Ethical Issues in IT

Running Head: ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
Introduction
The aim of the essay is to discuss the aspects of the ethical issues connected to the data
collection of “Harvesting” Personalities Online that is performed for helping the political
candidates. The discussion of the act in correspondence to the ethical theories is provided in
this report along with the major discussion of the act. Then it is judged whether the act is
ethical or not. Lastly this report concludes with an appropriate conclusion for the report.
Discussion
The four ethical theories could be categorized as the Deontology, Utilitarianism, Virtue and
Right.
Deontological approach dictates positive attributes and states that individuals should abide to
the obligations and adhere to the duties. The theory states about the relationship between
morality of actions and duty (Zembylas, 2017). Deontology does not weigh the benefits and
costs of a certain situation. Since the theory dictates to follow rules in doing one’s duty,

2ETHICAL ISSUES IN IT
uncertainty and subjectivity is avoided. If the characteristics of the action is good, the action
is considered to be morally good and not for the reason that the product of it is good. The idea
to understand personality traits of Americans by using questionnaires to understand them is
ethical. The company Cambridge Analytica has adhered to its duty in collecting behavioral
information about Americans.
Utilitarian Approach determines the right from the wrong based on the outcomes. It is a
consequentialism theory, and its relevant with results of the outcome. This framework is also
used to justify war or military force (Reamer, 2015). The theory is also used in judging
moral aspects and reasoning in business. It is the most reasoned and logical approach to
judge the right and wrong from a course of action based on its outcome. Since the future is
unpredictable, certainty of the consequences is hard to determine. Considering the case of
Cambridge Analytica, the company used personality traits to harness votes for presidential
candidates. Serving a presidential candidate with personality trait data greatly helps in
targeting a particular sector of voters. The action greatly benefited the candidate to target
audience to win and have an edge over the opponent candidate.
Social contract ethical theory of rights states the rules and rights that have been set by the
society must be regarded highly and protected by all means. Rights are observed to be
ethically valid as it is followed and endorsed by a large number of people (Freeman, 2016).
To determine what rights the society wants to exercise and enact, the societal ethical
priorities and goals must be considered. An individual can exercise rights upon another
individual if he has the premises to so. Cambridge Analytica circulated questionnaires online
to study personality traits. Every individual has the right to decide whether he or she wants to
fill the form. Individuals, who did not fill the questionnaire, were compared with previous