1
Q
def. ethics
A
The principles of right and wrong that individuals use to make choices to guide their behaviours
2
Q
What are the four widely used ethical standards?
A
- utilitarian approach
- rights approach
- fairness approach
- common good approach
3
Q
def. utilitarian approach
A
an ethical action is the one that provides the most good or does the least harm
4
Q
utilitarian approach in corporate action
A
the ethical corporate action would be the one that produces the greatest good and does the least harm for all affected parties—customers, employees, shareholders, the community, and the physical environment.
5
Q
def. rights approach
A
an ethical action is the one that best protects and respects the moral rights of the affected parties
6
Q
def. moral rights
A
Moral rights can include the rights to make one’s own choices about what kind of life to lead, to be told the truth, to be not injured, and to enjoy a degree of privacy. Which of these rights people are actually entitled to—and under what circumstances—is widely debated
7
Q
organizational action based on the rights approach
A
An ethical organizational action would be one that protects and respects the moral rights of customers, employees, shareholders, business partners, and even competitors.
8
Q
def. fairness approach
A
ethical actions treat all human beings equally, or, if unequally, then fairly, based on some defensible standard
9
Q
example of fairness approach in corporate world
A
most people might believe it is fair to pay people higher salaries if they work harder or if they contribute a greater amount to the firm. However, there is less certainty regarding CEO salaries that are hundreds or thousands of times larger than those of other employees. Many people question whether this huge disparity of wages is based on a defensible standard or whether it is the result of an imbalance of power and hence is unfair.
10
Q
def. common good approach
A
highlights the interlocking relationships that underlie all societies
argues that respect and compassion for all others is the basis for ethical actions.
11
Q
What are the two frameworks for ethics?
A
traditional approach and Giving voice to values (GVV) approach
12
Q
what does the common good approach highlight?
A
It emphasizes the common conditions that are important to the welfare of everyone. These conditions can include a system of laws, effective police and fire departments, health care, a public educational system, and even public recreation areas
13
Q
What are the steps in the traditional approach?
A
- Recognize an ethical issue
- Get the facts
- Evaluate alternative actions
- Make a decision and test it
14
Q
What questions do you ask in the first step of the traditional approach? (Recognize an ethical issue)
A
- Could this decision or situation damage someone or some group?
- Does this decision involve a choice between a good and a bad alternative?
- Is this issue about more than what is legal? If so, how?
15
Q
What questions do you ask in the second step of the traditional approach? (get facts)
A
- What are the relevant facts of the situation?
- Do I know enough to make a decision?
- Which individuals and/or groups have an important stake in the outcome?
- Have I consulted all relevant persons and groups?
16
Q
What questions do you ask in the third step of the traditional approach? (Evaluate alternative actions)
A
- Which option will produce the most good and do the least harm? (the utilitarian approach)
- Which option best respects the rights of all stakeholders? (the rights approach)
- Which option treats people equally or proportionately? (the fairness approach)
- Which option best serves the community as a whole, and not just some members? (the common good approach)
17
Q
What questions in the fourth step of the traditional approach? (Make a decision and test it)
A
- Considering all the approaches, which option best addresses the situation?
- What is the outcome of my decision and what should I do next?
- How can I implement my decision with the greatest care and attention to the concerns of all stakeholders?
- How did my decision turn out, and what did I learn from this specific situation?
18
Q
What questions should you ask in the first step of the GVV approach? (Identify an ethical issue)
A
- What are the different issues that give rise to the ethical issue?
- What are the values of the individuals or organizations underlying the ethical issue(s)?
- Is there a possibility of action to resolve the ethical issue?
19
Q
What questions should you ask in the second step of the GVV approach? (purpose and choice)
A
- What personal choices do you have in reacting to this ethical issue?
- What is your most appropriate professional choice, being guided by professional rules, and what would be a “good” choice?
20
Q
What questions should you ask in the third step of the GVV approach? (stakeholder analysis)
A
- Who is affected by the ethical issue?
- How are they affected, considering if I do give voice to resolving the issue?
- How are they affected, considering if I do not give voice to resolving the issue?
- How can I connect with the stakeholders to best deal with the ethical issue?
21
Q
What questions should you ask in the fourth step of the GVV approach? (Powerful response)
A
- Who is my audience?
- What types of things could I say to provide a response to the ethical issue?
- What are some inhibiting arguments that would prevent me from acting?
- What could I say in response to the inhibiting arguments (called an enabling argument)?
- What external arguments (called levers) support my enabling arguments?
- What external research supports or refutes my arguments?
22
Q
What questions should you ask in the fifth step of the GVV approach? (Scripting and coaching)
A
- What words (script) could I use when talking about the ethical issue? (consider both positive and negative responses)
- Who can I practise with?
