Ethical Dilemmas in Technology & Law

This assignment delves into the ethical and professional ramifications of newly enacted Australian national security laws that authorize hacking by intelligence agencies and the collection of personal web and phone metadata. The discussion examines these laws through the lens of virtue ethics, deontology, and utilitarianism, considering their impact on citizen privacy and the potential violation of professional codes of conduct. Additionally, the assignment analyzes the global implications of these laws and the concerns raised by privacy groups.

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Information Technology Ethics

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Contents
Information Technology Ethics..................................................................................................1
PART 1:.....................................................................................................................................2
Case Study 1.......................................................................................................................2
Case Study 2:......................................................................................................................3
Case Study 3:......................................................................................................................5
Question 2...............................................................................................................................6
PART 2.......................................................................................................................................7
i...........................................................................................................................................7
ii..........................................................................................................................................8
iii.........................................................................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................10

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PART 1:
Question 1
Case Study 1
Company X has just signed a business agreement with Company Y, which
entitles both of them to access each other clients’ records. Mr. Faisal, a software
programmer at Company Z, was assigned the task of developing a software
program that handles the access and retrieval of records from each Company’s
database system into the other. A first run of the software on real data indicated
that the work was well within the state of the art, and no difficulties were found
or anticipated. Several weeks later and during a normal test on the software
developed, Faisal discovered a serious ‘security hole’ in the database system of
Company Y by which hackers can easily obtain confidential information about
clients. He was convinced that while the software he developed could correctly
accomplish the task, the code in Company Y’s database system could not be
trusted as the security hole posed a threat even on Company X’s database
system. Faisal told his manager about the problem and explained its
significance. The manager's response was, "That's not our problem; let's just be
sure that our software functions properly." Faisal is not sure what to do.
Refusing to work on the project means disobeying his manager’s orders.
Continuing to work on the project, means disobeying one of God’s commands,
this requires him to be truthful and sincere in his dealings.
Q1. What's going on?
The company X is in a business agreement with company Y. The database of
company Y contains a security hole due to which it is also affecting the
database of company Y. The manager is not listening to the software
programmer. He just wants his software to function properly. The software
programmer is in dilemma of working on the project.
Q2. What are the facts?
By testing it was concluded that the database system of company Y has a
security hole and it will definitely affect the database system of company Y.
Faisal cannot refuse the project because it will be against his manager’s order
and while continuing the project he will be disobeying the God’s commands.
Q3. What are the issues (non-ethical)?
The issues are that the database system of Y has security hole, the manager is
not listening, and the software programmer do not want to disobey his
manager’s as well as God’s commands.
Q4. Who is affected?

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All the three companies i.e. X, Y, and Z is affected. The software programmer
is also affected.
Q5. What are the ethical issues and implications?
It is unethical and wrong code of conduct if company Z do not tell company X
that their database is getting affected because of company Y. Company Y
should also know about its database. Apart from this, if company Z only think
about its business growth at the cost of others business it is against the ethical
code of conducts.
Q6. What can be done about it?
The company Z should acknowledge company X and Y about the security
threats and poles.
Q7. What are the options?
One of the options is to check the database of company Y and analyse the
security pole and correct it. Other option is to break the agreement between
company X and company Y.
Q8. Which option is best - and why?
The best option is to analyse company Y’s database system and correct the
security poles so that they do not affect the functionality of the software.
Case Study 2:
In April 2014, Donald Sterling, then owner of the National Basketball
Association (NBA)’s San Diego Clippers, was accused of making racist
remarks about African Americans. It turns out that Sterling’s then (girl) friend,
V. Stiviano, had recorded those remarks on an electronic device and then later
decided to make them available to a wider audience. This incident received
extensive media coverage in the United States and beyond. Many people were
appalled by Sterling’s remarks, and some also pointed out the irony in this
incident, given that the majority of the players on his basketball team (who were
largely responsible for generating income for Sterling) were African Americans.
Shortly following the fallout from this controversy, Sterling was forced by the
NBA to sell his team to a new owner. While most people agreed that Sterling
should resign and be required to relinquish his NBA franchise, some were
nevertheless troubled by the manner in which his remarks, which were made in
confidence to a close friend, were secretly recorded via a digital device and then
(eventually) made available to the public. The practice of secretly recording
someone’s private conversations is not exactly new; after all, law enforcement
authorities have used “wiring” devices to trap suspected criminals into
disclosing information that can lead to their arrests. But the idea that ordinary
people, especially those in intimate relationships, can now so easily record
conversations in deceptive ways via their tiny digital devices can seem chilling.

