CHAPTER 6

Ethics & Professionalism

of Emerging technologies

By Habtamu W.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW

¨ Technology and Ethics

¨ Digital Privacy

¨ Accountability and Trust

¨ Treats and Challenges

 Technology and Ethics
 The Internet has provided many benefits for society. however, the Internet has
not been without negative aspects.

For example, new concerns about privacy, and it has been changed by spam
and viruses.

 Technology can serve to promote or restrict human rights.

 The Information Society should foster the use of emerging technologies in such
a way as to maximize the benefits that they provide while minimizing the harms.
 Technology and Ethics
 Ethics: is particularly important for the accountancy profession,
with a code for professional ethics based on five basic principles :–

 Integrity, objectivity, competence and due care, confidentiality, and

professional behavior.

 However, the emergence of new technologies raises some new

challenges for the profession to address.
 New ethical questions
 The increasing use of big data, algorithmic decision-making, and artificial
intelligence can enable more consistent, evidence-based and accurate
judgments or decisions, often more quickly and efficiently.

 However, these strengths can potentially drawbacks, throwing up

questions around the ethical use of these fairly new technologies.

 Some of the question outputs of systems may results errors or systematic

biased data, which could lead to discriminatory outcomes.
 New ethical questions
 Other questions are also being raised in communication between
computers and humans. Some of them are:-

 How much reliance can we place on data and models?

 What is the role of human judgment, and

 How do we ensure that we understand the decision-making process?

 New ethical questions
 A central problem of the ethics of technology is that it tends to arrive too late.

 In many cases, ethical issues are only recognized when the technology is already
on the market and problems arise during its widespread use.

 Ethics can then become a tool to clean up a mess that might have been
avoidable.

 It is probably not argumentative to say it would be desirable to have ethical

input at the earlier stages of technology design and development.
 New ethical questions
 There are ethical theories and approaches that explicitly aim at an early integration
of ethics into the technology life cycle.

 One central problem of this type of approach is that the future is unknown. we do
not know with certainty what will happen in the future.

 Ethics that relies on future development needs to be able to answer the question of
how it decides which technological developments to pursue.
 General ethical principles
1. Contribute to society and to human well-being, acknowledging that all
people are stakeholders in computing.

2. Avoid harm.

3. Be honest and trustworthy.

4. Be fair and take action not to discriminate.

5. Respect the work required to produce new ideas, inventions, creative

works, and computing artifacts.
 General ethical principles
6. Respect privacy.

7. Honor confidentiality.
 Professional responsibilities
1. Strive to achieve high quality in both the processes and products of professional
work.

2. Maintain high standards of professional competence, conduct, and ethical

practice.

3. Know and respect existing rules pertaining to professional work.

4. Accept and provide appropriate professional review.

5. Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of computer systems and

their impacts, including analysis of possible risks.
 Professional responsibilities
6. Perform work only in areas of competence.

7. Foster public awareness and understanding of computing, related technologies,

and their consequences.

8. Access computing and communication resources only when authorized or when

compelled by the public good.

9. Design and implement systems that are robustly and usably secure.
 Professional leadership principles
1. Ensure that the public good is the central concern during all professional
computing work.

2. Articulate, encourage acceptance of and evaluate fulfillment of social

responsibilities by members of the organization or group.

3. Manage personnel and resources to enhance the quality of working life.

4. Articulate, apply, and support policies and processes that reflect the principles of
the Code.
 Professional leadership principles
5. Create opportunities for members of the organization or group to grow as
professionals.

6. Use care when modifying or retiring systems. Interface changes, the removal of
features, and even software updates have an impact on the productivity of users and
the quality of their work.

7. Recognize and take special care of systems that become integrated into the
infrastructure of society.
 Digital privacy
¨ Digital Privacy: is the protection of personally identifiable or business
identifiable information that is collected from respondents through information
collection activities or from other sources.

¨ It is a collective definition that encompasses three sub-related categories;

information privacy, communication privacy, and individual privacy.

