Hi everyone, i got an assignment regarding social and ethical issues of information systems and i was wondering if there are any good sites out there that will help you identify the social and ethical issues of information systems... if anyone knows please post it here.
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Social and Ethical issues regarding information systems (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Alan0605
- Start date
ISSUES RELATED TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND DATABASES
DATA SOURCE/Verification - is the person or organisation that developed the data. Data may come from informal sources, such as conversations, meetings or observations, or it may come from formal sources, such as a report, book or official document. A formal source often provides data that is logically organised. However there is no guarantee to its accuracy. The source of data is protected by the Copyright Act. People cannot copy another’s work without their permission and it is illegal to violate copyright. Most data from the Net is protected by copyright. Text and audio etc. from a Web site should not be used without acknowledgment of and permission from the owner. However the Copyright Act makes special provisions for students to use information for research purposes. The student is allowed to use a reasonable portion of the original work if it is correctly cited. This includes author’s surname and initial or organisation’s name, title of complete work or Web page, URL, date of document, and download date.
Data Bias: Data in a database must be factual. It must not be emotion-driven, opinionated or biased in any way. This can be minimised by the way the data is collected, manipulated and interpreted. If interviews or surveys are conducted, the questions must be structured so as not to influence the answers to be given. If bias remains in answers, it should be statistically removed during the data manipulation stage.
ACCURACY OF DATA- is the extent to which it is free from errors. Data that is collected on individuals is not always accurate. This inaccuracy may be caused by mistakes in gathering or entering data, mismatch of data and the person, or out-of-date information. Opportunities to check and change incorrect data should be provided. It is often necessary to compare data from a number of different sources to determine which data is accurate.
DATA VALIDATION is used to check the entry of data:
• RANGE CHECK- is used if the data is restricted to a small range of particular values.
• LIST CHECK- is used when the data can be compared to a set of accepted data.
• TYPE CHECK- is used to determine whether the data type is correct.
• CHECK DIGIT- is a digit calculated from the digits of a code number and then added to that number as an extra digit.
DATA INTEGRITY describes the reliability of the data. Reliable data is accurate, current and relevant. There is no guarantee the information on the Net is reliable as it is easy to publish to the Internet.
PRIVACY: Databases are used to keep information on individuals. It holds information on many different aspects of peoples’ lives such as school and university students have academic records stored on databases, people have their work records stored on employers’ databases, medical patients have their medical histories stored on hospital databases, vehicle owners and licensed drivers have their details stored on the RTA databases etc.
These many databases are able to be cross-linked, providing people with access to those databases with a great deal of private information about individuals.
Many people are unaware of how much personal data about them is stored, and how much are being used by organisations for advertising. They have no control over who has access to the information or how it is used. Most organisations have been forced by consumers and privacy groups to adopt various “codes or practice’ to protect the privacy of individuals whose data they hold. These codes of practice may include:
• there must be no info system using personal data kept secret from the public
• people have the right to inspect and correct personal data concerning them
• personal info mustn’t be used for any purpose without prior consent
• only authorized people with a genuine need should be able to access and use any personal data
ACCESS to data is the extent data is available to people. The Freedom of Information Act is designed to allow individuals to find out what data is being kept by the government and other public bodies. It states that individuals have the right to access information where it relates to the individual and does not invade another person’s privacy. There is free release of this information. However knowing what data is kept does not indicate how it is being used. People can use our preferences, weaknesses and habits to their advantage. Ownership and control of such data is an ethical issue.
DATA WAREHOUSE- is a database that collects information from different data sources. It is a storage area of raw data that can be analysed to assist organisations to make decisions. The contents of a data warehouse are usually historical and static and will change if new requirements are identified. A more sophisticated approach to obtaining information is data mining.
DATA MINING- Is the process of searching through data, trying to match any patterns or relationships found in the stored data. Data mining has risks. It is important to set clear goals for data mining operations and to look for other evidence to support the results it produces. The information collected from data warehousing and data mining may impose on people’s privacy as the potential is there for gathering data and uncovering data patterns that may be linked to individuals. Many of the patterns found with data mining have no commercial value and don’t assist with decision-making, as the relationships detected may be coincidental or irrelevant.
