The future of information ethics will rely solely on
those who control its dissemination and the technologies that are used. The
emerging technologies and those of the future will determine how much
information is available to the masses. The professionals in charge of creating
and distributing those types of information implements will be charged with
their ethical use (Pimple, 2011). Although that control will be left more to
society and individual morals, compliance with set ethical standards will be of
the utmost importance. Laws and regulations can only stifle the misuse of
technology, not impede. The ethical standards used in information and
technology professions and the information organizations they represent today
will have a great impact on the future (Fox & Reese, 2012).
Many new and emerging technologies face
ethical concerns for their use. From medical records to free share creative
software will be affected by ethical concerns. Information technologies will
encompass every aspect of and individual’s life. From personal data to
professional advancement have all come suspect in their idealistic use. The
wide spread use of handheld devices has grown and continues to allow possible
privacy issues with the data generated and its transmission (Ammori, 2014).
That allowing for multiple international ears deployed in intelligence station
to intercept those transmissions (Bonilla, 2013). Allowing for continued
education of the masses on how to protect themselves from hacking,
cyber-spying, and other technology-based threats will help protect the ethical
standards that are in place with good intention. Workplace monitoring will
become commonplace in all types and sizes of business organizations. Which will
raise ethical concerns with both the managerial and employee sides of the
matter. Whether good or bad information technology will allow for that type of
monitoring and will prove a benefit to ethical use of information (Baird,
Ramsower, & Rosenbaum, 2000).
Technology will challenge the scope of
information liabilities and those ethical standards that fort their misuse.
Google and other types of search engines are in the forefront of those
concerns. The lawyer and technology writer, Richard Koman, argued that Google
“has become a true believer in its own goodness, a belief which justifies its
own set of rules regarding corporate ethics, anti-competition, customer service
and its place in society” (Carr, 2010). The future of technology and the
information that it shares will have many underlying nuances that will allow for
more information to be accessed from one source than ever before. That source
is the Internet and the technology from which it is accessed. The Internet has
offered some of the most expansive threats to ethical behavior than any other
resource. File share, 3D printing, cloud based storage and computing, and even
Facebook will continue to hold ethical concerns for years to come
There is hope in evading their misuse by
setting ethical standards now. Information organizations are charged with
setting stands in ethical practice of new technologies and their immediate
information sharing, storing, and dissemination, which may hinder many “bad”
practices (Dell, 2014). Having information professionals as well as technology
professionals adhering to a set of ethical guidelines will go a long way in
protecting the casual user as well as professional user (Sherratt, Rogerson,
& Fairweather, 2005).
The future of technology is vast and
almost unfathomable at current. Society will be the judge of what is ethical
practice and what is not. Knowing how to protect your self has become one the
most important pieces of information and individual will obtain. Personal and
professional ethics will become one in the same for the safety of all. Ethical
concerns will encompass every aspect of our daily lives or will become obsolete
in the same.
References:
Ammori, M. (2014). The case for net neutrality. Foreign
Affairs,
93 (4), 62-73. Retrieved from:
The author of the article states a case for why President
Obama net neutrality policy failed and why net neutrality is important. The
author argues whether Internet Services Providers (ISPs) are showing favoritism
for one web site over another. Which allows for the speculation of ethical
concerns. This resource was chosen for its ethics information in connection to
the Internet.
Baird, R. M., Ramsower, R., & Rosenbaum, A. S. (Eds.).
(2000).
Cyberethics. Amherst: Prometheus Books.
The book was written near the beginning of the Internet
explosion. The authors of this book state many relevant ethical concerns that
are still of issue today and will continue to be in the future. The book was
chosen for its transcendence of ethics from the beginning of the Internet
through the present and beyond. The challenges faced in cyberethics are
still relevant today and in will stay that way in the future.
Bonilla, D. N. (2013). Information management professionals
for
intelligence organizations: Ethics and
deontology implications.
Security and Human Rights (24), 264-279. Retrieved from:
The author of the article gives many interesting thoughts on
how the information is being missed used. It also tells how those implications
can escalate in the future. The ethics that are being upheld and those that are
being slightly twisted to suit the needs of the user are presented in this
article. The article was chosen for its presented information on types of
ethics used in intelligence organizations which effect information professions.
Carr, N. (2010). The Shallows. New York:
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
The author of this book gives wonderful examples of how
ethics have been set aside for the good of the corporation and how ethics will
find its place in society effecting all information seekers and providers. I
chose this resource because it is an informative piece with many referenced
quotes from knowledgeable professionals.
Dell, E. Y. (2014). Conserving digital resources:
Issues and future access. Journal of
Electronic Resources
in Medical Libraries, 11 (3), 124-133. Retrieved from:
doi:10.1080/15424065.2014.937657
The article shows the need for and the problems with digital
preservation. It explains how digital resources may be a burden in the future
and whether their relevance has ethical barring within the medical profession.
The article explains how librarians have an important role in the decisions
that will effect the collection made available to the community. The morals and
ethics that are deliberated are discussed here. The article was chosen for its
look into the future of information access.
Fox, M. J., & Reese, A. (2012). Which ethics? whose
morality?:
An analysis of ethical standards for
information organization.
Knowledge Organization, 39 (5), 377-383. Retrieved from:
The article discusses the implication of which ethics will be followed and whose morality will set the ethical standards use in information organizations. Those organizations written about here include libraries. Libraries as information organizations will be called upon to insure ethical use of information now and in the future. This resource was chosen for the ideas presented on how information professionals can understand what ethical standards to set.
Pimple, K. D. (2011). Computing ethics surrounded by
machines.
Communications Of The ACM, 54 (3), 29-31. doi:10.1145/1897852.1897864
Retrieved from: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx
direct=true&db=bth&AN=59423962&site=eds-live&scope=site
Retrieved from: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx
direct=true&db=bth&AN=59423962&site=eds-live&scope=site
The article "Computing Ethics Surrounded by Machines" presents the ethical use of computers and how those ethics imply to information that is accessed by those machines. The article was chosen to demonstrate the possible misuse of computers and the encompassing information that they provide.
The article raises ethical awareness that effect students in science and engineering fields of study. The paper shares how that type of awareness is crucial in aiding the future ethical decisions that will need to be made by computer scientist. The article was chosen as a resource to show that the future of information ethics does not completely dependent on information specialist but the equipment used in it's dissemination, preservation, and storage.
Sherratt, D., Rogerson, S., & Fairweather, B. (2005).
The challenge of raising ethical
awareness: A case-based aiding
system in computing and ICT students.
Science and Engineering Ethics, 11 (2),
299-315. Retrieved from: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=
mdc&AN=15915865&site=ehost-live.
The article "The Challenge of Raising Ethical Awareness: A Case-Based Aiding System in Computing and ICT Students," demonstrates the use of ethics as part of the challenged faced by science and engineering students. Within the article the idea that ethics is part of the computing is shared to bring awareness for the future of the ethical use and its installation of computing and aiding systems throughout for those students.
The article "The Challenge of Raising Ethical Awareness: A Case-Based Aiding System in Computing and ICT Students," demonstrates the use of ethics as part of the challenged faced by science and engineering students. Within the article the idea that ethics is part of the computing is shared to bring awareness for the future of the ethical use and its installation of computing and aiding systems throughout for those students.
The above references were chosen for the knowledgeable
authority. They are mesh of older book references with more up to date journal
articles to give a better understanding of where information ethics is headed
in the future.
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