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The purpose of this paper is to investigate ethical implications of surveillance by means of the care software “I‐Care” in the Swedish home‐help service sector.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate ethical implications of surveillance by means of the care software “I‐Care” in the Swedish home‐help service sector.
Design/methodology/approach
A small‐scale interview study on home helpers' experiences of and reactions to the implementation of the care software “I‐Care” in their workspace has been conducted. The interview serves as the starting point for an ethical analysis of the impact of the care software “I‐Care” on key values within ethics: privacy, autonomy and equality.
Findings
The implementation and use case of surveillance capable technology in a home‐help service sector is assessed from the perspective of ethics. It is concluded that employees' level of awareness, access to sufficient and relevant information, as well as their chances of influencing surveillance conduct, are significant for their acceptance of the surveillance regime.
Originality/value
Surveillance in the home‐help service setting has been investigated from the perspective of ethnology and organizational studies but not, as here, from the perspective of ethics. Conditions for the ethical acceptance of workspace surveillance are suggested.
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This paper aims to propose a theoretical arrangement for the study of applied computer and information ethics carried out in an interdisciplinary and a democratic manner by which…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a theoretical arrangement for the study of applied computer and information ethics carried out in an interdisciplinary and a democratic manner by which the information and communications technologies are seen as an ethical environment, and human-computer couplings are seen as hybrid moral agents.
Design/methodology/approach
New ethical issues emerge dynamically in such environment which must be interpreted according to human sentience and computer ontology. To attribute moral meaning to acts perpetrated by human-computer hybrids, a hybrid of two semiotics must be likely used that bridge the gap between signs and things from opposite directions.
Findings
The author argues that ecosocial dynamics and material semiotics can be harnessed together as in a theoretical mashup for that purpose, and that such harnessing will allow us to engage with a posthumanist/post-social ethics here and now.
Originality/value
The originality of the proposal resides in bringing hybridity to the center of the picture, forcing interdisciplinary teams to engage with one unified, even if hybrid, agency regardless of conflicting ontologies and epistemologies.
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Bernd Carsten Stahl and Charles M Ess
The purpose of this paper is to give an introduction to the special issue by providing background on the ETHICOMP conference series and a discussion of its role in the academic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to give an introduction to the special issue by providing background on the ETHICOMP conference series and a discussion of its role in the academic debate on ethics and computing. It provides the context that influenced the launch of the conference series and highlights its unique features. Finally, it provides an overview of the papers in the special issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper combines an historical account of ETHICOMP and a review of the existing papers.
Findings
ETHICOMP is one of the well-established conference series (alongside IACAP and CEPE) focused on ethical issues of information and computing. Its special features include: multidisciplinary and diversity of contributors and contributions; explicit outreach to professionals whose work is to design, build, deploy and maintain specific computing applications in the world at large; creation of knowledge that is accessible and relevant across fields and disciplines; intention of making a practical difference to development, use and policy of computing principles and artefacts; and creation of an inclusive, supportive and nurturing community across traditional knowledge silos.
Originality/value
The paper is the first one to explicitly define the nature of ETHICOMP which is an important building block in the future development of the conference series and will contribute to the further self-definition of the ETHICOMP community.
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Rakesh Belwal and Khalid Al‐Zoubi
The purpose of this paper is to assess the efforts made by Jordan in the direction of e‐governance and people's perception of corruption, trust, and e‐governance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the efforts made by Jordan in the direction of e‐governance and people's perception of corruption, trust, and e‐governance.
Design/methodology/approach
Desk research was conducted using secondary data sources followed by a field survey conducted with 412 sample respondents in three major cities of Jordan. Following the triangulation approach, the responses of university professors and the common people were also secured.
Findings
The Jordanian government's efforts towards e‐governance are commendable in the Middle East. However, there are certain impediments that are witnessed in the form of the digital divide, corruption, social bottlenecks, the stage of democratization, the lack of marketing to stakeholders, and the citizen's lack of adoption of technology. Educated people are aware of the merit of e‐governance contrary to the uneducated ones and perceive that corruption in the Jordanian public sector is increasing.
