Information Ethics

Imagination and Ethics in the Age of Information

by Mew Ophaswongse

Lent Term Essay

In this paper, I address two questions pertaining to the January 25 uprising in Tahrir Square, an exemplary case of... more In this paper, I address two questions pertaining to the January 25 uprising in Tahrir Square, an exemplary case of the crossover between "virtual" and "real" activism. First, what are the differences between launching an uprising on the Internet and on the ground when the ends of both turn out the be the same, i.e, the people's revolution? Second, what are the ethical implications of actions in the so-called “virtual” realm? Ultimately I argue that our present age calls for a different paradigm for approaching problems of communication and action.

The Right to Privacy and the Protection of Personal Data in a Digital Era and the Age of Information

by William Bülow

Bülow, W., Wester, M. (2012). The Right to Privacy and the Protection of Personal Data in a Digital Era and the Age of Information. in Akrivopoulou, Ch. M., Garipidis, N. (ed.) Human Rights and Risks in the Digital Era: Globalization and the Effects of Information Technologies. Pennsylvania: IGI Global.]

As information technology is becoming an integral part of modern society, there is a growing concern that too much... more As information technology is becoming an integral part of modern society, there is a growing concern that too much data containing personal information is stored by different actors in society and that this could potentially be harmful for the individual. The aim of this contribution is to show how the extended use of ICT can affect the individual’s right to privacy and how public perceive risks to privacy. Three points are raised in this chapter: first, if privacy is important from a philosophical perspective –how is this demonstrated by empirical evidence? Do individuals trust the different actors that control their personal information and is there a consensus that privacy can and should be compromised in order to reach another value?  Second, if compromises in privacy are warranted by increased safety – is this increase security supported by empirical evidence? Third, we will argue that privacy can indeed be a means to increase the safety of citizens and that the moral burden of ensuring and protecting privacy a matter for policy makers, not individuals. In conclusion, we suggest that more nuanced discussion on the concepts of privacy and safety should be acknowledged and the importance of privacy must be seen as an important objective in the developments and structure of ICT uses.

Thinking Otherwise: Ethics, Technology and Other Subjects

by David Gunkel

Ethics and Information Technology 9(3), July 2007, pp. 165-177

Ethics is ordinarily understood as being concerned with questions of responsibility for and in the face of an other.... more Ethics is ordinarily understood as being concerned with questions of responsibility for and in the face of an other. This other is more often than not conceived of as another human being and, as such, necessarily excludes others – most notably animals and machines. This essay examines the ethics of such exclusivity. It is divided into three parts. The first part investigates the exclusive anthropocentrism of traditional forms of moral thinking and, following the example of recent innovations in animal rights philosophy, questions the mechanisms of such exclusion. Although recent work in animal- and bio-ethics has successfully implemented strategies for the inclusion of the animal as a legitimate subject of moral consideration, its other, the machine, has remained conspicuously excluded. The second part looks at recent attempts to include these machinic others in moral thinking and critiques the assumptions, values, and strategies that have been employed by these various innovations. And the third part proposes a means for thinking otherwise. That is, it introduces an alternative way to consider these other forms of otherness that is not simply reducible to the conceptual order that has structured and limited moral philosophy’s own concern with and for others.

University Student and Faculty Opinions on Academic Integrity Are Informed by Social Practices or Personal Values

by Matthew Thomas

Evidence summary

Prolegomena to Digital Communication Ethics

by Robert Arnautu

published in Journal For the Study of Religions and Ideologies, nr. 13, Spring 2006, pp. 23-31, Arts & Humanities ISI databases.

Hacking genomes. The ethics of open and rebel biology

by Alessandro Delfanti

Intercultural Information Ethics

by Soraj Hongladarom

Personal Identity and the Self in the Online and Offline World

by Soraj Hongladarom

MORALITY IN CYBERSPACE: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION

by Maushumi Guha

The precautionary principle in a world of digital dependencies

by Wolter Pieters

Explanation and trust: what to tell the user in security and AI?

by Wolter Pieters

There is a common problem in artificial intelligence (AI) and information security. In AI, an expert system needs to... more There is a common problem in artificial intelligence (AI) and information security. In AI, an expert system needs to be able to justify and explain a decision to the user. In information security, experts need to be able to explain to the public why a system is secure. In both cases, an important goal of explanation is to acquire or maintain the users’ trust. In this paper, I investigate the relation between explanation and trust in the context of computing science. This analysis draws on literature study and concept analysis, using elements from system theory as well as actor-network theory. I apply the conceptual framework to both AI and information security, and show the benefit of the framework for both fields by means of examples. The main focus is on expert systems (AI) and electronic voting systems (security). Finally, I discuss consequences of the analysis for ethics in terms of (un)informed consent and dissent, and the associated division of responsibilities.

Cultural Evolution and the Internet: A Critical Inquiry Respecting the Convergence of Art & Science

by Hans H. Diebner

In: Conference Proceedings of 'MutaMorphosis: Challenging Arts and Sciences', 8th - 10th of November 2007, CIANT, Prague, Czech Republic, 2009.

