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Ethics in Information Processing

emphasize the role of the traditional principal-agent rela- Goodpaster, Kenneth E. (1991). “Business Ethics and Stake-
tionship based on honesty, loyalty, and trust. Duska holder Analysis.” Business Ethics Quarterly. 1:1, 52-71.
(1992) argues: “Clearly, there is an extent to which
[Adam] Smith and the economists are right. Human
Anand G. Shetty
beings are self-interested and will not always look out for
the interest of others. But there are times they will set
aside their interests to act on behalf of others. Agency sit-
uations were presumably set up to guarantee those times.”
ETHICS IN
The idea that human beings can be honest and altru-
istic is an empirically valid assumption; it is not hard to INFORMATION
find examples of honesty and altruism in both private PROCESSING
and public dealings. There is no reason this idea should New technologies in information processing often raise
not be embraced and nurtured. As Bowie (1991) points ethical concerns, resulting from their creating new possi-
out: “Looking out for oneself is a natural, powerful bilities for human action. Computer ethics can be defined
motive that needs little, if any, social reinforcement … as moral philosophy concerning the ethical dilemmas
Altruistic motives, even if they too are natural, are not as involved in areas of information processing, including
powerful: they need to be socially reinforced and nur- theories, approaches in decision-making situations, and
tured” (p. 19). If the financial-economic theory accepts methods of increasing awareness of ethics. These ethical
the fact that behavioral motivations other than that of
and moral issues are among the most socially important
wealth maximization are both realistic and desirable, then aspects of information processing. There are two major
the agency problem that economists try to deal with will
problems in the area: (1) unethical behavior leading to
be a nonproblem. For Dobson (1993), the true role of immoral acts such as virus creation and software piracy
ethics in finance is to be found in the acceptance of
and (2) lack of awareness about information technology
“internal good” (“good” in the sense of “right” rather
security and information technology-related crimes.
than in the sense of “physical product”), which, he adds,
Ethics in information processing is considered so
is what classical philosophers describe as “virtue”—that
important that the Computer Ethics Institute developed
is, the internal good toward which all human endeavor
should strive. He contends: “If the attainment of internal the following Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics.
goods were to become generally accepted as the ultimate Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other peo-
objective of all human endeavor, both personal and pro- ple.
fessional, then financial markets would become truly eth-
Thou shalt not interfere with other people’s com-
ical” (p. 60).
puter work.
SEE ALSO Finance
Thou shalt not snoop around in other people’s com-
puter files.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
Bowie, Norman E. (1991). “Challenging the Egoistic Paradigm.”
Business Ethics Quarterly. 1:1, 1-21. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
Bowie, Norman E., and Freeman, Edward R., eds. (1992). Ethics Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for
and Agency Theory: An Introduction. New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press. which you have not paid.
DeGeorge, Richard T. (1992). “Agency Theory and the Ethics of Thou shalt not use other people’s computer
Agency.” In Ethics and Agency Theory: An Introduction, Nor- resources without authorization or proper com-
man E. Bowie and Edward R. Freeman, eds. New York: pensation.
Oxford University Press.
Thou shalt not appropriate other people’s intellec-
Dobson, John (1993). “The Role of Ethics in Finance.” Finan-
cial Analysis Journal. 49:6, 57-61. tual output.
Duska, Ronald R. (1992). “Why Be a Loyal Agent? A Systematic Thou shalt think about the social consequences of
Ethical Analysis.” In Ethics and Agency Theory: An Introduc- the program you are writing or the system you
tion. Norman E. Bowie and Edward R. Freeman, eds., New are designing.
York: Oxford University Press.
Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that
Frowen, S.F., and McHugh, F.P., eds. (1995). Financial Decision-
Making and Moral Responsibility. New York: St. Martin’s ensure consideration and respect for your fellow
Press. humans.

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