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For example, would this practice influence what intimate friends would be
willing (or not willing) to say to each other in (supposed) confidence? Would it
also alter our privacy expectations in the future with respect to conversations
with romantic partners?
Q1. What's going on?
Donald Sterling who is the owner of National Basketball Association was
accused of making racist comments on African American which had great
media coverage. He was asked by NBA to sell his company. Few people
supported him because it was a private conversation which was recorded and
then made public.
Q2. What are the facts?
The facts include the recordings by a digital medium. Donald Sterling made
such racist comments. Along with this, it is also against the laws to record
someone’s private conversations in a deceptive way.
Q3. What are the issues (non-ethical)?
The issues are that he made such comments and secondly they were made
public.
Q4. Who is affected?
Donald Sterling is affected along with his past girlfriend V.Stiviano. The other
members of the team are also getting affected. The NBA’s board of members
and the African Americans are also in the list.
Q5. What are the ethical issues and implications?
The ethical issues are that it is purely unethical to record anyone’s private
conversations in a deceptive way and then making it public. Only the law
enforcement authorities can do it that too only for the criminals not for common
people.
Q6. What can be done about it?
The recording should be considered invalid and strict law actions should be
taken against V.Stiviano. Apart from this laws should be implemented to
authenticate the privacy and confidentiality of common people.
Q7. What are the options?
First option is that Donald Sterling makes an apology on the media taking back
his offensive words. The other way is taking legal actions on his girlfriend for
accusing his confidentiality publicly by unethical means. After this, Donald
Sterling can be suspended from his team for a while but he doesn’t have to sell
his team.
Q8. Which option is best - and why?
The best option is that he make a public apology stating that he take his words
back. After that he should be suspended from a team for a short span of time.

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Case Study 3:
You are a computer programmer working for a small business that provides
specialized financial services to local, mostly small businesses. You have been
working for company X for about six months. Recently X has been occupied
with reengineering the inventory system of a local hardware chain, ABC
Hardware. The objective is to enable ABC to keep better track of their
inventory, to be more responsive to changes in customer demand, and to adopt a
“just in time” strategy to reduce inventory. Your supervisor calls you into his
office. “Do you know of any existing software products to help ABC keep
better track of its inventory?” You mention a particular product that you have
worked with in another job and point out that ABC could use it without any
modification. The only drawback, you point out, is that this software is
somewhat expensive. Your supervisor leans back in his chair, puffs on his cigar
and says, “That’s no problem. We have that software. Why don’t you just install
it on ABC’s computers?” You diplomatically indicate that this would violate the
licensing agreement X has with the developers of the software. “Do it anyway,”
your supervisor says. “Nobody’s going to find out, and ABC is a very
important client. We need to do all we can to keep them happy.”
Q1. What's going on?
The company X which provides specialized financial services to local now gets
occupied with reengineering of the inventory system of ABC Hardware. ABC
Hardware wants software which adopts just-in-time strategy and manages the
inventory. The supervisor of company X asks the computer programmer to use
the software of his old company. The computer programmer knows that it will
violate the licensing agreement of X with the developers of the software. But
the developer forces the computer programmer (Shafer-Landau, 2011).
Q2. What are the facts?
The facts are that using the software of the previous company will violate the
licensing agreement of company X. The conversation between the supervisor
and the computer programmer tells that the supervisor wants the software any
which ways.
Q3. What are the issues (non-ethical)?
The issues are that the programmer cannot disobey the orders of his software.
But if ABC Hardware uses that software it will be expensive for them.
Q4. Who is affected?
The computer programmer and his old company where thee software was used
before will be affected. Along with this, ABC Hardware will be affected too as
they will have to pay more.
Q5. What are the ethical issues and implications?

