Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
are increasing from people around the world looking to benefit financially or politically.
Businesses such as eBay enforce rigid policies and procedures to make sure that their
networks, employees, and partners are operating in the most secure manner possible.
As you read this chapter, consider the following:
•
What are the primary concerns of corporations regarding security, privacy, and ethics?
•
What strategies can assist a company with issues of security and privacy, and at what
cost?
A wide range of nontechnical issues associated with the use of information systems
and the Internet provide both opportunities and threats to modern organizations.
The issues span the full spectrum—from preventing computer waste and mistakes,
to avoiding violations of privacy, to complying with laws on collecting data about
customers, to monitoring employees. If you become a member of a human resources,
information systems, or legal department within an organization, you will likely be
charged with leading the organization in dealing with these and other issues covered
in this chapter. Also, as a user of information systems and the Internet, it is in your
own self-interest to become well versed on these issues. You need to know about the
topics in this chapter to help avoid or recover from crime, fraud, privacy invasion,
and other potential problems. This chapter begins with a discussion of preventing
computer waste and mistakes.
Why Learn About
the Personal and
Social Impact of
the Internet?
Earlier chapters detailed the significant benefits of computer-based information systems in
business, including increased profits, superior goods and services, and higher quality of work
life. Computers have become such valuable tools that today's businesspeople have difficulty
imagining work without them. Yet the information age has also brought the following po-
tential problems for workers, companies, and society in general:
•
Computer waste and mistakes
•
Computer crime
•
Privacy issues
•
Work environment problems
•
Ethical issues
This chapter discusses some of the social and ethical issues as a reminder of these important
considerations underlying the design, building, and use of computer-based information sys-
tems. No business organization, and, hence, no information system, operates in a vacuum.
All IS professionals, business managers, and users have a responsibility to see that the potential
consequences of IS use are fully considered.
Managers and users at all levels play a major role in helping organizations achieve the
positive benefits of IS. These people must also take the lead in helping to minimize or elim-
inate the negative consequences of poorly designed and improperly utilized information
systems. For managers and users to have such an influence, they must be properly educated.
Many of the issues presented in this chapter, for example, should cause you to think back to
some of the systems design and systems control issues discussed previously. They should also
help you look forward to how these issues and your choices might affect your future use of
information systems.
Computer-related waste and mistakes are major causes of computer problems, contributing
as they do to unnecessarily high costs and lost profits. Computer waste involves the inap-
propriate use of computer technology and resources. Computer-related mistakes refer to
