E-Commerce Issues
1. What are the ethical issues related to e-commerce?
2. What are the social issues of e-commerce?
3. What are the methods used to address some of these ethical and social issues?
4. What are the legal issues related to e-commerce?
Deals with what is considered right or wrong
|
Issues |
Meaning |
Representative questions |
|
Privacy |
Collection, storage, and dissemination of information about an individual (Tables 9.2 & 9.3) |
– What information an individual is required to reveal? – What information an individual cannot be forced to reveal? – What kind of surveillance can an employer use on its employees? |
|
Accuracy |
Authenticity, fidelity, and accuracy of information collected and processed |
– Who is responsible? – How is the injured party compensated? – How can one ensure that a proper and accurate processing and presentation of information? – How can one ensure that errors are accidental? |
|
Property |
Ownership and value of information and intellectual property |
– Who is the owner? – What are the just and fair prices for its exchange? – Can corporate computers be used for private purposes? – How should one handle software piracy? – Under what circumstances can one use proprietary data? |
|
Accessibility |
Right to access information |
– Who is allowed to access information? – How much should be charged? – How can accessibility to computers be provided for employees with disabilities? |
Mason, R.O., "Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age", MIS Quarterly, March, 1986.
1. Equity à Digital divide: large differences in
Internet access among income, ethnic, and age groups
2. Public safety and welfare: pornography
(freedom of speech), gambling, cigarettes, and drugs (borderless web)
|
Issue |
Protection/Solution |
|
Privacy |
– Federal privacy laws (Table 9.5) – Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s fair information practice principles – Self-regulation – Privacy-enhancing technologies (Table 9.11) – Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) (Figure 9.3) |
|
Property |
– Copyright – Patent – Trademark |
|
Equity |
– Department of Education’s Community Technology Centers – National Science Foundation’s Advanced Networking Project |
|
Welfare |
– Children’s Online Protection Act – Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act – Private pressure – Internet zoning |
1. Governance
2. Taxation