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The supervisor asked to use the software in any condition. But the computer
programmer knew that if he will do it this will violate the licensing agreement
of company X with the developers of the software which is against the ethical
code of conduct.
Q6. What can be done about it?
The company X can create its own software and can take ideas from the old
software.
Q7. What are the options?
The supervisors of company X can take authenticate permission from the
developers of the software to use their software. The computer programmer can
suggest making new software in accordance with the old software (Moreland,
2016).
Q8. Which option is best - and why?
The best option is if the supervisor of company X takes permission i.e. signs an
agreement with the developers of the software. By this method, they won’t be
violating the licensing agreement. They will not have to make new software.
Question 2
Analyse the above case study (i, ii, iii) using either two or four classical ethical
theories. So, it is always from the four classical ethical theories such as
utilitarianism, deontology, virtue and contract.
In case study 1, the software programmers follow the virtue ethics theory
because he fined the way of doing the project unethical. He follows virtue moral
values by himself. This theory also reflects the character of the programmer
which is good. Along with this, utilitarianism theory is followed by the manager
because he thinks that the actions he is taking are morally right until and unless
the consequences are not known although he can easily predict the results
(Foster, 2016).
In case study 2, Donald Sterling follows the virtue ethical theory because it
reflects his character about the African Americans. The way he feels about the
people of his team and about other individuals. The contact theory is followed
by his girlfriend because she recorded the conversation and made it public
disrespecting the moral values and human rights (Vaughn, 2015). Deontology
theory is also followed by his girlfriend because she thinks that whatever she
done is right according to her irrespective of the consequences of his actions on
Donald Sterling.
In case study 3, the supervisor is forcing the programmer to use the software in
any condition. Hence he follows deontology theory because he is not worried
about the consequences and according to him this is the best way to provide

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good software to ABC Hardware. The programmer follows the virtue and
contact theories because he is a person with a good character and he don’t want
to violate any rules. Secondly, according to the contact theory the programmer
is following the basic laws and code of conduct of business and he know
agreeing to the supervisor will violate the licensing agreement of the company
with the developers of the software (Hailey, 2006).
PART 2
i.
Over the years a number of systems have been developed which record coded
information across a range of factors about disabilities in ethnic communities. A
new coding convention has been developed to rationalise the inconsistent
coding conventions of these legacy systems. The new coding convention uses
codes which had different meanings in the legacy systems. This means that time
series analysis gives inconsistent results, particularly showing both under and
over reporting of numbers of particular disability categories. This is significant
when making policies for people based on the size of the communities. To fix
this would take a lot of work and expense, and management has decreed that
historical systems will not be fixed, but new systems will all adopt the new
coding convention.
Solution i
There are number of systems which records information on the basis of many
factors in ethnic communities. Recently, a new coding convention is developed
which resolves the different coding conventions used in the systems. The
management announced that the historical systems do not have to use the new
conventions but the old systems have to implement it (Chonko, 2016).
The management followed deontology theory because they made decisions in
accordance to the ethics of the individuals and the society. Utilitarianism theory
is also followed because the new convention will be beneficial for everyone.
Various professional codes of ethics are also followed, for example, the new
code convention is respect and is shared by everyone. The work environment
is created in a way that it gets easy for everyone to adapt the new coding
convention system. The value of money is also taken into consideration and
hence it has been announced that the old systems do not have to adopt the
new coding convention.
The new coding convention provides consistency in the working environment
and it is respected. Along with this, there is a value of work and expense and

