We’re living in the age of IT. Because of its fast-paced, continually evolving nature, the field of information technology is one that is often difficult to assign a specific moral code. But, it is critically important that a set of ethical values be established because it is an area that is susceptible to various kinds of indiscretions. In order to do so, we must look at the ethical theory to set the foundation.
In the given ethical theories The Social Contract Theory is the one that is used most in IT. Social contract theory says that people live together in society in accordance with an agreement that establishes moral and political rules of behavior that is accepted by everyone in society. For example, the TSA X-ray and search at the airport. It is right of the individual if you have a paid ticket, you should be able to get right on the airplane without any hindrance. The government’s edict is they want to ensure that air travel is safe for everyone. The social theory is that everyone including the flight crew must sacrifice some of their personal liberty. In order to allow the government to assure safe air travel for everyone.
The social contract theory IT-related application can be seen everywhere & I literally mean everywhere. When we install an app for our smartphones be it android, iPhone, or any of the smartphone companies we have to agree to their terms & conditions or license agreements to install the app. It’s a type of social contract that is used in the apps. Even in social media like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat we have to agree to their terms & conditions or license agreements to open the account. It’s a mutual contract by it they help us use their service smoothly. Even computer software has us agree to their terms to install their software. Even almost all of the websites have us agree to their terms for opening an account in them. By using these terms & conditions the server can solve the problems easily & make our experience using them better, for example, when someone harasses or abuses you in social media or posts something inappropriate the server can block them for it to make a better environment for other users. They can block them cause they also agreed to server terms & conditions. It’s hard to find any IT related service without these social contracts. But most of us don’t even read these contracts although it is for our own safety.
Even though we all know what ethics is, many of us don’t follow them. Ethics has the power to affect the social and physical environment. Ethics and morality, therefore, play intricate roles in our modern world. Oftentimes, people feel that what is legal must also be moral, but this is not necessarily the case. We must distinguish between the two and try to keep our ethics & morality.
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