Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to understand the law and ethics surrounding the use of IT. You will be able to describe issues such as intellectual property rights protection and infringement, copyrights and plagiarism, software piracy, computer crimes, Internet fraud, objectionable materials and confidentiality in the information age. You will also be able to articulate Singapore’s laws on cybersecurity, data privacy, etc.
Technological advances such as desktop computing, the internet, the growth of email and instance messaging often deliver new and improved functional capabilities. Before we have had the chance to fully consider the implications of those improvements, lets consider the impact you think if there is a change in the employee policies.
Midland Pharmaceuticals was a mid-size regional company of about 180 employees. Bill is the HR Director while Jane was a new employee in accounting. Bill's conversation with her manager had revealed that she was a model employee, punctual, reliable and very productive. Steen Collins in the warehouse had decided to brighten everyone’s Friday by forwarding an email titled “Top 20 Blonde Jokes”. Jane did not find the email funny at all. In fact, she took such offence to it that she filed a formal grievance against Collins, claiming that the email created a hostile working environment for her. Midland’s Policies on email communication have been fairly informal. It had never been raised as an issue before. The IT folks took all the necessary precautions for network and data security. The thought of monitoring employee emails has never been considered. Now, Bill feared the issue would have to be addressed. What impact do you think any change in the employee privacy policies would have at Midland. What would you do if someone sent you and email at work that you found offensive? Would you just delete it or say something to the person?
Outline of this topic:
In this topic, we will seek to define Ethics and Technology. Next, we discuss about a question called “Do you know where your personal information is? Then I will explain about the promise of increased worker productivity. Afterward, I will explain the dangers of leaving a paper trail and the harm of vicarious liability and cyber liability.****
Learning Outcome
At the end of this topic, you should be able to: