Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems

Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems 1) Advances in data storage have made routine violation of individual privacy more difficult. Answer: FALSE AACSB: Use of information technology CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 2) Professionals take on special rights and obligations because of their special claims to knowledge, wisdom, and respect. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 3) Privacy is the right to be left alone when you want to be, without surveillance or interference from other individuals or organizations. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 4) Web sites use "cookies" in order to obtain the names and addresses of their visitors. Answer: FALSE AACSB: Use of information technology CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 5) A cookie is a small file containing information about you and your Web activities that is deposited on your hard disk by a Web site. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Use of information technology CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 1 6) Spyware is software that comes hidden in downloaded applications and can track your online movements. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Use of information technology CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 7) Most Internet businesses do very little to protect the privacy of their customers. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Use of information technology CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 8) P3P encrypts or scrambles e-mail or data so that it cannot be read illicitly. Answer: FALSE Page Ref AACSB: Use of information technology CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 9) Protection for trade secrets is enforced at the federal level. Answer: FALSE AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 10) Copyright is the legal protection afforded intellectual property, such as a song, book, or video game. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 11) The Copyright Office began registering software programs in the 1990s. Answer: FALSE AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 2 12) The drawback to copyright protection is that the underlying ideas behind the work are not protected, only their manifestation in a product. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 13) According to the courts, in the creation of software, unique concepts, general functional features, and even colors are protectable by copyright law. Answer: FALSE AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 14) The key concepts in patent law's determination of nonobviousness are originality, novelty, and value. Answer: FALSE AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 15) Despite the passage of several laws defining and addressing computer crime, accessing a computer system without authorization is not yet a federal crime. Answer: FALSE AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 16) Spam is unsolicited e-mail. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Use of information technology CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 17) The European Parliament has passed a ban on unsolicited commercial messaging. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 3 18) RSI is unavoidable for a computer keyboard worker. Answer: FALSE AACSB: Use of information technology CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 19) Technostress is a computer-related malady whose symptoms include fatigue. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Use of information technology CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 20) Radiation from computer display screens has been proved to be a factor in CVS. Answer: TRUE AACSB: Use of information technology CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 21) Information systems A) pose traditional ethical situations in new manners. B) raise new ethical questions. C) raise the same ethical questions created by the industrial revolution. D) raise ethical questions primarily related to information rights and obligations. Answer: B AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 22) The introduction of new information technology has a A) dampening effect on the discourse of business ethics. B) ripple effect raising new ethical, social, and political issues. C) beneficial effect for society as a whole, while raising dilemmas for consumers. D) waterfall effect in raising ever more complex ethical issues. Answer: B AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 4 23) In the information age, the obligations that individuals and organizations have concerning rights to intellectual property fall within the moral dimension of A) property rights and obligations. B) system quality. C) accountability and control. D) information rights and obligations. Answer: A AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 24) In the information age, the obligations that individuals and organizations have regarding the preservation of existing values and institutions fall within the moral dimension of A) family and home. B) property rights and obligations. C) system quality. D) quality of life. Answer: D AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 25) The four key technical trends responsible for current ethical stresses related to information technology are (1) doubling of computer power every 18 months, (2) data analysis advances, (3) declining data storage costs, and (4) ________. A) advances in wireless networking B) international standards for data protection C) networking advances and the Internet D) increased ease in file sharing and copying Answer: C AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 26) Advances in data storage techniques and rapidly declining storage costs have A) been accompanied by relevant federal statutes protecting personal data. B) made universal access possible. C) doubled every 18 months. D) made routine violations of privacy cheap and effective. Answer: D AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 5 27) The use of computers to combine data from multiple sources and create electronic dossiers of detailed information on individuals is called A) profiling. B) phishing. C) spamming. D) targeting. Answer: A AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 28) NORA is a A) profiling technology used by the EU. B) federal privacy law protecting networked data C) new data analysis technology that finds hidden connections between data in disparate sources. D) sentencing guideline adopted in 1987 mandating stiff sentences on business executives. Answer: C AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 29) Which of the five moral dimensions of the information age do the central business activities of ChoicePoint raise? A) property rights and obligations B) system quality C) accountability and control D) information rights and obligations Answer: D AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Analysis Objective: 4.1 30) Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations for the decisions you make is referred to as A) responsibility. B) accountability. C) liability. D) due process. Answer: A AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 6 31) The feature of political systems in which a body of laws is in place that permits individuals to recover the damages done to them by other actors, systems, or organizations is referred to as A) accountability. B) responsibility. C) due process. D) liability. Answer: D AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 32) The feature of social institutions that means mechanisms are in place to determine responsibility for an action is called A) due process. B) accountability. C) the courts of appeal. D) the judicial system. Answer: B AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 33) The process in law-governed societies in which laws are known and understood and there is an ability to appeal to higher authorities to ensure that the laws are applied correctly is called A) liability. B) due process. C) the courts of appeal. D) accountability. Answer: B AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 34) Which of the following is not one of the five steps discussed in the chapter as a process for analyzing an ethical issue? A) assign responsibility B) identify the stakeholders C) identify the options you can reasonably take D) identify and clearly describe the facts Answer: A AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 7 35) A colleague of yours frequently takes for his own personal use small amounts of office supplies, noting that the loss to the company is minimal. You counter that if everyone were to take the office supplies, the loss would no longer be minimal. Your rationale expresses which historical ethical principle? A) Kant's Categorical Imperative B) The Golden Rule C) The Risk Aversion Principle D) The "No free lunch" rule Answer: A AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Analysis Objective: 4.2 36) A classic ethical dilemma is the hypothetical case of a man stealing from a grocery store in order to feed his starving family. If you used the Utilitarian Principle to evaluate this situation, you might argue that stealing the food is A) acceptable, because the grocer suffers the least harm. B) acceptable, because the higher value is the survival of the family. C) wrong, because the man would not want the grocery to steal from him. D) wrong, because if everyone were to do this, the concept of personal property is defeated. Answer: B AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Analysis Objective: 4.2 37) Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative states that A) if an action cannot be taken repeatedly, then it is not right to be taken at any time. B) one should take the action that produces the least harm or incurs the least cost. C) one can put values in rank order and understand the consequences of various courses of action. D) if an action is not right for everyone to take, it is not right for anyone to take. Answer: D AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 8 38) The ethical "no free lunch" rule states that A) if an action cannot be taken repeatedly, then it is not right to be taken at any time. B) one should take the action that produces the least harm or incurs the least cost. C) one can put values in rank order and understand the consequences of various courses of action. D) everything is owned by someone else, and that the creator wants compensation for this work. Answer: D AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 39) The ethical rules discussed in the textbook A) are based on political philosophies. B) cannot be guides to actions. C) cannot be applied to many e-commerce situations. D) do not allow for competing values. Answer: B AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 40) Which U.S. act restricts the information the federal government can collect and regulates what they can do with the information? A) Privacy Act of 1974 B) Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 C) Freedom of Information Act D) HIPAA of 1996 Answer: A AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 41) FIP principles are based on the notion of the A) accountability of the record holder. B) responsibility of the record holder. C) mutuality of interest between the record holder and the individual. D) privacy of the individual. Answer: C AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 9 42) The Federal Trade Commission FIP principle of Notice/Awareness states that A) customers must be allowed to choose how their information will be used for secondary purposes other than the supporting transaction. B) data collectors must take responsible steps to assure that consumer information is accurate and secure from unauthorized use. C) there is a mechanism in place to enforce FIP principles. D) Web sites must disclose their information practices before collecting data. Answer: D AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 43) Which of the following U.S. laws gives patients access to personal medical records and the right to authorize how this information can be used or disclosed? A) HIPAA B) Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act C) Privacy Protection Act D) Freedom of Information Act Answer: A AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 44) European privacy protection is ________ than in the United States. A) less far-reaching B) less liable to laws C) much less stringent D) much more stringent Answer: D AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 45) U.S. businesses are allowed to use personal data from EU countries if they A) have informed consent. B) create a safe harbor. C) develop equivalent privacy protection policies. D) make their privacy protection policies publicly available. Answer: C AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 10 46) When a cookie is created during a Web site visit, it is stored A) on the Web site computer. B) on the visitor's computer. C) on the ISP's computer. D) in a Web directory. Answer: B AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 47) The Online Privacy Alliance A) encourages self-regulation to develop a set of privacy guidelines for its members. B) protects user privacy during interactions with Web sites. C) has established technical guidelines for ensuring privacy. D) is a government agency regulating the use of customer information. Answer: A AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 48) A(n) ________ model of informed consent permits the collection of personal information until the consumer specifically requests that the data not be collected. A) opt-in B) opt-out C) P3P D) PGP Answer: B AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 49) P3P stands for A) Privacy for Personal Protection. B) Platform for Privacy Preferences. C) Personal Privacy Policy. D) Personal Privacy Protection. Answer: B AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 11 50) The P3P standard is concerned with A) controlling pop-up ads based on user profiles and preventing ads from collecting or sending information. B) allowing users to surf the Web anonymously. C) scrambling data so that it can't be read. D) blocking or limiting cookies. Answer: D AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 51) The limitation of trade secret protection for software is that it is difficult to prevent the ideas in the work from falling into the public domain when A) the courts become involved. B) hackers are able to break into the source code. C) the software is widely distributed. D) a new version of the software is released. Answer: C AACSB: Analytic skills CASE: Analysis Objective: 4.3 52) Intellectual property can best be described as A) intangible property created by individuals or corporations. B) unique creative work or ideas. C) tangible or intangible property created from a unique idea. D) the expression of an intangible idea. Answer: A AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 53) What legal mechanism protects the owners of intellectual property from having their work copied by others? A) patent protection B) intellectual property law C) copyright law D) Fair Use Doctrine Answer: C AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 12 54) "Look and feel" copyright infringement lawsuits are concerned with A) the distinction between tangible and intangible ideas. B) the distinction between an idea and its expression. C) using the graphical elements of another product. D) using the creative elements of another product. Answer: B AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 55) The strength of patent protection is that it A) puts the strength of law behind copyright. B) allows protection from Internet theft of ideas put forth publicly. C) is easy to define. D) grants a monopoly on underlying concepts and ideas. Answer: D AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 56) One of the difficulties of patent protection is A) that only the underlying ideas are protected. B) digital media cannot be patented. C) preventing the ideas from falling into public domain. D) the years of waiting to receive it. Answer: D AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 57) Which of the following adjusts copyright laws to the Internet age by making it illegal to make, distribute, or use devices that circumvent technology-based protections of copyrighted materials? A) Digital Millennium Copyright Act B) Privacy Act C) Freedom of Information Act D) Electronic Communications Privacy Act Answer: A AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 13 58) In general, it is very difficult to hold software producers liable for their software products when those products are considered to be A) part of a machine. B) similar to books. C) services. D) artistic expressions. Answer: B AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 59) ________ are not held liable for the messages they transmit. A) Regulated common carriers B) Private individuals C) Organizations and businesses D) Elected officials Answer: A AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 60) It is not feasible for companies to produce error-free software because A) any programming code is susceptible to error. B) it is too expensive create perfect software. C) errors can be introduced in the maintenance stage of development. D) any software of any complexity will have errors. Answer: B AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 61) The most common source of business system failure is A) software bugs. B) software errors. C) hardware or facilities failures. D) data quality. Answer: D AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 14 62) Which of the following is not one of the three principal sources of poor system performance? A) software bugs and errors B) hardware or facility failures caused by natural or other causes. C) insufficient integration with external systems. D) poor input data quality. Answer: C AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 63) The "do anything anywhere" computing environment can A) make work environments much more pleasant. B) create economies of efficiency. C) centralize power at corporate headquarters. D) blur the traditional boundaries between work and family time. Answer: D AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 64) The practice of spamming has been growing because A) telephone solicitation is no longer legal. B) it is good advertising practice and brings in many new customers. C) it helps pay for the Internet. D) it is so inexpensive and can reach so many people. Answer: D AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 65) The U.S. CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 A) makes spamming illegal. B) requires spammers to identify themselves. C) has dramatically cut down spamming. D) does not override state anti-spamming laws. Answer: B AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 15 66) Which of the five moral dimensions of the information age does spamming raise? A) quality of life B) system quality C) accountability and control D) information rights and obligations Answer: A AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Analysis