Analysis of Ethical, Legal, and Regulatory Issues in IT for PPC Clinic

This report delves into the ethical, legal, and regulatory issues within the IT sector, specifically focusing on their implications for the Pad Podiatry Clinic (PPC). The study begins by outlining the professional standards expected of IT professionals, emphasizing the importance of ethical conduct and adherence to industry best practices. It then presents a self-assessment plan designed to identify the required knowledge, skills, and competencies for IT professionals, followed by a personal development plan to address identified weaknesses. The report critically evaluates current ethical challenges in IT, reviews ethical working practices, and investigates data mining-related ethical concerns. Furthermore, it assesses the impact of these issues within the PPC clinic, analyzing the effects of legal and regulatory issues on IT usage. The report concludes with an evaluation of legal and regulatory considerations, discussing unlawful surveillance and the development of IT through contracting, alongside an assessment of human-computer interaction impacts and recommendations for the clinic. References are provided to support the analysis.

Ethical Legal
Regulatory Issues

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.Explain the standards that apply to working as a Professional within the IT industry.............1
Self assessment plan to identify the professional knowledge, skills and competencies required
to work within the IT industry.....................................................................................................3
Personal development plan to overcome the weakness...............................................................4
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
Critical Evaluation of the current ethical issues in IT..................................................................7
A critical review to develop the ethical IT working practices within the organization...............9
Investigation of the ethical issues which are related with the data mining..................................9
Evaluating the impact of the current ethical issues, within the PPC clinic................................10
Evaluating the impact of legal and regulatory issues in IT within PPC private clinic centre....11
PART 3..........................................................................................................................................12
1.Evaluation of legal and regulatory issues to the use of IT in organizations..........................12
2. Unlawful surveillance by the use of NET..............................................................................12
2. Discuss the development of IT through the process of contracting.......................................13
3. As assessment of human computer interaction impact along with recommendation for clinic
as staff members are performing there roles ethically...............................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Ethical issues can be considered as a situation that requires a person or organization to
choose between the right and wrong behaviour or practice within the clinics. IT generally occurs
at the time when the given decision, scenario or an action creates a conflict between community's
moral principles. These issues are sometimes legally dangerous. Also legal and regulatory issues
are those standards which government have made to protect the rights of the society in every
aspect. Therefore in order to carry out the study to determine the ethical legal and regulatory
concern of the people within hospitals which will be contributed by the proper IT infrastructure
at workplace. This report will be based on the Pad Podiatry Clinic (PPC) in which various
patients are treated with the best process for the Foot ailments. Therefore in order to protect the
ethical, legal and regulatory concerns of the society, Effective IT infrastructure within the
organization will be helpful in achieving protecting the rights of the customers.
Moreover the study will also help in understanding the standards which need to be
applied by the IT Technician in order to protect the data and various information regarding the
patients in Clinic. It will also help in developing complete information about the professional
knowledge, skills and competencies which are needed by the IT practitioners in order to work
within the IT industries. Also it will assists the learners about the self-assessment personal
development plan which helps in overcoming the weaknesses and challenges faced by the IT
expert in order to protect the ethical as well as legal considerations of the people. In addition to
this, present report will also helps in determining the critical evaluation of the ethical issues in IT
along with the overview about the working practices that need to be developed within the
organization.
PART 1
1.Explain the standards that apply to working as a Professional within the IT industry.
The IT sector in economy is the dynamic and growing sector of the world. Computers are
now becoming the important part of everyone's life whether it is about communication,
education, entertainment, defence or medicine. So for development of the marketing strategies to
compete in global world, information technology is used by financial institution, customers,
management to create the effective communication database (Stubbs and Higgins, 2018). An IT
professional refers to a person who is qualified IT range of technical, such as the designer of
computer games, software developer or in for technical support. They perform the jobs of system
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analyst, web author or database administrator. The job titles in industry are very confusing as
they are not consistent all over industry and roles overlap due to multitasking. To compete in
global world, IT professional must be had the key traits, quality aptitude as the demand of the
profession states. There are application of certain standards on the IT professionals.
There are various standard for the IT professional has they have to follow. The main
reason for the professional standards to measure the actual achieved performance from desired
level of performance. A better recognition should be given to IT specialist for their impracticable
work in the society but for that they must respect to their professional standards commitment. An
IT specialist should be dedicated to work along with there commitment to the professional
standards(Scherer, Palazzo and Spicer, 2016). The professional standards are to be set by the
institution and keep them rising and promoting.
Code of conduct set out for professional standards as in the way-
Public interest
 have regard for security, privacy, health of public and environment.
 Due respect to the rights of the legitimate third parties.
 Perform professional activities without any discrimination on basis of sex, colour,
marital status, origin, age or disability.
Professional integrity and competence
 Do only that work which is under your professional competence
 Never accept the offer of unethical inducement or bribe.
 Have the continuous development in professional knowledge, skill and competence as to
maintain the awareness about the technological advancement and standard towards the
field.
 Respect and accept others point of view and offer honest review of work.
 Be careful while offering the service.
Duty to relevant authority
 Carry professional responsibility with the due care according to the relevant authority
needs and your professional judgement.
 Avoid the situation which can give rise to the conflicts in your professional
commitments.
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 Accept your professional responsibility between you ans your colleagues working in the
same organization.
 Never disclose someone confidential information of any parties for your own personal
gain or benefit.
 Don't misrepresent the information regarding any product or services due to the lack of
knowledge to the next party to gain the benefit.
Professional duty
 accept your responsibility towards your profession and never take any action which can
took your profession in dispute.
 Improve your professional standards on the regular basis through the participation in
development programme.
 Motivate and encourage your fellow mates as the part of professional development.
Self assessment plan to identify the professional knowledge, skills and competencies required to
work within the IT industry
Skills/ knowledge/ competencies Skilled Moderate Need of training
Professional knowledge
 Updated knowledge of Online
resources.
 Networking knowledge.
 Ability and knowledge to
utilize the online resources.
 Continues development and
learning abilities