- How would I approach my audience to provide the best opportunity for discussing the ethical issue?
23
Q
What are the 5 steps of the GVV approach?
A
- Identify an ethical issue
- Purpose and choice
- Stakeholder analysis
- Powerful response
- Scripting and coaching
24
Q
What does the traditional ethical approach provide a tool for?
A
deciding the nature of an action response that you can take
25
What does the GVV approach provide a tool/tools for?
dealing with the ethical issue in a co-operative way
26
def. code of ethics
A collection of principles intended to guide decision making by members of an organization
27
are different codes of ethics always consistent with one another?
no
thus, an individual might be expected to conform to multiple codes
28
What are the 3 fundamental tenets of ethics?
responsibility, accountability, and liability
29
def. responsibility
means that you accept the consequences of your decisions and actions
30
def. accountability
means determining who is responsible for actions that were taken
31
def. liability
a legal concept that gives individuals the right to recover the damages done to them by other individuals, organizations, or systems
32
T or F: everything that is unethical is illegal
false
33
what does the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002-USA) require?
What is a similar law in Canada?
that public companies implement financial controls and that, to ensure accountability, executives must personally certify financial reports
Bill 198-Budget Measures Act imposes similar requirements of management.
34
what in recent years have generated a new set of ethical problems?
Advancements in information technologies
these hold much more data
These developments have created numerous ethical problems concerning the appropriate collection and use of customer information, personal privacy, and the protection of intellectual property.
35
What kinds of ethical decisions might you have to make?
* Should organizations monitor employees' Web surfing and email?
* Should organizations sell customer information to other companies?
* Should organizations audit employees' computers for unauthorized software or illegally downloaded music or video files?
36
What four categories do ethical issues fall into?
1. Privacy issues
2. Accuracy issues
3. Property Issues
4. Accessibility issues
37
describe privacy issues
involve collecting, storing, and disseminating information about individuals
38
describe accuracy issues
involve the authenticity, fidelity, and correctness of information that is collected and processed
39
describe property issues
involve the ownership and value of information.
40
describe accessibility issues
revolve around who should have access to information and whether they should pay a fee for this access.
41
What questions should you ask regarding privacy issues?
- What information about oneself should an individual be required to reveal to others?
- What kinds of surveillance can an employer use on its employees?
- What types of personal information can people keep to themselves and not be forced to reveal to others?
- What information about individuals should be kept in databases, and how secure is the information there?
42
what questions should you ask regarding accuracy issues?
- Who is responsible for the authenticity, integrity, and accuracy of the information collected?
- How can we ensure that the information will be processed properly and presented accurately to users?
- How can we ensure that errors in databases, data transmissions, and data processing are accidental and not intentional?
- Who is to be held accountable for errors in information, and how should the injured parties be compensated?
43
what questions should you ask regarding property issues?
- Who owns the information?
- What are the just and fair prices for its exchange?
- How should we handle software piracy (illegally copying copyrighted software)?
- Under what circumstances can one use proprietary databases?
- Can corporate computers be used for private purposes?
- How should experts who contribute their knowledge to create expert systems be compensated?
- How should access to information channels be allocated?
44
what questions should you ask regarding accessibility issues?
- Who is allowed to access information?
- How much should companies charge for permitting access to information?
- How can access to computers be provided for employees with disabilities?
- Who will be provided with the equipment needed for accessing information?
- What information does a person or an organization have a right to obtain, under what conditions, and with what safeguards?
45
def. privacy
the right to be left alone and to be free of unreasonable personal intrusions
46
def. information privacy
the right to determine when, and to what extent, information about you can be gathered and/or communicated to others
47
who can privacy rights apply to?
individuals, groups, and institutions.
48
What are the two privacy rules that many courts follow?
1. The right of privacy is not absolute. Privacy must be balanced against the needs of society.
2. The public's right to know supersedes the individual's right of privacy.
49
def. digital dossier
An electronic description of an individual and his or her habits.
50
def. profiling
the process of forming a digital dossier
51
What do data aggregators do?
-profilers
companies collect public data such as real estate records and published telephone numbers, in addition to nonpublic information such as financial data and police, criminal, and motor vehicle records
then integrate these data to form digital dossiers on most adults in the United States. They sell these dossiers to law enforcement agencies and companies that conduct background checks on potential employees. They also sell the dossiers to companies that want to know their customers better, a process called customer intimacy.
52
def. electronic surveillance
Tracking people's activities with the aid of computers
53
who is electronic surveillance conducted by?
employers, the government, and other institutions
54
what is helping to increase the monitoring of human activity?
digital sensors
Emerging technologies such as low-cost digital cameras, motion sensors, and biometric readers
facial recognition technology
55
what is the result of the costs of storing and using digital data rapidly decreasing?
an explosion of sensor data collection and storage
56
what specialized problem arises with smart phones equipped with GPS sensors?
