Ethical & Social,
Privacy Issues in
Information Systems
Dr. Anup Palsokar
Professor & Head – Computer Applications
SIES College of Management Studies
References : 1) MIS : Waman Jawdekar
2) MIS : Laudon, Laudon, Dass
Ethics
It refers to the Principle of right and wrong that
individuals, acting as moral agents, use to make
choices to guide their behaviour.
Information Systems create opportunities for
intense change in societal structure thus
threatening the existing distribution of power,
money and rights.
Major issue is Accountability
Ethical Issues : Cases
Misreporting of financial data
Misleading the regulators
Concealing facts
Diverting funds
Handled by laws of the Land : Companies Act,
SEBI Act etc.
Technology Trends that raises
Ethical Issues
TREND IMPACT
Computing power doubles every 18 Organizations depend on computer
months systems
Declining data storage costs Detailed information of individuals can
be maintained
Advances in data analysis Generation of detailed profile of
individual behavior
Advances in networking Accessing data from remote locations
Basic Concepts
Responsibility
Accountability
Liability
Ethical Analysis
Identify, Who did What to Whom, Where, When,
How and WHY
Define Conflicts
Identify stakeholders
Identify options for resolution
Identify potential consequences
ACM Code of Ethics
General Moral Imperatives
Professional Responsibilities
Leadership imperatives
General Moral imperatives
Contribute to Society
Avoid harm to others
Be honest and trust worthy
Be fair
Honour IP rights
Give proper credit
Respect privacy
Honour confidentiality
Professional responsibilities
Strive to achieve effectiveness in process and
products
Acquire professional competence
Know & Respect existing laws
Accept and provide professional review
Perform comprehensive evaluation of systems
and their impact of risks.
Organisational leadership
imperatives
Articulate social responsibilities of organisation
Manage personal resources and build IS that
enhances the quality of life
Support authorised users of systems
Ensure that those users who would be affected
by the IS are consulted
Articulate and support policies to protect dignity
of the users affected by use of IS
Privacy
Privacy is the right of an individual to hold back
certain information, to be left alone, free form
surveillance, or interference from other
individuals or organisations or the state.
Information Systems facilitate easy and cheap
methods for invasion of privacy
Challenges to Privacy
Information in Internet age passes through
multiple systems.
Methods for capturing information
Cookies
Bugs (Spyware / Malware)
Search Engines
LLM
Healthy Practices
No secret records about individuals be
maintained
Use of data for which it has been captured
If data is to be used for other purposes, then
consent is required
Allow an individual a right of inspection
Organisation is responsible for the integrity of
data.
Intellectual Property
Information or Information products can be
viewed, copied, stored and distributed over
networks
This distribution can change thus losing its
originality
Such Intellectual Property (IP) thus requires
protection
IP variants
Trade Secrets
Trademarks
Copyrights
Patents
Why to protect IP
It provides exclusive rights to the creator’s or inventor’s.
It gives freedom to inventor to share his knowledge
without keeping its secret.
It helps to creator financially.
It provides legal defence to the creator.
Copyright Infringement
Copyright protection is given to the owner of any
published artistic, literary, or scientific work over his work
to prohibit everyone else from exploiting that work in his
name and thereby gain profit from it.
When these proprietary creations are utilized by anyone
without the permission of the owner, it leads to copyright
infringement.
Software piracy is covered under Copyright infringement.
Types of Copyrightable Content
Literary works: Business
reports, brochures, presentations, product
manuals, website content.
Artistic
works: Logos, graphics, illustrations, phot
ographs, packaging designs.
Musical works: Jingles, background
music used in marketing or promotional
materials.