¨ It is often used in contexts that promote advocacy on behalf of individual and

consumer privacy rights in digital spheres.
 Digital privacy
¨ It is typically used in opposition to the business practices of many e-marketers/
businesses/companies to collect and use such information and data.

¨ Information privacy:- is the notion that individuals should have the freedom, or
right, to determine how their digital information, mainly that pertaining to
personally identifiable information, is collected and used.

¨ Communication Privacy:- is the notion that individuals should have the

freedom, or right, to communicate information digitally with the expectation
that their communications are secure; meaning that messages and communications
will only be accessible to the sender's original intended recipient.
 Digital privacy
¨ This means that messages and communications will only be accessible to the
sender's original intended recipient.

¨ However, communications can be intercepted or delivered to other recipients

without the sender's knowledge, in a multitude of ways.

¨ Communications can be intercepted directly through various hacking methods.

¨ Communications can also be delivered to recipients unbeknownst to the sender

due to false assumptions made regarding the platform or medium which
was used to send information.
 Digital privacy
¨ An example of this is a failure to read a company's privacy policy
regarding communications on their platform could lead one to assume their
communication is protected when it is in fact not.

¨ Additionally, companies frequently have been known to lack transparency in how

they use information, this can be both intentional and unintentional.

¨ Individual Privacy:- is the notion that individuals have a right to exist freely on the
internet, in that they can choose what types of information they are exposed to,
and more importantly that unwanted information should not interrupt them.
 Digital privacy
¨ An example of an individual privacy would be an internet user receiving
unwanted ads and emails/spam, or a computer virus that forces the user to take
actions they otherwise wouldn’t.
 Some digital privacy principles
¨ Data Minimization: collect the minimal amount of information necessary from
individuals and businesses consistent.

¨ Transparency: Notice covering the purpose of the collection and use of

identifiable information will be provided in a clear manner.

¨ Information collected will not be used for any other purpose unless
authorized or mandated by law.

¨ Accuracy: Information collected will be maintained in a sufficiently accurate,

timely, and complete manner to ensure that the interests of the individuals and
businesses are protected.
 Some digital privacy principles
¨ Security: Adequate physical and IT security measures will be implemented to
ensure that the collection, use, and maintenance of identifiable information are
properly safeguarded and the information is promptly destroyed in accordance
with approved records control schedules.
 Accountability and trust
¨ Understanding and mitigating the risks that an emerging technologies bring
will help to build confidence.

¨ Often legal and regulatory frameworks haven’t kept pace with digital
transformation, and organizations are seeking guidance.

¨ Emerging technologies can provide improved accuracy, better quality and cost
efficiencies for businesses in every sector.

¨ They can enhance trust in the organization’s operations and financial processes,
which is crucial for sustainable success.
 Accountability and trust
¨ But this can produce a paradox: the very solutions that can be used to better
manage risk, increase transparency and build confidence are often themselves the
source of new risks, which may go unnoticed.

¨ There’s a danger that the use of technology will degrade people’s

willingness to judge and intervene because they feel that they are less
personally connected to consumers and consumer outcomes – the logic of the
machine has taken over from individual responsibility.
 Accountability and trust
¨ The obligation of an individual or organization to account for its activities, accept
responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner.

¨ It also includes the responsibility for money or other entrusted property.

Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
¨ Security is the major challenge for technological evolutions.

¨ It is no more guards, guns & gates it is more than that & we need to play a
major role for a security professional to support business.

¨ Cyber & Data Security is getting high demand that requires security
practitioners to focus on the business need for securing data, understanding
security and risk from a business perspective by extensively interacting with
the business community in understanding their requirements or what they
want.
 Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
¨ Emerging technologies are already impacting how we live and work.

¨ They're also changing how we approach, plan, and integrate security

operations.