Skills
 Analytical skills
 Contextual skills
 Decision making skills
 Interpersonal skills




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 Critical thinking
 Employability
 Technical skills
 Hard and soft skills




Competencies
 Establishing focus
 Providing Motivational support
 Fostering team work
 Empowering others
 Managing change
 Oral as well as persuasive
communication.
 Building collaborative
relationship.
 Customer orientation








Personal development plan to overcome the weakness
Skills Target Strategy Outcome Time Period
Network
Knowledge
This will be improved
by taking concerns
and trainings under the
networking expert.
The strategy to
develop this
knowledge is by
attending the
seminars and
conferences to
improve the
networking
knowledge.
The outcome of
developing this
skill help me to
develop the IT
skills in
managing the
network of the
company.
15 to 18
weeks
Ability to utilise
online resource
This Knowledge will
be improved by
The strategy
includes the
This help me to
improve my
7 to 8 weeks
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updating the external
knowledge as well as
expert advices and
tutorials to enhance
the updated online
resources and recent
trend within market.
timely internet
surfing as well as
consultation from
the IT experts in
order to gain the
online knowledge.
updated
knowledge in
every aspect of
updated
software.
Decision making
skills
This will be enhanced
via developing a sense
of confidence and
critical thinking in
order to estimate the
consequences of every
situation
The strategy
involves the
interaction and
communication
among staff
members to
enhance the
decision making
skills.
Development of
this skill results
in improvement
in my team
building
capabilities.
2 to 3 weeks
Interpersonal
skills
It will be improved by
enhancing the
communication power
within the
organization. Also
interpersonal skills
will be developed by
asking the questions
from the seniors
related to the career
and field.
By employing the
relation with the
staff as well as
communication
strategy will allow
me to develop this
kind of skill.
Within 1 week
Employability It can be improved via
developing a spirit and
self-motivation within
The strategy
includes the
Motivation
The outcome
after developing
the skill helps
Takes
approximately
8 to 9 days
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the individual attitude
which brings
confidence.
me to take the
quick and
situational
decisions.
Technical skills This skill can be
improved by doing
practical’s and
learning more from
the IT professionals
about the various
different types of IT
related concern
By attending
seminars and
taking expert
advices. This
strategy will help
in achieving such
weakness.
This It will take 10
to 12 weeks
Fostering team
work
It can be improved by
promoting the
interrelationship
among the employees
and also this will be
helpful in completing
the work effectively
and efficiently and
also development of
this skill also allows
team members to learn
more.
The strategy
allows me to
overcome the
weakness is the
team engagement
and critical
observations
which allows me
to understand the
strengths and
weakness of the
individual
member.
Within 2
weeks of
duration
Empowering
others
This can be done by
prosper interaction and
communication with
the staff in order to
analyse the current
The strategy
includes the
leading abilities
and attitude which
motivates and
This skill
development
helps me to
improve the
build
It requires one
motivational
speech or
lecture which
will be
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situations along with
this many co
curricular activities
also improves the
enthusiasm and
derives the satisfaction
among the staff
(Pozgar, 2019). This
will promote the
career towards the
good leader.
inspires other to
perform the
activities and
actions.
motivation
among others
and this skills
helps me to
achieve the
main goal of the
organization.
delivered 1
hour each for
a week
Customer
orientation
By taking prosper
feedbacks and reviews
via various social
media platform will
allows me to analyse
the needs and
requirements of the
customers.
The strategy
includes the
updating the
knowledge and
information
regarding the
current customer
needs via social
media as well as
internet sources.
Development of
this skill
generates strong
interaction
skills which
helps me to
attract more
customers.
It requires 5 to
6 weeks
PART 2
Critical Evaluation of the current ethical issues in IT
Information security is considered to be one of the important part of this modernised
world in all the industries weather it is retailer, a big IT firm or healthcare centre. Information
technology has been one of the main point of focus IT manages huge data and information about
the customers, employees and all the critical and confidential information which is generally
circulated within the organizations. So IT professional need to handle such resources and
confidential information ethically so that patients who visit the hospital cannot be exploited in
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any way. Ethical issues which need to be handled more carefully within the organization
includes moral principles and practices such as security, responsible decision making,
misuse of the private data, trade secrets of the company and copyright of the PPC clinic.
Therefore, IT department is considered to be one of the main departments within the
organization as all the private and secured data is maintained within the main systems of the
company that requires proper security and confidentiality For which the IT experts need to
trained and skilled in order to handle and manage all such work within the organization.
However, there are various critical ethical issues which are associated with the IT
infrastructure within the Pad Podiatry Clinic (PPC). Whereas most of the professions such as
healthcare and the law have a clear code of conduct that spells out the ethical responsibilities
which need to be controlled in certain situations, but many of the professions do not have a
proper guidelines to help someone in navigating the tricky situations. Computer ethics is a part of
