International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN (Online): 2319-7064

Ethics and Social Impact of Information Systems in

Our Society: Analysis and Recommendations
Mosud Y. Olumoye
Lagos State Polytechnic, SPTSA, Mainland Annex, & Consultant: ICT, Projects & Safety
Fiatcom Nigeria Limited, P.O. Box 2090, Ikeja
Ikeja Post Office, Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract: The evolution of information systems in our society today has grossly affected the way we live our lives. This has invariably
led to the increase in ethical and social impacts that are rising in the society from health related matters to social threats. This study
specifically examines the effects of ethical and social concerns of information systems on the society. The paper revealed the key
technological trends that led to ethical issues and the moral dimensions of information systems on the society. It also analyzed and
recommended ways on how to improve the effectiveness of ethical and social impacts of information systems in the society.

Keywords: Ethics, Information, Information Systems, Social, Society

1. Introduction its consequences in terms of how of information systems

have changed the face of almost every aspect of our
The society in which we live has been so profoundly societies, most remarkably in terms of economics and culture
affected by information systems that historians refer to the or behavioral approach. Information systems can be viewed
present time as the information age. This is due to our ability as a factor of production that can be freely substituted for
to collect, process, store, disseminate and manipulate large capital and labor. As the cost of information systems
amount of information using information system. As an continues to reduce, it is substituted for labor and capital,
information society, it is very imperative we consider both which historically has been a rising cost. Also, it helps
the social and ethical implications of the use of information organizations to lower the cost of their transactions thereby
system in our society. making it worthwhile for organizations to contrast with
external suppliers instead of using internal sources.
Information systems as described by Whitten [14] is an However, behavioral researchers have theorized that
arrangement of people, data, process and interface that information systems could change the hierarchy of decision-
interacts to support and improve day-to-day operations in a making in organization by lowering the costs of information
business as well as support the problem-solving and acquisition and broadening the distribution of information
decision-making needs of the management and users. Also, [8]. As an information society, we must consider both the
Laudon and Laudon technically defined information systems ethical and social implications of the use of information
as a set of interrelated components that collects (or retrieve), systems in our society.
process, store and distribute information to support decision-
making, coordination, and control in an organization [8]. The digital world we are presently leaving is posing some
Information systems contain information about significant important and new ethical questions such as who owns
people, places and things within the organization or in the information, particularly information about us. Who is
environment surrounding it. By information we mean data responsible for making the information accurate? Should we
that have been shaped into a form that is meaningful and set guidelines on how business organizations and business
useful to human beings [8]. Data in contrast is a collection of professionals should use information, computer systems and
raw facts representing events occurring in the organizations information? And if that is so, what should these guidelines
or within our physical environment. be? What penalties should be accessed for unethical norms
and abuses? This topic is becoming increasingly so
According to Pollack [11] people have become much more important so as to successfully manage the use of
technologically savvy largely due to the dramatically information systems in our society.
increased scope of information available via Internet, the
ease of access to information, and the broadened scope of 2. Ethical and Social Impact of Information
computer literacy; the security of information and privacy of Systems
individuals have become areas of significant concern.
Considering the fact that computers and information systems As a matter of fact, changes in technology often affect the
have become a fundamental part of our lives, the society. This can change individuals, jobs, education,
opportunities to misuse and abuse computer, the information government and social interactions. As component of a
it generates and systems now abound. society, each group has rights and responsibilities to one
another, such as right to privacy and obligations regarding
The increase in the applications of information systems in ethics. The effect of technology on individuals can be
our society and its escalating growth has altered the face of beneficial or detrimental. But in most cases an alteration in
almost every aspects of the society. The most obvious effects technology may help a group of individuals and be harmful
of information systems have been the rise of the internet and to another set of people. Typical challenges include loss of
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Paper ID: 02013404 154
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 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064