Research limitations/implications
The study mainly reflects the views of the educated people. The views of the uneducated ones are secured through basic interactions as they expressed their inability to respond to the questionnaires. Somehow, the respondents are not very open to freely share their opinions or have abstained from participation‐since they consider this a sensitive issue within the Jordanian cultural and political setup. Further, asking opinions of members of the public might not be the ideal way of judging the level of corruption, or changes in it.
Originality/value
People's perception is that Jordan is affected by a low level of corruption and that its citizens lack awareness of e‐governance. To remedy this, its citizens need to be motivated to trust and to participate in the process of e‐governance and to increase their understanding of the tools and technologies available.
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The aim of this paper is to provide insights into how information (IS) practitioners can develop further their awareness on ethical issues. In the context of the paper, awareness…
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to provide insights into how information (IS) practitioners can develop further their awareness on ethical issues. In the context of the paper, awareness means able to identify and deal with issues of ethics in activities of information systems planning, development and use. The paper begins by presenting two areas which IS practitioners can initially explore to develop their ethical awareness. These areas are: (1) IS Methodologies and (2) Codes. The first area emphasises ethical awareness by using methodologies. The second element aims to encourage ethical awareness by following principles. In both areas, self‐reflection is identified as a key element for awareness. Using Foucault’s ideas on power and ethics, a critical understanding of ethical awareness based on self‐reflection is presented to complement ethical awareness developments. This understanding is defined in terms of two elements of inquiry: (a) Power relations analysis and (b) ways of being ethical. With these two elements, the paper argues that IS practitioners can exert their critical thinking and create their own ethics, while still following IS methodologies and codes.
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Maryam Nasser AL-Nuaimi, AbdelMajid Bouazza, Maher M. Abu-Hilal and Ali Al-Aufi
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the development and validation of a self-report structured questionnaire based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the development and validation of a self-report structured questionnaire based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The questionnaire was used to investigate university undergraduate students’ cognition, behavioural intent, and behaviour concerning the ethical use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative correlational cross-sectional approach to data collection was used by administering a self-report questionnaire to a sample of 327 undergraduate students. To establish the construct validity of the questionnaire, internal consistency reliability and factorial analyses were performed.
Findings
Significant but different correlations between the constructs were under study. The behavioural intention had the greatest and most significant correlation with behaviour pertaining to information ethics. Overall, the scales, which constitute the instrument, showed acceptable indices of measurement validity.
Practical implications
The research implications of this paper shed light on the applicability of the TPB to the specific context in which this study was conducted. The results imply that the TPB framework can be extended and employed to understand better the influence of comprehending information-ethics concepts on the intentions and practices related to the ethical use of ICTs.
Originality/value
The paper has methodological value for researchers who seek to develop empirical instruments for measuring the factors that bear upon the attitudes and the behaviours related to information ethics. Furthermore, the paper has pedagogical value for students, teachers, and developers of information-ethics educational programmes at the tertiary level.
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The study provides a comprehensive understanding of the issues and illegal activities related to cryptocurrencies and their negative repercussions. This study aims to identify and…
Abstract
Purpose
The study provides a comprehensive understanding of the issues and illegal activities related to cryptocurrencies and their negative repercussions. This study aims to identify and classify cryptocurrency downsides using grounded theory and in-depth interviews. The study also analysed investors’ reluctance to invest in cryptocurrency. This pioneering qualitative study illuminates a deep and multifaceted criminal aspect of cryptocurrency.
Design/methodology/approach
The study conducted in-depth interviews with respondents who have experience and knowledge of cryptocurrency investments. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The analysis was performed using the NVivo 14 software in the study.
Findings
The study specified two major types of cryptocurrency’s negative aspects: barriers and illegal usage. Barriers to cryptocurrency investment include technological, security, trust, market-related and regulatory reasons. Terrorist funding, money laundering, fraud and ransom payments are all examples of illegal usage. The results of the word cloud analysis are consistent with the overall findings of the survey, which highlighted illegal usage as a prominent negative element of cryptocurrencies. It is a key reason why cryptocurrency is not included in investing portfolios by investors.
Originality/value
The study’s findings provide useful insights for policymakers to develop better methods for successfully mitigating risks and ensuring responsible and sustainable usage of cryptocurrencies. In addition, the study could serve as a stepping stone for more cryptocurrency-related studies, contributing to the development of a more complete and nuanced comprehension of this emergent technology and its societal effects.
