Internet and Ethics
The objective of this essay is to give a concise definition of cyber age and its ethics. It also focuses on three important pieces of legislation and their relation to internet privacy. Finally, it outlines an ethical decision making process used in sending out limited resources for a disaster.
Definition of Cyber age and ethics for it
Cyber age refers to the high-tech era we are living in today. It is the internet age, with the increase in more data generation, storage and very fast retrieval of the same. There is very high speed transfer of data. Cyber age ethics is a code of behavior in the usage of internet. With the emergence of internet, information is now easily available thus the need for ethics to govern the correct use of internet to avoid it being used for harm. Cyber age ethics protects any internet illegal acts such as hacking, spamming and cyber terrorism among others (Cummings and colleagues, 2001, p.23).
Three pieces of legislation and their relation to internet privacy
According to Hollu Thomas, (1996, p. 19), online privacy is a great concern and the Legal Information Institute (LII) of Cornell University states the right of individuals information privacy. Three of the important pieces are as follows The Privacy Act of 1974 which governs prevention of unauthorized disclosure of personal information. E.g. information given to a doctor on a patients health status is confidential and this relates to internet privacy in that appropriate technical and organizational measures are taken against unauthorized or an unlawful disclosure and distribution of an individuals confidential information such as HIV status.
Gramm- Leach- Bliley Act has a set of guidelines for the protection of personal financial information. For example, in a company, financial information is only accessed by authorized persons. This relates to internet privacy as information shall be processed in accordance with the rights of the subject thus individuals financial status e.g. salaries and loans remains confidential.
Fair credit Reporting Act limits access to financial information. According to Deborah (2001, p.34), this act governs information collected by credit reporting agencies and prevents fraudulent collection of financial information. This relates to internet privacy as individuals personal information shall be adequate and relevant as per the purpose collected or processed for.
Ethical actions to take in sending limited company resources after a regional disaster
According to Deborah, (2004, p.45), the use of ethical decision making process will be of great importance in sending out the limited company resources to make best use of them. First, it is important to understand the ethical issue. Realization that flooding has hit and thus must give out the resources to aid in dealing with the effects of the flooding. Legal requirements must be understood. For instance, the flooding having being caused by power grid failure, the legalities involved should be well understood ( HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiPer_Arne_Godejord o Per Arne Godejord Per, 2008, p.38).
Secondly, all the facts should be collected. Knowledge of the extent of destruction should be acquired e.g. number of persons injured or dead and the damaged infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and public roads. Also establish if there are people swept by floods.
The actual resources available to aid in the disaster should be identified (Cummings et. al, 2004, p. 42). This could be in terms of finances i.e. available money, company employees who are to be sent to the disaster site and the available company vehicles to help in rehabilitating the affected persons to safer grounds. All the relevant groups and people should be consulted e.g. the administration and all the legalities involved and get a creative option of acting fast.
Thirdly, all alternative actions should be evaluated. Having gotten all the facts, the best option should be taken. For example, choosing to take all the injured people for treatment or reconstructing infrastructure such as roads and schools.
Fourthly is making a decision and testing it. If the decision is to save the lives of people first, knowledge of peoples views is important in ensuring that the decision taken is ethical and has been accepted by most people and thus bringing most good and less loss to the majority.
Lastly, acting and reflecting on the outcome is done. It involves implementing the decision with great care to meet the concern of most people e.g. giving treatment to injured and affected persons before reconstruction of infrastructure (Herman, 2004, p.22). The decision is evaluated if it was ethical and also to aid in handling future similar situations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the growth of internet has made information easily available and has improved communication and E-commerce activities. The cyber age ethics and internet privacy are important so that the internet is not used as a tool of abuse disclosing confidential information. It is also of great importance to make decisions on ethical grounds in order to get a greater good.
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