privacy, depersonalization and change in incentives. The (ii) Employment

benefits include lower prices, better products and services. Reengineering work is typically hailed in the information
Many of these issues does not only affect our society as a systems community as a major benefit of new information
whole, but also raise lots of questions for organizations and technology. It is much less frequently noted that redesigning
our working place at large. business processes could potentially cause millions of
middle-level managers and clerical workers to lose their
2.1 Ethical Concerns of Information Systems jobs. One economist has raised the possibility that we will
create a society run by a small “high tech elite of corporate
Laudon and Laudon [8] described ethics as the principle of professionals… in a nation of the permanently unemployed”
right and wrong that individuals, acting as free moral agents, [7].
use to make choices to guide their behaviors. Information
systems raise new ethical questions for both individuals and (iii) Information Privacy
society because they create opportunities for intense social The invasion of privacy is a very big challenge associated
change, and this threaten existing distributions of power, with information systems, because it can accommodate vast
funds, rights and obligations. Just like other technologies amounts of data, we must therefore decide what information
such as steam engines, electricity, the telephone and radios, is proper to store or not, and who should have access to the
information system can be used to achieve social progress, information. Every time you use a credit card, make a phone
but can also be used to commit crimes and threaten treasured call, withdraw money, reserve a flight, or register at school,
social values. The development of information systems will all these transactions of yours are recorded by the systems.
produce benefits for many and cost for others. These records can be used to learn a great deal about you,
where you have been, when you were there, and how much
Another ethical issue that is giving a new urgency is the rise money was spent. Should this information be available to
in the internet and electronic commerce. The internet and everyone? Information systems are also used to store
digital technology have made it much easier than ever for information about individuals’ credit rating, which may
organizations to assemble, integrate and distribute determine their abilities to borrow money.
information, thereby unleashing concerns about the
appropriate use of customers’ information, personal privacy 2.1.1 Ethical Analysis
and intellectual property. Other ethical issues include This section presents various step processes of how one
establishing accountability for the consequences of should analyze ethical concerns when confronted with such a
information systems, setting standards to safeguard system situation:
quality that protects the safety of individuals and society, and
preserving values and institutions considered to be the (i) Identify and Clearly Describe the Facts
quality of life in an information society [8]. This involves finding out who did what to whom, and where;
when and how. In most cases, you will be astonished of the
According to Haag [5] as we prepare future professionals for mistakes in the initially reported facts, and you will find that
employment in technological fields, it is important we simply getting the facts straight helps in defining the
develop a sense of awareness of the potential types of ethical solution. Also, this assists other opposing parties involved in
issues that are common to information systems an ethical quandary to agree with the facts.
organizations. Included in a long list of issues that are
covered by policies in most organizations are policies for (ii) State the Inconsistency and Identify the Higher-
ethical computer use, information privacy, acceptable use, Order Values Involved
email, Internet use, and an anti-spam policy [11]. Pearlson The parties involved in disputes over ethical, social and
[10] pointed out that managers must be involved in political concerns always claim to pursue higher values such
monitoring outward activities of the business because as privacy, freedom and protection of property. It is very
customers and their privacy are affected when there are important to clearly define the conflict in ethical concerns
outward breaches. Other ethical issues related to information and identify the ones with higher values.
systems are:
(iii) Identify the Stakeholders
(i) Health Risks You must find out the identity of the stakeholders as every
A lot of health related concerns such as Carpal Tunnel ethical, social and political issues have stakeholders; players
Syndrome (CTS), Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI), Techno- in the game who have an interest in the outcome and that
stress and Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) are related to have invested in the situation and what they want.
prolonged use of information systems. One should be aware
of this health issues because it costs business huge amount of (iv) Identify the Reasonable Options to Select
money annually in medical treatment claims and affects It may be discovered that none of the options may ever
productivity. Although, ergonomics, which can be described satisfy all the interest involved while some of the options
as the science that studies safe work environments, or the performs a better job than others. So, sometimes concluding
study of the relationship between human and machines has at a good or ethical solution may not always be a balancing
helped to determine that it is cheaper to purchase equipment of consequences to stakeholders.
that will reduce the health risk associated with information
systems such as different keyboards, monitors that reduce
eyes strain and desks that allows proper body positioning.