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hence the old systems do not have to adopt the new coding convention system
(LaFollette & Persson, 2013).
ii.
A software development company has just produced a new software package
that incorporates the new tax laws and figures taxes for both individuals and
small businesses. The president of the company knows that the program has a
number of bugs. He also believes the first firm to put this kind of software on
the market is likely to capture the largest market share. The company widely
advertises the program. When the company actually ships a CD, it includes a
disclaimer of responsibility for errors resulting from the use of the program. The
company expects it will receive a number of complaints, queries, and
suggestions for modification. The company plans to use these to make changes
and eventually issue updated, improved, and debugged versions. The president
argues that this is general industry policy and that anyone who buys version 1.0
of a program knows this and will take proper precautions. Because of bugs, a
number of users filed incorrect tax returns and were penalised by the ATO.
Solution ii
The software company produced new software which includes the new tax laws
and displays taxes for small business and individuals. It is in prior notice of the
company that there are many bugs in the software. For the users, the company
includes a disclaimer about the bugs. On the basis of feedbacks the company
decides to update the bugs. But still the users who used this software filed
incorrect tax return and hence were penalised by the ATO.
The company has Utilitarianism ethical theory as they knew what will be the
outcomes of using the software. Along with this, the virtue theory also comes in
picture because it determines the behaviour of an individual. The company
launched the software by mentioning the bugs which tells that they possess a
good character. Professionally, the company respect the code of ethics of the
customers and gave them clarity of the software. The company was also honest
with the users (Hailey, 2006).
Hence, it can easily be concluded that the companies software contains bugs but
they have mentioned about the bugs to their audience. The company was honest
to the users and also respected their result. But the outcome of the software was
bad as the users filled incorrect returns and were penalised by the ATO.
iii.

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New Australian national security laws will permit hacking by its intelligence
agencies and approve the retention of personal web and phone metadata. This
will break new ground around the world and raise significant privacy concerns,
privacy groups have warned. Discuss this scenario from an ethical and
professional perspective and the implications these new laws will have for
Australian citizens.
Solution iii
The new Australian national security laws will allow hacking with the help of
its intelligence departments this will help in retaining the personal data and the
metadata. Because of these laws the privacy will be at high concern. These laws
follows virtue ethical theories as it will reflect the behaviour of the people
involved in the hacking. Along with this, the citizens’ rights will be followed on
the highest priority (Blackstone & Lewis, 2013).
From professional perspective, this is wrong as it will put the citizen’s private
data on risk. The laws will be violating the principles of the code of conduct of
the citizens. Hence, all over the world this will raise significant privacy
concerns for the citizens.

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References
Blackstone, W. and Lewis, W. (1962). Commentaries on the laws of England. Boston: Beacon
Press.
Chonko, L. (2016). Ethical Theories. [online] Available at:
http://www.dsef.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/EthicalTheories.pdf [Accessed 1 Feb.
2018].
Foster, C. (2016). Software Licensing: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You | AllBusiness.com.
[online] Available at: https://www.allbusiness.com/software-licensing-what-you-dont-
know-can-hurt-you-15636003-1.html [Accessed 1 Feb. 2018].
Hailey, K. (2006). Code of professional conduct. Tucson, AZ: Lawyers & Judges Pub.
Hooker, B. (2012). Developing deontology. Malden, MA: Wiley.
LaFollette, H. and Persson, I. (2013). The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory. New York, NY:
John Wiley & Sons.
Moreland, J. (2016). Ethics Theories: Utilitarianism Vs. Deontological Ethics. [online] Available
at: http://www.equip.org/article/ethics-theories-utilitarianism-vs-deontological-ethics/
[Accessed 1 Feb. 2018].
Shafer-Landau, R. (2011). Ethical theory. Malden, MA [u.a.]: Blackwell.
Vaughn, L. (2015). Doing Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues. New York: W.W.
Norton & Company.