Source: Resource Section (http://www.boredofstudies.org/view.php?course=18)
DATA SOURCE/Verification - is the person or organisation that developed the data. Data may come from informal sources, such as conversations, meetings or observations, or it may come from formal sources, such as a report, book or official document. A formal source often provides data that is logically organised. However there is no guarantee to its accuracy. The source of data is protected by the Copyright Act. People cannot copy another’s work without their permission and it is illegal to violate copyright. Most data from the Net is protected by copyright. Text and audio etc. from a Web site should not be used without acknowledgment of and permission from the owner. However the Copyright Act makes special provisions for students to use information for research purposes. The student is allowed to use a reasonable portion of the original work if it is correctly cited. This includes author’s surname and initial or organisation’s name, title of complete work or Web page, URL, date of document, and download date.
Data Bias: Data in a database must be factual. It must not be emotion-driven, opinionated or biased in any way. This can be minimised by the way the data is collected, manipulated and interpreted. If interviews or surveys are conducted, the questions must be structured so as not to influence the answers to be given. If bias remains in answers, it should be statistically removed during the data manipulation stage.
ACCURACY OF DATA- is the extent to which it is free from errors. Data that is collected on individuals is not always accurate. This inaccuracy may be caused by mistakes in gathering or entering data, mismatch of data and the person, or out-of-date information. Opportunities to check and change incorrect data should be provided. It is often necessary to compare data from a number of different sources to determine which data is accurate.
DATA VALIDATION is used to check the entry of data:
• RANGE CHECK- is used if the data is restricted to a small range of particular values.
• LIST CHECK- is used when the data can be compared to a set of accepted data.
• TYPE CHECK- is used to determine whether the data type is correct.
• CHECK DIGIT- is a digit calculated from the digits of a code number and then added to that number as an extra digit.
DATA INTEGRITY describes the reliability of the data. Reliable data is accurate, current and relevant. There is no guarantee the information on the Net is reliable as it is easy to publish to the Internet.
PRIVACY: Databases are used to keep information on individuals. It holds information on many different aspects of peoples’ lives such as school and university students have academic records stored on databases, people have their work records stored on employers’ databases, medical patients have their medical histories stored on hospital databases, vehicle owners and licensed drivers have their details stored on the RTA databases etc.
These many databases are able to be cross-linked, providing people with access to those databases with a great deal of private information about individuals.
Many people are unaware of how much personal data about them is stored, and how much are being used by organisations for advertising. They have no control over who has access to the information or how it is used. Most organisations have been forced by consumers and privacy groups to adopt various “codes or practice’ to protect the privacy of individuals whose data they hold. These codes of practice may include:
• there must be no info system using personal data kept secret from the public
• people have the right to inspect and correct personal data concerning them
• personal info mustn’t be used for any purpose without prior consent
• only authorized people with a genuine need should be able to access and use any personal data
ACCESS to data is the extent data is available to people. The Freedom of Information Act is designed to allow individuals to find out what data is being kept by the government and other public bodies. It states that individuals have the right to access information where it relates to the individual and does not invade another person’s privacy. There is free release of this information. However knowing what data is kept does not indicate how it is being used. People can use our preferences, weaknesses and habits to their advantage. Ownership and control of such data is an ethical issue.
DATA WAREHOUSE- is a database that collects information from different data sources. It is a storage area of raw data that can be analysed to assist organisations to make decisions. The contents of a data warehouse are usually historical and static and will change if new requirements are identified. A more sophisticated approach to obtaining information is data mining.
DATA MINING- Is the process of searching through data, trying to match any patterns or relationships found in the stored data. Data mining has risks. It is important to set clear goals for data mining operations and to look for other evidence to support the results it produces. The information collected from data warehousing and data mining may impose on people’s privacy as the potential is there for gathering data and uncovering data patterns that may be linked to individuals. Many of the patterns found with data mining have no commercial value and don’t assist with decision-making, as the relationships detected may be coincidental or irrelevant.
Source: Resource Section (http://www.boredofstudies.org/view.php?course=18)
Last edited:
seremify007
Junior Member
For me, I used to always use data equity, privacy/security and data integrity/accuracy for my social/ethical issues... You could also go into things like people who don't know what's going on, people who steal identities/data to their advantage (eg. marketing?), people who lose their jobs to computers, etc...
Oberst Fan
New Member
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- Jun 4, 2006
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- HSC
- 2006
In My Textbook it has 4 main Issues...Data Source, Privacy, Data Accuracy and Access To Data...But i dont no which ones are social and which ones are Ethical...???