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Paper ID: 02013404 155
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 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064

(v) Identify the Potential Consequences of Selected States military uses one of such game as a recruitment
Options device.
Some options may be ethically right but disastrous from
other points of view. Other options may work in one instance Another interesting and undeniable effect is the use of
and not work in another similar instance. But always ask internet in the societies worldwide; in fact, it could be said to
yourself the consequences of any option chosen. connect and eliminate differences between geographically
and culturally separated societies. The effects of the
2.2 Social Impact of Information Systems computer are still developing; nevertheless it is already
obvious that they are sufficiently wide reaching to far
The increase in the application of information systems in our surpass an answer of this length. Ultimately the internet is a
society has changed the face of almost every aspect of our means of communication. One of the results is to make
society and cultures. The most obvious effect of information learning democratic. At the click of a mouse anyone with a
system has been the rise of the internet and its consequences computer, regardless of their wealth, status, or education,
in terms of how we communicate, socialize, learn and do can access a practically limitless supply of knowledge. A
business to mention but few. However, before considering benefit of this is that with the correct internet know-how, one
the implications of the internet, which is basically linked to can find out almost anything in a matter of seconds; it
that of the computer, we shall foremost explore some revolutionizes the way people go about research.
important features of information systems and what they
mean to us. However, the same capacity for multiplying information
which makes the internet great and threatens the whole
Firstly, we must not forget that the computer was primarily organizations as music, films and other forms of
designed as a means of solving arithmetic and logic entertainment and information are released free of charge
problems, and data storage. The development of the onto the web. Inevitably sales of CD's and DVD's have
computer from these modest roots are the complex machines fallen as the use of the internet has grown, and indeed the
of today which allow us to work out more complex problems speed of the web's growth has made it nearly impossible for
in a way that would have otherwise been impossible and media companies to find ways of stemming the problem.
store more information. This affects our society in two ways: Equally, in the same way that the internet gives every single
On an individual basis it means that any person in possession person with a computer a voice with which they can share
of some kind of a computer has the capacity to store every their thoughts and ideas with the world, so too has the
document they will ever need in a single compact machine. number of offensive sites grown with the development of the
This connotes that computer allows people to set up internet, from pornographic sites to the more worrying cases
businesses and work from home on a scale never seen of websites designed for the sharing of pedophilic materials,
before, not to mention taking the human progress a step as well as racism and even terrorism supporting sites. The
beyond that of the printing press by removing the need for technology field has been overtaken with other types of
hand writing for the first time in our history. On a larger behavior that can affect anyone who uses technology such as
scale, it allows scientific progress to accelerate as computer crime.
mathematical problems incomprehensible to humans can be
worked out by simple programmed machines. The effect of Computer crime is another prevalent social impact of
computer storage capacity is to totally change how large information system in our society. The term computer crime
scale businesses function, by assisting inventory as described by Valacich [13] is the act of using a computer
management, by facilitating and expediting the storage of to commit an illegal act, such as targeting a computer while
data important to organizations, for instance: customer committing an offence, using a computer to commit an
preferences or phone numbers. offence, or using computers in the course of a criminal
activity. Computer virus and hacker attacks are intended to
Another effect of information systems is the rise in computer destroy data and software and disrupt computer services. In
games. This has caused serious worries over how they affect the year 2002 alone, more than 7,000 computer viruses were
those who use them, and especially their effects on youth. reported [6]. Phishing attacks frequently target a specific
The debate still rages over whether the large number of group of people and are intended to secure personal
violent computer games available influences those who play information, usually financially related, from innocent and
to imitate such behavior, with a host of scientific research unsuspecting responders [4]. Other types of the crime that
being done on the issue. Yet almost worrying are the are ubiquitous include carding, cloning, data diddling,
statistics which seem to be highly addictive to the quality of phishing, shoulder-surfing, salami slicing and social
such games - most notably internet based ones. In contrast engineering.
many have begun to see the potential computers held as a
means of education, since, unlike other traditional forms of Correspondingly, the increasing recognition of social
teaching tools, computer game based learning has a networking sites is a double-edged sword. On the one hand it
propensity to entertain the student. Businesses and has allowed people to connect and communicate with one
organizations are already using computers as educational another with ease and scale never seen before. At the most
devices and technology development tools, especially in the basic level this began with email, which alone can be seen as
field of virtual reality games and more would still follow. nearly equal to the invention of the telephone in terms of
Whatever one's feelings on the growth of these video games, communication. Some social sites like the
in both recreational and educational formats they are www.facebook.com have more members than the average
becoming ever more of a reality, for instance the United national population. The fact that the internet allows such
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 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064