Copyright Issues in Cyberspace
Linking
Software Piracy
Cybersquatting
Framing
Copyrights
Covered under the Copyrights Act
Punishment
Minimum : Rs.50000 and/or 6 months
imprisonment
Maximum : Rs.200000/- and/or imprisonment
of 2 years
Types of Copyright infringement
Primary :
Reproduction without Authorization
Unauthorized Distribution
Unlicensed Public Performance
Secondary
Inducing Infringement
Contributory Infringement
Vicarious Infringement
Copyright
Infringement
Direct Copyright Indirect
Infringement or Copyright
Primary Copyright Infringement
Infringement
Tertiary
Secondary Copyright
Copyright Infringement
Infringement
Confined to
Vicarious
Contributory Academic
Infringement
Infringement understanding
Liability
Liability only
Knowledge of Right and Direct and
Substantial
Infringing Ability to Financial
Participation
Activity Control Benefit
How to Avoid Copyright
Infringement?
Seek permission: Always obtain prior written consent
from copyright owners before using their work.
License content: Invest in legitimate licenses for
software, images, and music.
Create original content: Invest in your own creative
team and develop unique branding elements.
Educate your employees: Raise awareness
about copyright laws and best practices within your
organization.
Trademark
Trademark means a mark capable of
being depicted diagrammatically and
which may distinguish the products or
services of one person from those of
others
It covers:
form of products,
their packaging, and
combination of colours
Trademarks
Covered by the Trademarks Act 1999
Maximum Punishment
Imprisonment of upto 3 years and/or fine of
not more than 2 lakh Rupees
Patents
To provide a more comprehensive
definition, a patent can be understood as
an exclusive monopoly right granted to the
creator or sole inventor of an invention.
This right is awarded to the sole inventor
as a recognition of their hard work,
investment, and innovative contribution to
the creation of the invention.
Protected by the Indian Patent Act 1970
Types of Patents
There are three categories of patents: utility patents, design patents, and
plant patents.
Utility patents safeguard the functional aspects of an invention, granting
inventors control over its usage, purpose, and timing. They cover machines,
processes, or chemical compositions that offer innovative solutions to everyday
problems.
Design patents protect the unique appearance and ornamental features of a
device, rather than its functionality. They allow inventors to control the visual
aspects of their product without infringing on copyrights or trademarks associated
with logos or artwork.
Plant patents are obtained through the USPTO and are meant to protect new
plant varieties. However, they only apply to plants that reproduce asexually,
excluding seeds and cuttings. The term of protection for plant and utility patents
is 20 years, while design patents are valid for 14 to 15 years.
What can be patented
An invention is patentable subject matter if it
meets the following criteria –
i) It should be novel
ii) It should have inventive step or it must be
non-obvious
iii) It should be capable of Industrial application
iv) It should not attract the provisions of section
3 (what are not inventions) and 4 (issues related
to atomic energy) of the Patents Act 1970
Patents in IT
Practical application of computer related
innovation is patentable.
specific software products that have a
useful practical application are patentable,
like software used in devices like
pacemakers.
A computer program is eligible for
patenting if it makes technical contribution
to the known art.
Patents in IT / IS
Some typical software patents are:
Ideas, systems, methods,algorithms and functions in
software products
Editing functions, user-interface features, compiling
techniques
OS functions
Program algorithms
Menu arrangements
Display presentations/arrangements
Program language translations
Patent V/s Copyright
There are significant differences in protection by patent and copyright acts.
Patent law protects the technical idea underlying the invention, i.e. the functional
elements. Copyright protects the form in which the idea is expressed, i.e. originality of
expression but not the underlying idea or concept or function. In case of patents if
different code achieve same function then it violates patent law.
Copyrights become effective the moment they are published or made known whereas
patents need to be filed.
Copyrights last for authors’ life plus 60 years whereas patents are granted for a period
of 20 years in India.
Patents provide much stronger protection to software. Development of software using
known algorithm or logic but using different language or coding is not copyright
violation, whereas it is a patent violation in terms of violating a protected concept of
software.
Presentation of known information is not innovation, but the form of presentation can
be protected by copyright.
Patents and trademarks are statutory and hence protected by respective governments
with their jurisdiction. Common-law right, in a universal perspective, protects
copyrights as most countries are signatories to Berne and Universal Copyright
Conventions – both revised in 1971.