Legal, Ethical and Security Issues in Electronic Business. Dr Sherif Kamel

Transcription

1 Legal, Ethical and Security Issues in Electronic Business Dr Sherif Kamel

2 Changing Nature of Crime Aspect of Crime Industrial Economy (1950) Networked Economy (2000+) Location Local Remote Impact Low High Format Physical Electronic Risk High High/Low

3 Spam and Virus Platforms Scanning Credit and debit cards Cameras/photos Telephone calls Browsing Electronic s/chatting SMS

4 Ethics Definition Principles of right and wrong used by individuals as free moral agents to guide behavior within an ICT environment In terms of responsibility Acceptance of potential costs and duties Obligations to protect information In terms of accountability Assessing responsibility and formulating plans of action Always providing access and inform Channels of information dissemination through information push

5 Standard of Conduct in ICT Act with integrity (personal v organizational issues) Protect the privacy and confidentiality of organizational information Do not misrepresent or withhold information (corporate policy) Do not misuse resources or exploit weakness of systems Preservation of Intellectual Property Right (IPR)

6 Ethical Issues raised by ICT Capabilities Who should have access to data? To whom does data belong? Ownership? Who is responsible for maintaining accuracy and security? Does the ability to capture data imply a corresponding responsibility to monitor its use?

7 Privacy Right of individuals and organizations to be left alone and secure their personal papers and data Uses of , Internet and other IS applications within working hours and for non-work related matters Nature and extent of company right for searches and monitoring Violation of privacy by monitoring staff browsing and movements within the company Internet usage Electronic mail circulation Incoming and outgoing calls Corporate code of ethics Issue written policy guidelines Copyrighted trademarked material (content) cannot be used without permission or for any personal reasons

8 Information Technology and Privacy Vulnerable databanks (virtually everything) Law enforcement Taxes and regulatory agencies Financial departments (banks and other institutions) Medical records (hospitals and clinics) Educational records (schools and universities)

9 Privacy Issue Consumers are concerned about privacy Consumers may not be concerned about privacy Are consumers concerned about privacy, but not enough to give up the advantages that the Internet has brought to their lives? This is a debatable issue that is affected by awareness, training, cultural values and education (Technology Acceptance Model and Diffusion of Innovation theories are very much part of it)

10 Legal v Ethical Issues Major ethical/legal issues Privacy Intellectual property rights Free speech v censorship Consumer and merchant protection against fraud

11 Information Dissemination Website registration Most websites ask visitors to fill out registration forms including Names, addresses, phone numbers addresses and hobbies, etc. There are few restraints on the ways in which the website can use this information Use it to improve customer service or its own business Or sell the information to another company that could use it in an inappropriate or intrusive manner

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14 Intellectual Property Rights Intellectual property: creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce Trademark: A symbol used by businesses to identify their goods and services; government registration of the trademark confers exclusive legal right to its use Owners of a registered trademark has exclusive rights to use it and can take legal action to prevent anyone else from using it Example: Registered Domain Name Network Solutions, Inc. US subsidiary of Verisign was the sole assigner of domain names until 1998 ICANN, an international nonprofit corporation, took over assignment of domain names on a global basis

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16 Intellectual Property Rights Domain name disputes and resolutions Major disputes are international in scope (same corporate name may be used in different countries by different corporations) are resolved using arbitration World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Patent: A document that grants the holder exclusive rights on an invention for a fixed number of years (tangible technological inventions only) Copyright: An exclusive grant from the government/authorities designated that allows the owner to reproduce a work, in whole or in part, and to distribute, perform, or display it to the public in any form or manner, including the Internet

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18 Free Speech v Censorship Censorship (governmental attempts to control broadcasted material) companies verify viewer s age before showing online material that is deemed harmful to minors parental consent is required before personal information can be collected from a minor Controlling spam Spamming (practice of indiscriminately broadcasting messages over the Internet) Spam comprises 25 to 50% of all ISPs are required to offer spam-blocking software

19 Fraud Consumer and Seller Protection Fraud on the Internet Online auction fraud Internet stock fraud Bogus investments Other fraud in ecommerce (non-financial fraud) Customers receive poor-quality products and services Customers do not get products on time Consumer protection (tips for safe electronic shopping) Make sure that they access real website of well-known companies Investigate how secure and organized the seller s website is Compare prices online to those in regular stores (as well as with other offerings online)

20 Fraud Consumer and Seller Protection Seller protection Customers who deny that they placed an order Customers who download copyrighted software or other material and sell it to others Customers who give false payment information Use of their name by others