Ethical Issues in Information Technology: A Review of DeGeorge
This paper reviews Richard T. DeGeorge's article "Ethical Issues in Information Technology," which identifies five interrelated categories of IT ethics: ethical issues in the use of technology in business, in the IT industry itself, on the Internet, in e-business, and in society at large. The review summarizes each category — covering privacy, informed consent, copyright, fraud, and political implications — and then compares DeGeorge's general, accessible approach to works by James Anderson, Kenneth Goodman, Robert Schultz, and Doug Johnson. The paper concludes that DeGeorge provides broad but limited-depth coverage, raising important questions without resolving them in detail.
- Introduction: Technology's dual role and need for IT ethics
- DeGeorge's Five Categories of IT Ethical Issues: Summary of each of DeGeorge's five categories
- Comparative Analysis of IT Ethics Literature: DeGeorge compared to Schultz, Johnson, and others
- Conclusions: DeGeorge's broad but shallow coverage evaluated
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper organizes its review clearly around DeGeorge's own five-category framework, making the summary easy to follow and evaluate.
- The comparative section systematically contrasts DeGeorge with multiple other scholars, highlighting differences in scope, depth, writing style, and disciplinary focus.
- The conclusion concisely restates the paper's main evaluative judgment — that DeGeorge is broad but thin on detail — without introducing new claims.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative source analysis: rather than simply summarizing one text, the student situates DeGeorge's work within a wider scholarly conversation by identifying specific similarities and differences with Schultz, Anderson and Goodman, and Johnson. This technique shows the ability to evaluate a source's relative contribution to a field rather than treat it in isolation.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief introduction on technology's dual role and the need for ethical regulation. A long central section works through DeGeorge's five categories in sequence. A dedicated comparative section then evaluates DeGeorge against four other resources. The conclusion synthesizes the main evaluative finding. This review-then-compare structure is standard for undergraduate book or article reviews in the humanities and social sciences.
Introduction
The world we live in is continuously changing, and the most commonly cited explanation is the rapid pace at which technology is developing. Since these developments have had significant implications for the global environment and have led to major improvements, their beneficial role is undisputed. However, one cannot dismiss the fact that technology is increasingly being used to breach organizations' and individuals' privacy, commit fraud, or steal copyrighted materials. All of these concerns raise the question of what ethical and moral regulations should govern the technological sector.
Richard DeGeorge identifies five categories of IT ethical issues: issues in the usage of technology in business; issues in the IT business itself; issues dealing with the Internet; issues in e-business; and ethical issues resulting from the impact of computers and information technology on society. All five are interrelated, but they are rarely properly addressed in practice. Among the numerous reasons why IT ethics fail to be successfully implemented, DeGeorge highlights the anonymity afforded by computers, the ease with which machine mistakes are forwarded and excused, and the reduced sense of wrongdoing that accompanies computer use. The primary reason, however, is the development gap between information technology, human perception of computer activities, and moral rules — a gap sustained by insufficient legislation on the matter.
DeGeorge's Five Categories of IT Ethical Issues
The ethical issues in the usage of technology in business arise in marketing activities — addressed to consumers — and in managerial activities — addressed to employees — and they fundamentally concern privacy. The collection of personal information is subject to IT ethics because it poses risks of revealing too much about individuals, information that could be used in harmful or unauthorized ways. Informed consent is another key concept, referring to the level of understanding and agreement involved in certain online activities, the most relevant example being online purchases made with credit cards. Confidentiality and responsibility for errors and harm are also frequently mishandled. Ethical issues related to email and internet use target employees and several privacy policies. Since the general belief is that information on a business computer belongs to the company, employees ought to be properly informed of the organization's privacy policies and the extent to which they are permitted to send and receive personal data via company email or browse the internet for personal purposes. Additionally, legislation should define the extent to which employers are allowed to record employees through surveillance cameras and what happens to private employee records held by the employer.
The ethical issues in the IT business refer to the responsibility of providers and owners. Responsibility for computers and computer products implies that manufacturers are obliged to deliver bug-free products and offer buyers guarantees. These guarantees are more common with hardware than with software products; software should, at minimum, inform users of the risks and alternatives available. Ownership of programs, copyright and patent protections, and regulations governing multiple uses by purchasers remain insufficient.
The ethical issues dealing with the Internet include violation of privacy, lack of consent, lack of confidentiality, potential for harmful actions, property disputes, patents and copyright concerns, and piracy. These problems are compounded by the Internet's international reach, its anonymity features, and the availability of encryption tools.
The ethical issues in e-business raise problems related to taxation, as there are opposing views regarding fees requested by state budgets. Other difficulties include employees working from home, the need to gather information on partners and clients, consent, the authenticity of websites, the possibility of fraud, payment security, and other challenges unique to the nature of the business being conducted.
The ethical issues resulting from the impact of computers and information technology on society concern the effect of technological developments on social life. These include questions about how human beings are valued (and the possibility that they may be outpaced by computers), the changing nature of work, and the divide between those who own and operate computers and those who do not. Political implications involve the tension between governments' control over technology and information versus citizens' ability to monitor government actions and access security data. This category also encompasses the need for international legislation to govern IT activities and ensure their conformity with ethical standards.
Bibliography
Anderson, James G., and Goodman, Kenneth. Ethics and Information Technology: A Case-Based Approach to Health Care System in Transition (Health Informatics), 1st ed. Springer, 2002.
DeGeorge, Richard T. "Ethical Issues in Information Technology." Blackwell Publishers, 2002.
Hongladarom, Soraj, and Ess, Charles. Information Technology Ethics: Cultural Perspectives. IGI Global, 2006.
Johnson, Doug. "Information Technology Ethics." Doug Johnson Website, Creative Commons License, 2007. Accessed December 7, 2007.
Schultz, Robert A. Contemporary Issues in Ethics and Information Technology. IRM Press, 2005.
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