practical philosophy which are concerned with the professional and social conduct which
generally exists in the workplace. Such ethical considerations which are currently raised within
the PPC in order to secure the data and information are as follows:
Privacy of the data
It can be considered as a illegal copyright of the software which can be considered as a
very serious problem. This ethical concern within the PPC clinic is related with the privacy of
the customer as well as security of the employee data (Davies, 2016). Therefore, it is the
responsibility of the IT professional to maintain the huge amount of data and information
confidential as it may be attacked by the criminal and the information can be misused by them.
File sharing
Due to increasing digital age in the world, this becomes the common and popular idea to
share the data and information however, this is ethically wrong practice. The inability to file
sharing has leads to many industries to devise copy protection in order to prevent the data loss
outside the organization.
Hacking
It is one of the common concern which leads to the gaining the control and authorisation
of the system in order to identify the security flaws of the PPC (Wheeler and Bertram, 2019).
Hacking can be responsible for moral dilemma which may be results in the use of the
unauthorised use of the confidential data for the perspective of the criminal intention.
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health issues
There are many health issues related to IT which is responsible for the ethically minded
employers will, hopefully, give due considerations to this indeed should all employers. Some
organizations will give special advise to their employees on these matters. Without such ethical
and moral awareness and taking the necessary actions will be responsible for the health problems
directly from IT such as Back problems, Eye strain, eye infection and RSI.
A critical review to develop the ethical IT working practices within the organization
Ethical IT practices are one of the important concern which requires proper attention in
order to embedded the ethical culture within the society. According to the views of Kolk, 2016,
trainings, communication and leadership need to focussed more which helps in improving the
ethical culture at workplace. Various different types of ethical implications at workplace which
need to be protected are as follows:
Respecting the co-workers and clients
As per the views of the Crane, Glozer and Spence, 2019, Ethical values can be practised
at workplace if the environment of the work is positive so it will promote the healthy relationship
among the staff. Building the strong relationship with the staff members as well as clients helps
in connecting with the internal as well as outer environment within the business so, such
practices allows the staff members to build the ethical workplace which creates the environment
where ethics cannot be ignored at any cost.
Honor proprietary information
According to Ulman,, Cakar and Yildiz, 2015, it is very important for the staff members
to consider the effective as well as efficient information about the operations and various
business related tasks. This creates awareness among staff about the PPC and therefore it helps in
performing ethical practices at workplace.
Avoid conflict among employees
The Kolk, 2016, says that the environment with vary serious conflicts leads to the most
unethical behaviour of the people at workplace and hence this will be the main reason behind the
unethical practices at PPC.
Investigation of the ethical issues which are related with the data mining
In Pad Podiatry Clinic, that can be considered as a healthcare clinic centre so data mining
is generally used for storing the patient data which helps in reducing the costs and other health
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related processes. The core idea about the data mining is about analysing the large and complex
databases by identifying the useful patterns, trends and information to manage the unorganized
data (Lerman and Schrag, 2016). Data mining has been successfully used by the healthcare
centres like PPC in order to analyse the customer behaviour and predicting the trends thereby
enhancing the company's revenue and profitability.
In addition, ethical implications for the business using the data mining are generally
different from legal implications. Therefore, trying to attempt a theft comes under the unethical
behaviour of the individual while attempting a theft is am illegal practice (Griffith and Tengnah,
2017). The main area of concern is the ethical use of data mining applications in PPC in order to
protect the patients information from any unauthorised users. So the solution to the varied forms
of ethical concerns of data mining is for the companies which used to maintain the transparency
in mining data being accountable for any breaches of privacy (Byard and Payne-James, 2015).
Various ethical issues that are related with the data mining are as follows:
 Personal data management
 Data storing
 management of bulk data
 managing the information properly within the system that will be managed by the IT
department of PPC.
Evaluating the impact of the current ethical issues, within the PPC clinic.
Currently the PPC clinic is using the traditional data storing method which enables the
staff to store the data and information of the patients as well as employees within the PPC
healthcare centre. So there is not enough strong IT infrastructures is developed within the
organization to store the data related to the patients and their personal diseases along with their
personal information. So this type of system within the company may get attacked by any
criminal. Below explained are3 some IT related ethical issues which are currently facing by the
company in every aspect of securing the data within the company. Such unethical practices carry
out within the IT department of the PPC clinic are as follows:
Personal data stealing
Lack of Privacy
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