Systemtheorie - Von der Hermeneutik zum Konstruktivismus.

by Hans H. Diebner

In: Rafael Capurro and John Holgate (Eds.): Messages and Messengers - Angeletics as an Approach to the Phenomenology of Communication / Von Boten und Botschaften - Die Angeletik als Weg zur Phänomenologie der Kommunikation. Fink Verlag, München, 2011, pp. 229-254.

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AS MATRIX FOR CONSTRUCTIVISM AND VERDINGLICHUNG

by Hans H. Diebner

Studia UBB. Philosophia, LV, 3, 33-59 (2010).

The pervasion of digital technology fosters also the pervasion of radical constructivistic thinking associated with... more The pervasion of digital technology fosters also the pervasion of radical constructivistic thinking associated with systems theory and cybernetics. It is argued that this gradually changes the way objectivity in science is comprehended even in fields where constructivism does not yet play a major role. Stored data or information gains an ontological status comparable to mass and energy. The signifiers and significata thus are identified. Media art, thereby, is a driving force. It is shown by means of striking examples that the objectivisation of the subject leads to a kind of dialectic endless loop that in turn results in an absurd counteraction against the “system” of which the subject is a reified part. It is furthermore argued that this triggers society by and large into a “cosplay-society” infiltrated by paranoia and conspiratorial thinking. Human beings no longer encounter with themselves. Throughout the article, I refer to Martin Heidegger's fundamental ontology that I regard as relevant as perhaps never before. However, it is not so much the application of Heidegger's philosophy to a contemporary field but rather the other way round. Suddenly, Heidegger's extremely complex philosophy can be understood much better in the light of digital technology. I think that a hermeneutic circle can be triggered where the analysis of digital technology and Heidegger studies cross-fertilise. At least in this sense, the anti-toxic character of digital technology as a very strong pharmakon enfolds its agency.

Bibliometric Mapping of Computer and Information Ethics

by Richard Heersmink

Co-authored with van den Hoven, J., van Eck, N.J & van den Berg, J. Published in Ethics and Information Technology 13(3), 241-249. doi: 10.1007/s10676-011-9273-7.

This paper presents the first bibliometric mapping analysis of the field of computer and information ethics... more This paper presents the first bibliometric mapping analysis of the field of computer and information ethics (C&IE). It provides a map of the relations between 400 key terms in the field. This term map can be used to get an overview of concepts and topics in the field and to identify relations between information and communication technology concepts on the one hand and ethical concepts on the other hand. To produce the term map, a data set of over thousand articles published in leading journals and conference proceedings in the C&IE field was constructed. With the help of various computer algorithms, key terms were identified in the titles and abstracts of the articles and co-occurrence frequencies of these key terms were calculated. Based on the co-occurrence frequencies, the term map was constructed. This was done using a computer program called VOSviewer. The term map provides a visual representation of the C&IE field and, more specifically, of the organization of the field around three main concepts, namely privacy, ethics, and the Internet.

Teaching Information Ethics in an iSchool

by David J. Saab

ETHICS AND PERVASIVE TECHNOLOGIES: A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING

by Kalpana Shankar

Editorial: ICT and the capability approach

by Ilse Oosterlaken

Co-authored with Jeroen van den Hoven, for the special issue on the capability approach of the journal 'Ethics & Information Technology (volume 13, Number 2, 2011, pp. 65-67, DOI: 10.1007/s10676-011-9270-x)

The entanglement of trust and knowledge on the Web

by Judith Simon

Simon, J. (2010), The Entanglement of Trust and Knowledge on the Web, Ethics and Information Technology, 12, 343-355.

In this paper I use philosophical accounts on the relationship between trust and knowledge in science to apprehend... more In this paper I use philosophical accounts on the relationship between trust and knowledge in science to apprehend this relationship on the Web. I argue that trust and knowledge are fundamentally entangled in our epistemic practices. Yet despite this fundamental entanglement, we do not trust blindly. Instead we make use of knowledge to rationally place or withdraw trust. We use knowledge about the sources of epistemic content as well as general background knowledge to assess epistemic claims. Hence, although we may have a default to trust, we remain and should remain epistemically vigilant; we look out and need to look out for signs of insincerity and dishonesty in our attempts to know. A fundamental requirement for such vigilance is transparency: in order to critically assess epistemic agents, content and processes, we need to be able to access and address them. On the Web, this request for transparency becomes particularly pressing if (a) trust is placed in unknown human epistemic agents and (b) if it is placed in non-human agents, such as algorithms. I give examples of the entanglement between knowledge and trust on the Web and draw conclusions about the forms of transparency needed in such systems to support epistemically vigilant behaviour, which empowers users to become responsible and accountable knowers.

The Nature of Ethical Problems of Research in Cyberspace

by Alireza Seghatoleslami