Information ethics

Information ethics has been defined as "the branch of ethics that focuses on the relationship between the creation, organization, dissemination, and use of information, and the ethical standards and moral codes governing human conduct in society".[1] The term information ethics was first coined by Robert Hauptman and used in the book Ethical challenges in librarianship. It examines the morality that comes from information as a resource, a product, or as a target.[2] It provides a critical framework for considering moral issues concerning informational privacy, moral agency (e.g. whether artificial agents may be moral), new environmental issues (especially how agents should behave in the infosphere), problems arising from the life-cycle (creation, collection, recording, distribution, processing, etc.) of information (especially ownership and copyright, digital divide, and digital rights). It is very vital to understand that librarians, archivists, information professionals among others, really understand the importance of knowing how to disseminate proper information as well as being responsible with their actions when addressing information.[3]

Information ethics has evolved to relate to a range of fields such as computer ethics,[4] medical ethics, journalism[5] and the philosophy of information.

Dilemmas regarding the life of information are becoming increasingly important in a society that is defined as "the information society". The explosion of so much technology has brought information ethics to a forefront in ethical considerations. Information transmission and literacy are essential concerns in establishing an ethical foundation that promotes fair, equitable, and responsible practices. Information ethics broadly examines issues related to ownership, access, privacy, security, and community. It is also concerned with relational issues such as "the relationship between information and the good of society, the relationship between information providers and the consumers of information".[6]

Information technology affects common issues such as copyright protection, intellectual freedom, accountability, privacy, and security. Many of these issues are difficult or impossible to resolve due to fundamental tensions between Western moral philosophies (based on rules, democracy, individual rights, and personal freedoms) and the traditional Eastern cultures (based on relationships, hierarchy, collective responsibilities, and social harmony).[7] The multi-faceted dispute between Google and the government of the People's Republic of China reflects some of these fundamental tensions.

Professional codes offer a basis for making ethical decisions and applying ethical solutions to situations involving information provision and use which reflect an organization's commitment to responsible information service. Evolving information formats and needs require continual reconsideration of ethical principles and how these codes are applied. Considerations regarding information ethics influence "personal decisions, professional practice, and public policy".[8] Therefore, ethical analysis must provide a framework to take into consideration "many, diverse domains" (ibid.) regarding how information is distributed.

The main, peer-reviewed, academic journals reporting on information ethics are the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, the flagship publication of the Association for Information Systems, and Ethics and Information Technology, published by Springer.

History

The field of information ethics has a relatively short but progressive history having been recognized in the United States for nearly 20 years.[9] The origins of the field are in librarianship though it has now expanded to the consideration of ethical issues in other domains including computer science, the internet, media, journalism, management information systems, and business.[9]

Evidence of scholarly work on this subject can be traced to the 1980s, when an article authored by Barbara J. Kostrewski and Charles Oppenheim and published in the Journal of Information Science, discussed issues relating to the field including confidentiality, information biases, and quality control.[9] Another scholar, Robert Hauptman, has also written extensively about information ethics in the library field and founded the Journal of Information Ethics in 1992.[10]

Censorship

Censorship is an issue commonly involved in the discussion of information ethics because it describes the inability to access or express opinions or information based on the belief it is bad for others to view this opinion or information.[11] Sources that are commonly censored include books, articles, speeches, art work, data, music and photos.[11] Censorship can be perceived both as ethical and non-ethical in the field of information ethics.

Those who believe censorship is ethical say the practice prevents readers from being exposed to offensive and objectionable material.[11] Topics such as sexism, racism, homophobia, and anti-semitism are present in public works and are widely seen as unethical in the public eye.[12] There is concern regarding the exposure of these topics to the world, especially the young generation.[12] The Australian Library Journal states proponents for censorship in libraries, the practice of librarians deciphering which books/ resources to keep in their libraries, argue the act of censorship is an ethical way to provide information to the public that is considered morally sound, allowing positive ethics instead of negative ethics to be dispersed.[12] According to the same journal, librarians have an "ethical duty" to protect the minds, particularly young people, of those who read their books through the lens of censorship to prevent the readers from adopting the unethical ideas and behaviors portrayed in the books.[12]

However, others in the field of information ethics argue the practice of censorship is unethical because it fails to provide all available information to the community of readers. British philosopher John Stuart Mill argued censorship is unethical because it goes directly against the moral concept of utilitarianism.[13] Mill believes humans are unable to have true beliefs when information is withheld from the population via censorship and acquiring true beliefs without censorship leads to greater happiness.[13] According to this argument, true beliefs and happiness (of which both concepts are considered ethical) cannot be obtained through the practice of censorship. Librarians and others who disperse information to the public also face the dilemma of the ethics of censorship through the argument that censorship harms students and is morally wrong because they are unable to know the full extent of knowledge available to the world.[12] The debate of information ethics in censorship was highly contested when schools removed information about evolution from libraries and curriculums due to the topic conflicting with religious beliefs.[12] In this case, advocates against ethics in censorship argue it is more ethical to include multiple sources information on a subject, such as creation, to allow the reader to learn and decipher their beliefs.[12]

