Syllabus Detail

•   Ethics in the development and use of ICT systems. 11 ATAR, 12 GEN 

What is Ethics?

• Ethics are moral principles that influence a person's behaviour or how they go about an activity
• Our ethics are what motivate and drive us to act in a specific manner
• Ethics are important in ICT systems as they can be seen as the backbone of our productivity and determination
• Ethics is "doing the right thing even when no one else is looking"

Ethics in development

• We may not realize it, but our ethics play an integral part in the development of ICT Systems
• This is because there are a lot of underlying factors we must consider when building a system
• For example, our ethics may influence the way we store and collect data in a new system
  • The privacy act of 1988 is a law which regulates the collection, use, storage and disclosure of personal information
  • Unethical practices may breach this law
  • Malware such as viruses and trojans presumably have developers with unethical mindsets
• Network and system administrators, as well as developers, must hold a high level of ethics
  • IT professionals generally have access to personal or sensitive information
  • As the saying goes, this could be disastrous if confidential data fell in to the wrong hands
• "With great power comes great responsibility" - Stan Lee

Ethics in the use of ICT Systems

• Ethics don't just apply to developers and administrators
• Users are expected to practice the same ethics that are generally outlined in a code of conduct or other policies
• Our ethics in the use of ICT systems rely heavily on etiquette and following of particular codes of conduct
  
  • Read The Computing Teacher's article on the Use of Code of Conduct here
  • Read The Computing Teacher's article on Etiquette here
• Ethical considerations will generally ask the question of "Is it okay?"
  • "Is it okay to view this content on this network?"
  • "Is it okay to read someone else's private emails?"
  • "Is it okay to download this software without paying for it?"
• Without ethics, ICT systems would be open to various security and privacy risks

Further Research

1. Ethics for ICT Professionals by Tom Worthington here
2. Ethical Issues in Information Technology here

Worksheet and Practice (yet to be added)

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