These sensors routinely geotag photos and videos, embedding images with the longitude and latitude of the location shown in the image. Thus, you could be inadvertently supplying criminals with useful intelligence by posting personal images on social networks or photo-sharing websites. These actions would show the criminals exactly where you live.
57
Why is tagging (photo tagging) important?
once you are tagged in a photo, that photo can be used to search for matches across the entire Internet or in private databases, including databases fed by surveillance cameras
58
how does electronic surveillance affect the workplace with regards to legal protection?
employees have very limited legal protection against surveillance by employers. The law supports the right of employers to read their employees' email and other electronic documents and to monitor their employees' Internet use
59
what is URL filtering?
using software to block connections to specific websites
60
what are organizations doing with regards different monitoring software?
organizations are installing monitoring and filtering software to enhance security by blocking malicious software and to increase productivity by discouraging employees from wasting time.
61
where is the most visible location of personal information?
credit-reporting agencies
62
what are the major concerns with the information you provide to record keepers?
* Do you know where the records are?
* Are the records accurate?
* Can you change inaccurate data?
* How long will it take to make a change?
* Under what circumstances will the personal data be released?
* How are the data used?
* To whom are the data given or sold?
* How secure are the data against access by unauthorized people?
63
What is the conflict about privacy on websites like blogs?
conflict between freedom of speech on the one hand and privacy on the other.
ex. How does society keep owners of bulletin boards from disseminating information that may be offensive to readers or simply untrue?
64
def. privacy policies or privacy codes
An organization's guidelines for protecting the privacy of customers, clients, and employees.
65
what have senior management begun to understand about personal information?
begun to understand that when they collect vast amounts of personal information, they must protect it. In addition, many organizations give their customers some voice in how their information is used by providing them with opt-out choice
66
def. opt-out model
A model of informed consent that permits a company to collect personal information until the customer specifically requests that the data not be collected
67
def. opt-in model
A model of informed consent in which a business is prohibited from collecting any personal information unless the customer specifically authorizes it.
68
what model do privacy advocates prefer?
opt-in
69
what does Canada's anti-spam legislation (Bill 28) require?
that organizations use the opt-in model for the sending of emails. This means that organizations need to have data collection processes so that they can keep records of which customers have agreed to receive emails, and which ones have not
70
what is Canada's privacy legislation called? what does it require?
Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)
based upon the principles in the Canadian Standards Association Model Code. As part of the legislation, organizations are required to establish a privacy policy, as well as procedures to ensure that the policy is adhered to.
71
What is true about good privacy intentions?
All of the good privacy intentions in the world are useless unless they are supported and enforced by effective security measures
72
describe data collection as a part of privacy policy guidelines
- Data should be collected on individuals only for the purpose of accomplishing a legitimate business objective.
- Data should be adequate, relevant, and not excessive in relation to the business objective.
- Individuals must give their consent before data pertaining to them can be gathered. Such consent may be implied from the individual's actions (e.g., applications for credit, insurance, or employment)
73
describe data accuracy as a part of privacy policy guidelines
- Sensitive data gathered on individuals should be verified before they are entered into the database.
- Data should be kept current, where and when necessary.
- The file should be made available so that the individual can ensure that the data are correct.
- In any disagreement about the accuracy of the data, the individual's version should be noted and included with any disclosure of the file.
74
describe data confidentiality as a part of privacy policy guidelines
- Computer security procedures should be implemented to ensure against unauthorized disclosure of data.
- These procedures should include physical, technical, and administrative security measures.
- Third parties should not be given access to data without the individual's knowledge or permission, except as required by law.
- Disclosures of data, other than the most routine, should be noted and maintained for as long as the data are maintained.
- Data should not be disclosed for reasons incompatible with the business objective for which they are collected.
75
what makes privacy difficult when considering global issues?
As the number of online users has increased globally, governments throughout the world have enacted a large number of inconsistent privacy and security laws. This highly complex global legal framework is creating regulatory problems for companies. Approximately 50 countries have some form of data protection laws. Many of these laws conflict with those of other countries, or they require specific security measures. Other countries have no privacy laws at all.
76
what does the absence of consisted or uniform standards for privacy and security do?
obstructs the flow of information among countries (transborder data flows)
77
who's laws are stricter: EU or North America?
EU data protection laws are stricter
78
what main privacy issue does the transfer of data into and out of a nation without the knowledge of either the authorities or the individuals involved raise?
Whose laws have jurisdiction when records are stored in a different country for reprocessing or retransmission purposes?
which country's privacy laws control the data, and at what points in the transmission?
79
what must governments do to solve some privacy issues?
Governments must make an effort to develop laws and standards to cope with rapidly changing information technologies
MGCR 331
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