anyone the
right to write anything he wants without
minding how it will affect others.

Avoid using CAPS LOCK.

Minimize the use of exclamation points.
Use smileys or emoticons when appropriate
Do not use offensive language.

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Sample Emoticons
:-)
;-)
:-D
:-I
|-O
|-I
:-/
:-(
>:-(

Happy face
Kidding or teasing
Laughing hard
Indifferent. Either way
is O.K.
Yawning
Asleep
Not quite sure about
something
Frowning
Angry

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:-@
:-C
:'-(
:-O
:-X
}:-)
O:-)
^5

Screaming
Disappointed
Crying
Surprise or
amazement
Your secret is safe
with me
A devil
An angel
High 5

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Sample Acronyms

AFAIK
AFK
ASAP
B4N
BBL
BRB
BBS
CYA
CU
DLTBBB
Bite
CYAL8R
FC
F2F

G
FTBOMH
Heart
GL
FWIW
H&K
GFN
HAGU
GMTA
HIG
HAGN
See You Later (Seeyalata) IC
HAND
Fingers Crossed
IMNSHO
Face To Face
Opinion
HT
As Far As I Know
Away From Keyboard
As Soon As Possible
Bye For Now
Be Back Later
Be Right Back
Be Back Soon
See You (Seeya)
See You
Don't Let The Bed Bugs

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Grin
From The Bottom Of My
Good Luck
For What It's Worth
Hug and Kiss
Gone For Now
Have A Good 'Un
Great Minds Think Alike
How's It Going
Have A Good Night
I See
Have A Nice Day
In My Not So Humble
Hi There
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Sample Acronyms

IMCO
ILY
IMS
IMHO
JK
IMO
IRL
IOW
JTLYK
J4G
KIT
JMO

KISS
L8R

In My Considered Opinion
I Love You
I'm Sorry
In My Humble Opinion
Just Kidding
In My Opinion
In Real Life
In Other Words
Just To Let You Know
Just For Grins
Keep In Touch
Just My Opinion KWIM
Know What I Mean
Keep It Simple, Stupid
Later

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KOTC
LHO
L8R G8R
LOL
LMSO
LY4E
LSHMBH
Belly Hurts
ROTFL
Laughing
LY
STO
OIC
OTOH

Kiss On The Cheek

Laughing Head Off
Later 'Gator
Laugh Out Loud
Laughing My Socks Off
Love You Forever
Laughing So Hard My
Rolls On The Floor
Love Ya
Sticking Out Tongue
Oh, I See
On The Other Hand

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NETIQUETTE
3. Use descriptive subject lines for your
messages as a courtesy to your reader to help people organize and prioritize their
messages.
4. Let the recipient know who is sending the
message.

From: or end your messages with your name

Signature

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NETIQUETTE
5. When forwarding messages:

Check the reliability of the source of a forwarded

message and the accuracy of the message or story
before passing it on.

Do not unnecessarily alarm people, waste their precious time,

and clog the network.

Clean up your messages before you forward them.

Take out unnecessary header information and forwarding

symbols (usually the > sign).
Retain only those that are important to your recipient.

Choose the recipients of your forwarded message.

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NETIQUETTE
6. When replying to a mass email, avoid hitting
Reply to All.
7. When sending mass email, it would be better to
use BCCs (Blind Carbon Copies)

respect your recipients privacy

NOTE: Be careful when corresponding to

strangers on a network.

Do not give out sensitive or personal information to

people you do not personally know.
Be wary of people who give out or lie about their
own information to gain your trust.

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CASES
discussion points

Commission on Information and Communications Technology

Case 1
You are a unit supervisor. A member of
your unit is out sick and another
member requests a copy of all files from
the sick employee's computer to his so
that he can do some work.

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Case 2
My brother and I saw this really cool
game being played in the network
gaming shop. We would really like to
get a copy but it costs a lot of money.
My classmate told me that that there is a
website where I can copy it for free.
That way, I can enjoy the game without
having to shell out any money!
adapted from www.cybercrime.gov/rules/kidinternet.htm
From
Computing for Life - Book A by Tan, 2nd edition. FNB Publications, 2005.
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Case 3
When I went over to James workstation
to copy a file, I found that he left his
Instant Messenger open. A mutual
friend, who is on the other end, just sent
a message. Since nobody is looking, I
sat down, typed a response, and sent it
pretending to be James.
adapted from www.cybercrime.gov/rules/kidinternet.htm
From Computing for Life - Book A by Tan, 2nd edition. FNB Publications, 2005.
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Thank you

Commission on Information and Communications Technology