Question

Book: Business Driven Information Systems.th Edition

Chapter 4 of your text discusses Ethics and Information Security.

Information ethics govern the ethical and moral issues arising from the development and use of information technologies, as well as the creation, collection, duplication, distribution, and processing of information itself (with or without the aid of computer technologies). Ethical dilemmas in this area usually arise not as simple, clear-cut situations but as clashes between competing goals, responsibilities, and loyalties. Inevitably, there will be more than one socially acceptable or “correct” decision. For this reason, acting ethically and legally are not always the same.

Complete the following:

1. Research the Internet and locate two computer use policies for any business/organization (or a link to a computer use policy). NOTE: Many businesses choose to place their computer use policies on internal networks (intranets) rather than open to the public. Many places will have it directly on their websites.
2. Compare and contrast the policies by considering the following questions:
   1. Is one more in-depth than the other?
   2. Do either leave the door open for abuse?
   3. Is the policy clearly defined?
3. Research the Internet for lawsuits based on offensive email and post an article about the lawsuit.
4. Answer this question: Could the lawsuit have been prevented through the implementation of an ethical computer use policy?

Answer 1

Every company that uses computers has IT policy in place.It is important for employees to know what is expected and required of them when using technology and critical for the company to protect itself

ex: www.8.hp.com

ibm.com

These 2 links give information on computer usage policies of HP and IBM

(a) ans: The intranet usage by corporations is more in-depth

(b) ans: placing the information directly on the Internet is risky, abuse can occur

(c) ans: The policy is not clearly defined

Lawsuits on offensive emails:

In a landmark 7-2 decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that employers are responsible for harassment -even if they are not aware it going on. Specially, employers may be held liable if the employer “should have known the conduct and fails to take immediate appropriate corrective actions (Burlington Industries vs Ellerth and Farragher vs City of Boca Raton)

It is important to be proactive, to monitor messages to be alerted to any potential problem.

It is critical to consider the following key factors:

- Including emails in your policies and as examples in your training.

- Archive your emails so that you have record of what was sent

- Proactively monitor messages with flexible alerts for immediate action.

- Monitor internal as well as external ones

- Use trends and tools to find frequent offenders etc

Chevron paid 2.2 million dollars to 4 of its female employees to settle lawsuits in which they claimed they were sexually harassed with email jokes

If the ethical computer use policy was properly/effectively implemented the lawsuit would have been avoided.