Objective: 4.4 67) Re-designing and automating business processes can be seen as a double-edged sword because A) increases in efficiency may be accompanied by job losses. B) increases in efficiency may be accompanied by poor data quality. C) support for middle-management decision making may be offset by poor data quality. D) reliance on technology results in the loss of hands-on knowledge. Answer: A AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Analysis Objective: 4.4 68) The term "________ divide" refers to large disparities in access to computers and the Internet among different social groups and different locations. A) computer B) technology C) digital D) electronic Answer: C AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 69) CVS refers to A) eyestrain related to computer display screen use. B) carpal vision syndrome. C) wrist injuries brought about by incorrect hand position when using a keyboard. D) stress induced by technology. Answer: A AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 16 70) ________ can be induced by tens of thousands of repetitions under low-impact loads. A) CTS B) CVS C) RSI D) technostress Answer: C AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 71) The principles of right and wrong that can be used by individuals acting as free moral agents to make choices to guide their behavior are called ________. Answer: ethics AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 72) The liberties that individuals and organizations have with respect to data pertaining to themselves describe the moral dimension of ________. Answer: information rights AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.1 73) Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations for the decisions one makes is called ________. Answer: responsibility AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 74) ________ refers to the existence of laws that permit individuals to recover damages done to them by other actors, systems, or organizations. Answer: Liability AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 17 75) The ethical principle called ________ states that one should take the action that produces the least harm or incurs the least cost. Answer: the Risk Aversion Principle AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.2 76) ________ is permission given with knowledge of all the facts needed to make a rational decision. Answer: Informed consent AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 77) A(n) ________ is a tiny graphic file embedded in e-mail messages and Web pages that is designed to monitor online Internet user behavior. Answer: Web bug AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 78) The ________ model prohibits an organization from collecting any personal information unless the individual specifically takes action to approve information collection and use. Answer: opt-in AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 79) A(n) ________ grants the owner an exclusive monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years. Answer: patent AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.3 80) The commission of acts involving the computer that may not be illegal but are considered unethical is called ________. Answer: computer abuse AACSB: Reflective thinking skills CASE: Content Objective: 4.4 18 81) List and describe the five moral dimensions that are involved in political, social, and ethical issues. Which do you think will be the most difficult for society to deal with? Support your opinion. Answer: The five moral dimensions are: 1. Information rights and obligations. What rights do individuals and organizations have with respect to information pertaining to them? 2. Property rights. How can intellectual property rights be protected when it is so easy to copy digital materials? 3. Accountability and control. Who will be held accountable and liable for the harm done to individual and collective information and property rights? 4. System quality. What standards of data and system quality should we demand to protect individual rights and the safety of society? 5. Quality of life. What values should be preserved? What institutions must we protect? What cultural values can be harmed? Individual answers for determining the most difficult for society to deal with will vary. One answer might be: Quality of life issues will be most difficult for society to deal with in societies that are comprised of many different cultural and ethnic groups, such as the United States. It is difficult to regulate concerns that are based on subjective values. AACSB: Analytic skills CASE: Evaluation Objective: 4.1 82) Discuss at least three key technology trends that raise ethical issues. Give an example of an ethical or moral impact connected to each one. Answer: Key technology trends include the following: (1) Computer power doubling every 18 months: ethical impact - because more organizations depend on computer systems for critical operations, these systems are vulnerable to computer crime and computer abuse; (2) Data storage costs are rapidly declining: ethical impact - it is easy to maintain detailed databases on individuals -- who has access to and control of these databases?; (3) Data analysis advances: ethical impact - vast databases full of individual information may be used to develop detailed profiles of individual behavior; and (5) Networking advances and the Internet: ethical impact - it is easy to copy data from one location to another. Who owns data? How can ownership be protected? AACSB: Analytic skills CASE: Synthesis Objective: 4.1 19 83) What are the steps in conducting an ethical analysis? Answer: The steps are: (1) Identify and describe clearly the facts; (2) define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher-order values involved; (3) identify the stakeholders; (4) identify the options that you can reasonably take; and (5) identify the potential consequences of your options. AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Analysis Objective: 4.2 84) List and define the six ethical principles discussed in your text. Answer: The six ethical principles are the Golden Rule, Kant's Categorical Imperative, Descartes' rule of change (slippery slope), the Utilitarian Principle, the Risk Aversion Principle, and the "no free lunch" rule. The Golden Rule proposes: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative proposes, if an action is not right for