Security and Privacy

Ethical concerns regarding international security, surveillance, and the right to privacy are on the rise.[14] The issues of security and privacy commonly overlap in the field of information, due to the interconnectedness of online research and the development of Information Technology (IT).[15] Some of the areas surrounding security and privacy are identity theft, online economic transfers, medical records, and state security.[16] Companies, organizations, and institutions use databases to store, organize, and distribute user's information—with or without their knowledge.[16]

Medical Records

The more recent trend of medical records is to digitize them. The sensitive information secured within medical records makes security measure vitally important.[17] The ethical concern of medical records is great within the context of emergency wards, where any patient records can be accessed at all times.[17] Within an emergency ward, patient medical records need to be available for quick access; however, this means that all medical records can be accessed at any moment within emergency wards with or without the patient present.[17]

International Security

Warfare has also changed the security of countries within the 21st Century. After the events of 9-11 and other terrorism attacks on civilians, surveillance by states raises ethical concerns of the individual privacy of citizens. The USA PATRIOT Act 2001 is a prime example of such concerns. Many other countries, especially European nations within the current climate of terrorism, is looking for a balancing between stricter security and surveillance, and not committing the same ethical concerns associated with the USA Patriot Act.[18] International security is moving to towards the trends of cybersecurity and unmanned systems, which involve the military application of IT.[14] Ethical concerns of political entities regarding information warfare include the unpredictability of response, difficulty differentiating civilian and military targets, and conflict between state and non-state actors.[14]

Branches

Notes

  1. Joan, Reitz M. "Information Ethics." Online Dictionary For Library And Information Science. N.p., 2010. Web. <http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_i.aspx>.
  2. Froehlich, Thomas (December 2004). "A brief history of information ethics". bid.ub.edu. Kent State University.
  3. Carbo, Toni; Almagno, Stephen. "Information Ethics: The Duty, Privilege and Challenge of Educating Information Professionals" (PDF). Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  4. Floridi, Luciano (1999). "Information Ethics: On the Theoretical Foundations of Computer Ethics" (PDF). Ethics and Information Technology. 1 (1): 37–56. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2005.
  5. Floridi, Luciano (June 2005). "Information ethics, its nature and scope". ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society. 35 (2).
  6. Moran, Barbara A.; Stueart, Robert D.; Morner, Claudia J. (2013). Library and Information Center Management. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. p. 321.
  7. M.G. Martinsons and D. Ma (2009) "Sub-Cultural Differences in Information Ethics across China: Focus On Chinese Management Generation Gaps", Journal of the Association for Information Systems 10.11, 957-973.
  8. E. Elrod and M. Smith (2005). "Information Ethics", in Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics, ed. by Carl Mitcham. Vol. 2: D-K (1004-1011). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA.
  9. 1 2 3 Froehlich, Thomas (December 2004). "A Brief History of Information Ethics". Textos Universitaris de Biblioteconomia i Documentació. Universitat de Barcelona. 13. ISSN 1575-5886.
  10. Kerr, Michael (29 March 2010). "Introduction". Ethics And Information Management In The 21st Century. University of British Columbia. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 Mathiesen, Kay (2008). "Censorship and Access to Expression" (PDF). The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics: 573–585.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Duthie, Fiona (July 2013). "Libraries and the Ethics of Censorship". Australian Library Journal. 53: 85–94.
  13. 1 2 Fallis, Don (2007). "Information Ethics for 21st Century Library Professionals". Library Hi Tech. 25: 2–12.
  14. 1 2 3 Pretorius, Joelien (April 2003). "Ethics and International Security in the Information Age". Defense & Security Analysis. 19 (2): 165–175.
  15. Kernaghan, Kenneth (June 2014). "Digital dilemmas: Values, ethics, and information technology". Canadian Public Administration. 57 (2): 295–317.
  16. 1 2 Quigley, Marian (2008). "Encyclopedia of Information and Ethics Secuirty". Information Science Reference: 660.
  17. 1 2 3 Stahl, Doherty, Shaw, Janicke, Bernd Carsten, Neil F., Mark, Helge (November 2013). "Critical Theory as an Approach to the Ethics of Information Security". Springer Science+Business Media.
  18. Levi, Wall, Michael, David S. (June 2004). "Technologies, Security, and Privacy in the Post-9/11 European Information Society". Journal of Law and Society. 31 (2): 194–220.

Further reading

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