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Post-millennial youths are well equipped with internet technology and computers since birth and find it easier to operate computers and technologies than their previous…
Abstract
Purpose
Post-millennial youths are well equipped with internet technology and computers since birth and find it easier to operate computers and technologies than their previous generations. With the advancement of technology, the ethical dilemma associated with its use has evolved. This paper aims to develop and validate a measurement scale for the ethical orientation of post-millennial technology usage by capturing the key factors that best describe the behavior adopted by students.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic scale development procedure was used, involving both reviews of the literature and focus group discussions to generate the items that specify the domain of this study. After generating items, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were applied to identify latent constructs of techno-ethical orientation. Lastly, the scale was subjected to reliability and validity testing.
Findings
The study found that the techno-ethical orientation scale has five dimensions: privacy concerns, classroom behavior, accessibility dilemma, social media usage and assignment ethics. Overall, a scale comprising 17 statements was derived.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of our study attempt to augment the growing efforts to explore all facets of techno-ethics. It is probably the first attempt to develop a valid and reliable scale for the techno-ethical orientation of post-millennial.
Practical implications
This scale could be used by academicians and practitioners to assess the techno-ethical orientation of post-millennial for positive interventions.
Originality/value
This study derives a new reliable and valid scale for measuring the techno-ethical orientation of post-millennial toward technology usage.
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Farooq Mubarak, Reima Suomi and Satu-Päivi Kantola
This study aims to statistically verify the links of income and education with information and communication technology (ICT) diffusion across 191 countries of the world taking…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to statistically verify the links of income and education with information and communication technology (ICT) diffusion across 191 countries of the world taking into account a total of 9 indicators best representing the socio-economic variables.
Design/methodology/approach
Multivariate regression analysis was used as a prime method to rigorously test the relationships of income and education with ICT diffusion across 191 countries. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (V. 22) was used to analyze and predict patterns in the data.
Findings
The results support the hypotheses that income and education are positively related to ICT diffusion. The findings statistically confirm that poverty is a leading cause of digital divide worldwide.
Research limitations/implications
Academic, policy and practice groups should work in collaboration to fight against digital divide. Present results also imply that digital divide shall never end but rather it can be controlled to an extent with multiple collaborative efforts.
Originality/value
Prior research assignments on the digital divide concentrate on exploring the links between few socio-economic and ICT variables in select few regions theoretically. The present work addresses this literature gap by developing and testing two hypotheses to statistically investigate the relationships between a broad set of socio-economic and ICT indicators.
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Omar E.M. Khalil and Ahmed A.S. Seleim
The information technology (IT) related ethical issues will only increase in frequency and complexity with the increasing diffusion of IT in economies and societies. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
The information technology (IT) related ethical issues will only increase in frequency and complexity with the increasing diffusion of IT in economies and societies. The purpose of this paper is to explore Egyptian students' attitudes towards the information ethics issues of privacy, access, property, and accuracy, and it evaluates the possible impact of a number of personal characteristics on such attitudes.
Design/methodology/approach
This research utilized a cross‐sectional sample and data set to test five hypotheses. It adopted an instrument to collect the respondents' background information and assess their attitudes towards the information ethics issues of privacy, property, accuracy, and access. Egyptian business students at Alexandria University were asked to participate in the survey. A total of 305 responses were collected and analyzed.
Findings
The analysis revealed that students are sensitive to the ethicality of information privacy, information accuracy, and information access. However, students are insensitive to the ethicality of property (software) right. In addition, years of education have a main effect on students' attitudes towards property, and gender and age have an interaction effect on students' attitudes towards access.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this research are based on a cross‐sectional data set collected from a sample of business students at a public university. Students, however, may make poor surrogates for business or IT professionals. Future similar research designs that employ large samples from Egyptian working professionals and students in other private and public universities are needed to verify the findings of this research.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that the investigated university as well as the other similar Egyptian universities should consider integrating ethics education into their curricula. Teaching information ethics, especially from an Islamic perspective, is expected to positively influence students' information ethical attitudes. The enforcement of the existing property right protection laws should also curb software piracy in the Egyptian market.
Originality/value
It is vital to expand the ethical research currently being performed in IT in order to help bridge the gap between behavior and IT. The findings of this research extend the understanding of students' attitudes towards the information ethics issues in Egyptian culture and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on global information ethics.
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