¨ For security, both physical and cyber, the equation is the same catalyzing many
new potential applications for emerging technologies. Emerging technologies
are making an impact include:
 Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
¨ Emerging technologies are making an impact include:

1. Counter-terrorism and law enforcement informatics via predictive analytics and

artificial intelligence.

2. Real-time horizon scanning and data mining for threats and information sharing.

3. Automated cybersecurity and information assurance.

4. Enhanced Surveillance (chemical and bio-detection sensors, cameras,

drones, facial recognition, license plate readers)
 Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
5. Simulation and augmented reality technologies for training and modeling.

6. Safety and security equipment (including bullet and bomb proof) made with
lighter and stronger materials.

7. Advanced forensics enabled by enhanced computing capabilities (including

future quantum computing).

8. Situational awareness capabilities via GPS for disaster response and crisis
response scenarios.
 Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
9. Biometrics: assured identity security screening solutions by bio-signature: (every
aspect of your physiology can be used as a bio-signature. Measure unique
heart/pulse rates, electrocardiogram sensor, blood oximetry, skin temperature)

10. Robotic Policing (already happening in Dubai!)

 Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
Challenges in using Artificial Intelligence
¨ AI is only as good as the data it is exposed to, which is where certain
challenges may present themselves.

¨ How a business teaches and develops its AI will be the major factor in its
usefulness.

¨ Humans could be the weak link here, as people are unlikely to want to input
masses of data into a system.
 Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
Challenges in using Artificial Intelligence
¨ AI is also potential to replace human workers. As machines become more
“intelligent” they could begin to replace experts in higher-level jobs.

¨ AI also has the potential to take the burden of laborious and time-consuming
tasks from these people, freeing up their time and brainpower for other things
 Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
Challenges in using Artificial Intelligence
¨ e.g. doctors using diagnostic AI to help them diagnose patients will analyze
the data presented by the AI and make the ultimate decision.
 Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
Challenges in using Robotics in manufacturing
¨ As automation technologies become more advanced, there will be a greater
capability for automation to take over more and more complex jobs.

¨ As robots learn to teach each other and themselves, there is the potential for
much greater productivity but this also raises ethical and cybersecurity
concerns.
 Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
Challenges in using the Internet of Things
¨ As more and more connected devices join the Internet of Things (IoT) the
amount of data being generated is increasing.

¨ Companies will have to plan carefully how this will affect the customer-facing
application and how to best utilize the masses of data being produced.

¨ There are also severe security implications of mass connectivity that need to
be addressed.
 Treats and challenges
Ethical and regulatory challenges
Challenges in Big Data
¨ The huge amount of data being generated on a daily basis has the potential to
provide businesses with better insight into their customers as well as their own
business operations.

¨ Although data can be incredibly useful for spotting trends and analyzing
impacts, surfacing all this data to humans in a way that they can understand
can be challenging. AI will play a role here.
 Treats and challenges
Treats
¨ New and emerging technologies arrange significant opportunities for
businesses if they utilize them well and understand their true value early
on.

¨ They also pose risks and questions not only to business but to society as
a whole.
 Treats and challenges
Treats
¨ Planning for how to deal with these emerging technologies and where value
can be derived while assessing potential risks before they become a fully-
fledged reality is essential for businesses that want to thrive in the world of
AI, Big Data and IoT.
 Treats and challenges
Treats
¨ Some risks of emerging technology are:-

1. Driverless car: while a compelling option for future fleer cars, companies
could crash and burn from claims related to bodily injury and property damage.

2. Wearables: Google glass, Fitbit and other wearables can expose companies to
the invasion of privacy claims that may not be covered by general liability or
personal injury claims that weren’t foreseen.
 Treats and challenges
Treats
3. Drones: Turbulence is in the offing for manufacturers and organizations that
fail to protect themselves for property damage and bodily injury, as well as
errors and omissions.

4. Internet of things: The proliferation of sensors and cross-platform

integration creates potential exposure from privacy invasion, bodily
injury and property damage that may connect an organization to huge
liabilities.
Thank you!