What Ethical Issues Are There With Our Use Of Computers And Technology

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Ethical Practice
Changes in the social landscape have led to a dramatic change in technology, which has resulted in a new wave of ethical problems (Sargolzaei and Nikbakht 138). Such issues must be adequately dealt with for computer technology to have a positive influence on society. The commonly experienced ethical issues in the field of computer technology include computer crimes, electronic communication, and internet privacy.
Ethical Issues with Use of Computer Technology
Nowadays, it is possible for an individual to access personal information such as phone numbers, medical and criminal records of another individual without their authorization through hacking (Sargolzaei and Nikbakht 138). They include crimes such as money laundering and evasion of tax among others. Some people have also created fake online item purchasing sites which they use to con people. Also, computer crimes are rampant, and they are usually orchestrated by the intellectual professionals, with excellent computer skills (Mishra 68). There are also several communication issues surrounding the use of computers. Some companies and people have in the past taken advantage of communication sites such as emailing platforms to spread viruses (Sloot 5). People send viruses in the form of an email, which, when opened starts affecting the recipient computer and the only way to get rid of this problem is by buying an anti-virus from the people who manufactured the viruses. Also, if the conversations via social media and email have no proper security, hackers may gain illegal access to such confidential messages, compromising an individual’s privacy (Mishra 68). Another ethical issue accompanying the use of computers is the copyright issue. Some items such as movies, books, and music are available for free online. However, some of these items are copyrighted and cannot be distributed or downloaded without authorization from the owners (Mishra 68). Unfortunately, online piracy is rife and difficult to sue, and in most cases, it goes unpunished.
Standards and Ethics for Computer Programmers
Just like lawyers, engineers, and doctors, computer programmers must have ethical guidelines that they should refer to while developing software. There are some standards and ethics available for computer programmers, which they must follow strictly to create uncompromised high-quality products that will have a positive impact on the society.
Computer programmers should not create software...