Information ethics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Information ethics is the field that investigates the ethical issues arising from the development and application of information technologies. It provides a critical framework for considering moral issues concerning informational privacy, moral agency (e.g. whether artificial agents may be moral), new environmental issues (especially how agents should one behave in the infosphere), problems arising from the life-cycle (creation, collection, recording, distribution, processing, etc.) of information (especially ownership and copyright, digital divide). Information Ethics is therefore strictly related to the fields of computer ethics [1] and the philosophy of information.
Dilemmas regarding the life of information are becoming increasingly important in a society that is defined as "the information society". Information transmission and literacy are essential concerns in establishing an ethical foundation that promotes fair, equitable, and responsible practices. Information ethics broadly examines issues related to ownership, access, privacy, security, and community.
Information technology affects fundamental rights involving copyright protection, intellectual freedom, accountability, and security.
Professional codes offer a basis for making ethical decisions and applying ethical solutions to situations involving information provision and use which reflect an organization’s commitment to responsible information service. Evolving information formats and needs require continual reconsideration of ethical principles and how these codes are applied. Considerations regarding information ethics influence “personal decisions, professional practice, and public policy”[2]. Therefore, ethical analysis must provide a framework to take into consideration “many, diverse domains” (ibid.) regarding how information is distributed.
The main, peer-reviewed, academic journal in information ethics is Ethics and Information Technology, published by Springer.
[edit] Further reading
- Adam D. Moore ed (2005). "Information Ethics: Privacy, Property, and Power", University of Washington Press.
- Richard A. Spinello and Herman T. Tavani (eds.) (2004). Readings in Cyberethics, second ed. Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
- Herman T. Tavani (2004). Ethics & Technology: Ethical Issues in an Age of Information and Communication Technology. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc..
[edit] External links
Articles
- [1] Luciano Floridi, What Is Information Ethics?, Microsoft Research Research Summer School 2006. PPT
- [2] Luciano Floridi, "Information Ethics, its Nature and Scope", Computers & Society, 34.5, 2005. Spanish translation in Isegoría.
- [3] Thomas Froehlich, "A brief history of information ethics", BiD: textos universitaris de biblioteconomia i documentació, no. 13, 2004.
Web resources
- [4] Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
- [5] IEG, the Information Ethics research Group at Oxford University
- [6] Information Ethicist
- [7] International Center for Information Ethics
- [8] Information Ethics Roundtable
[edit] Notes
- ^ Luciano Floridi (1999). "Information Ethics: On the Theoretical Foundations of Computer Ethics", Ethics and Information Technology 1.1, 37-56.
- ^ E. Elrod and M. Smith (2005). "Information Ethics", in Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics, ed. by Carl Mitcham. Vol. 2: D-K (1004-1011). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA.