forms of communication to be free makes it democratic. The (iii) Accounting Liability and Control
potential of such sites to be used for the good of the people Determining who should take responsibility for decisions
can be seen recently in the part played by Face book in and actions. Many of the laws and court decisions and
Middle Eastern uprisings of Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and actions establishing precedents in the area of accountability,
Libya, when it was used by rebelling citizens as a way of liability and control were firmly in place long before
coordinating strikes and marches. Yet equally there are many information systems were invented.
cases of children being groomed by sex offenders through
these websites. (iv) Quality of System
This has to do with data quality and system errors. As we
3. Emerging Technological Trends That Leads rely more on information systems, data quality issues are
To Ethical Concerns gaining more importance. These issues affect you as a
consumer and as a user.
There are no doubts that ethical concerns have long preceded
information systems. And information systems on the other (v) Quality of Life
hand has increased ethical concerns, created problems and An interesting quality of life issue that affects more and
threats to established societal rules, and new advances have more people personally is the ability to work from home.
made some laws archaic and possible threats to privacy and Before the advent of information systems most people used
ethics. There are four basic technological trends responsible to have a regular day job 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., five days a
for the ethical concerns, these are stated as follows: week in a typical office setting in our society. But with the
introduction of information systems people can work seven
(a) Increase in Computing Power days a week, all hours of the day, at home and on their ways
The increase in the computing power gives a faster access to especially the management staff in a company. Also, the
the information stored in it; this has invariably increased quality of life issues would be incomplete without
reliance and vulnerability to computer systems by mentioning online love affairs. People also lose their jobs
individuals and many organizations. and ways of life because of information systems. All these
are valid concerns of information systems.
(b) Decline in Data Storage Cost
The storage of data online is one of the factors that led to the 5. Codes of Ethical Conduct in Our Society
decline in the storage cost. Thus, this has made several
organizations to easily maintain and increase detailed According to Woodbury [15], instead of investing in “the
databases of individuals. perfect crime detection tool, a better approach might be to
virtue ethics”, and goes on to suggest that perhaps an
(c) Advance in Data Analysis “honour code” would be a better solution. The essence of
This technological inclination has given organizations creating codes of ethical conduct in our society is to give the
greater ability to analyze detailed personal information of public a sense of trust in a group of professionals. These
individuals from vast quantities of data gathered; and also to professionals make good use of these codes to define the
develop detailed profiles of individual behaviors and non- limits of their activities and to help guide them in their
obvious relationship awareness (NORA). businesses and organizations. The codes of ethics are
promises by professions to control themselves in the general
(d) Advance in Networking and the Internet interest of the society.
This has enabled copying and movement of data from one
location to another and accessing large quantities of personal Most organizations have developed guidelines for the ethical
data from remote locations with ease. use of information system and computers and most
computer-related professional institutes have also published
4. The Moral Dimensions of Information guidelines for their members. Higher institutions of learning
and public schools have developed guidelines for their
Systems students, faculty members and employees about the ethical
use of computers. In addition, they encourage all their
The moral dimensions that can control the major ethical and system users to act responsibly, ethically and legally
social concerns generated by information systems are as whenever they are using computers and to obey accepted
follows: rules of online etiquette. Some of the impacted ethics and
public policy guidelines prohibit the followings:
(i) Information Right and Obligation
What information rights do individuals and organizations 1. To interfere with other people’s computer files
possess with respect to themselves? What can they protect? 2. Spying other peoples files
What obligation do individuals and organization have 3. To harm other people with the use of computers
concerning this information? [8]. 4. Stealing with the use of computers
5. Using computer to bear false witness
(ii) Property Rights and Obligations 6. Copying and using proprietary software without license
How will traditional intellectual property rights be protected 7. Using other peoples computer resources without legal
in a digital society in which tracing and accounting for authority
ownership is difficult and ignoring such property rights is so
easy? [8].

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Author Profile
of the most serious social, political, legal and ethical
Engr. Mosud Y. Olumoye received a bachelor’s
questions involving information systems will present degree in Engineering from Ondo State University,
themselves on a large scale. Some of the discussions in this Ado-Ekiti in 1995, Master degree in Information
paper will give one an insight that the future developments Technology in Ladoke Akintola University of
in information systems will make ethics and social impacts Technology in 2006 and NOUN. He is a lecturer in
more vibrant and more important than ever. Lagos State Polytechnic, SPTSA, Mainland Annex and a consultant
in Fiatcom Nigeria Limited on ICT, Project Management and
Health, Safety and Environment (HSE). He has written many
References textbooks on ICT and research papers in international journals.
[1] Anonymous (2012). Ethical and Social Impact of
Information Systems. [Online]. Available:
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