everyone to take, it is not right for anyone. Descartes' rule of change says: If an action cannot be taken repeatedly, it is not right to take at all. The Utilitarian Principle is: Take the action that achieves the higher or greater value. The Risk Aversion Principle is: Take the action that produces the least harm or the least potential cost. The ethical no free lunch rule says: Assume that virtually all tangible and intangible objects are owned by someone else unless there is a specific declaration otherwise.tangible objects are owned by someone else unless there is a specific declaration otherwise. AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Analysis Objective: 4.2 85) Do you believe that professional groups should be allowed to assign their own professional codes of conduct and police themselves from within? Why or why not? Answer: This is an opinion question, but anyone who aspires to management will consider himself or herself a professional and will need to have a clear understanding as to how he or she feels about this matter. With the recent scandals in large business firms, which have devastated our economy, there is likely to be a cry for legally sanctioned codes and outside regulatory agencies. AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Evaluation Objective: 4.2 20 86) What are the major issues concerning privacy in the information age? Do you believe the need for homeland security should overrule some of the personal privacy and information rights we have previously taken for granted? Why or why not? Answer: One answer might be that we should depend upon the Federal Trade Commission Fair Information Practice Principles and that as long as these principles are not ignored or overset, personal privacy does not conflict with homeland security. This is a weak argument. Other issues involve online privacy, employee monitoring, tradeoffs between security and privacy and good business results versus privacy. AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Evaluation Objective: 4.3 87) How does a cookie work? Answer: A cookie works as follows: A user opens a Web browser and selects a site to visit. The user's computer sends a request for information to the computer running at the Web site. The Web site computer is called the server, since it allows the user's computer to display the Web site. At the same time it sends a cookie — a data file containing information like an encrypted user ID and information about when the user visited and what he did on the site. The user's computer receives the cookie and places it in a file on the hard drive. Whenever the user goes back to the Web site, the server running the site retrieves the cookie to help identify the user. AACSB: Analytic skills CASE: Analysis Objective: 4.3 88) Define the basic concepts of responsibility, accountability, and liability as applied to ethical decisions. How are these concepts related? Answer: Responsibility is the first key element of ethical action. Responsibility means that an individual, group, or organization accepts the potential costs, duties, and obligations for decisions made. Accountability is a feature of systems and social institutions. It means that mechanisms are in place to determine who took responsible action; i.e., who is responsible for the action. Liability is a feature of political systems in which a body of law is in place that permits individuals to recover the damages done to them by others. These concepts are related as follows: I will assume the blame or benefit for the actions I take (responsibility); this blame or benefit accrues to me through the requirement that I be able to explain why I have taken the actions I have (accountability) for actions traceable to me by defined mechanisms in the organization, and if those actions result in hard to another, I will be held by law to reparations for those actions (liability). AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Analysis Objective: 4.2 21 89) What do you consider to be the primary ethical, social, and political issues regarding information system quality? Answer: The central quality-related ethical issue that information systems raise is at what point should I release software or services for consumption by others? At what point can I conclude that my software or service achieves an economically and technologically adequate level of quality? What am I obligated to know about the quality of my software, its procedures for testing, and its operational characteristics? The leading quality-related social issue deals with expectations: As a society, do we want to encourage people to believe that systems are infallible, that data errors are impossible? By heightening awareness of system failure, do we inhibit the development of all systems, which in the end contribute to social well-being? The leading quality-related political issue concerns the laws of responsibility and accountability, what they should be, and how they should be applied. AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Synthesis Objective: 4.4 90) How does the use of electronic voting machines act as a "double-edged sword?" What moral dimensions are raised by this use of information technology? Answer: Electronic voting machines can be seen as beneficial by making voting easy to accomplish and tabulate. However, it may be easier to tamper with electronic voting machines than with countable paper ballots. In terms of information rights, it seems possible that methods could be set up to determine how an individual has voted and to store and disseminate this knowledge. Manufacturers of voting machines claim property rights to the voting software, which means that if the software is protected from inspection, there is no regulation in how the software operates or how accurate it is. In terms of accountability and control, if an electronic voting system malfunctions, will it be the responsibility of the government, of the company manufacturing the machines or software, or the programmers who programmed the software? The dimension of system quality raises questions of how the level of accuracy of the machines is to be judged and what level is acceptable? In terms of quality of life, while it may make voting easier and quicker, does the vulnerability to abuse of these systems pose a threat to the democratic principle of one person, one vote? AACSB: Ethical understanding and reasoning abilities CASE: Synthesis Objective: 4.1 22