The document provides instructions for a project assignment on applying decision making frameworks to IT ethical issues. Students must write a report of at least 1000 words that describes a current IT ethical issue, applies one of four decision making approaches (virtue ethics, utilitarian, fairness, or common good) using a seven step process, considers the impact, and provides a rationale for their chosen approach. The document lists 21 potential ethical issues students may choose to address and write about.

1. Objective:
Apply decision making frameworks to IT-related ethical issues
Submission Requirements:
Prepare a report with a total minimum of 1,000 words and
submit it to the Project A Assignment Assignments Folder as an
attached Microsoft Word file (as an .rtf or .doc format file).
Please note: Use at least one article on the topic of your chosen
IT Ethics issue and cite and reference it as the basis for some
part of your report. Do not quote any source text (from the book
or article) and do not include any graphics of any kind in your
project papers. Only use text and original expression - only that
will be counted in addressing the minimum word count and
addressing the topic criteria.
Format: Indicate appropriate American Psychological
Association (APA) style for citations and references for all
sources you use. In addition to critical thinking and analysis
skills, your paper should reflect appropriate grammar and
spelling, good organization, and proper business-writing style.
Note: you only need to use APA style guidelines for the
citations you provide in the body of your text to indicate that
you are drawing information from a source (but not quoting it)
and also in a corresponding reference entry in a list of
references after the end of the body of your text.
Here is a link to descriptions and examples of APA references
by category of online article publication:
For this paper, the following elements must be addressed (in a
text-only report total minimum of 1,000 words) with the
corresponding required headings shown below:

2. Current IT-related Ethical Issue
(heading)
Choose and describe the context of a Current IT-related Ethical
Issue from the list of topics provided at bottom of this post.
Decision-Making Process (heading)
Under the Decision-Making Process (heading) of your report,
you should chose one of the four common approaches (the
ethical principles described in the list below) as the method to
reason and resolve the ethical issue you have chosen in your
Project A (from the list of ethical issues in the assignment
description).
Four common approaches to ethical decision making:
Virtue ethics approach - the ethical choice that best reflects
moral virtues in yourself and your community
Utilitarian approach - the ethical choice that produces the
greatest excess of benefits over harm
Fairness approach - the ethical choice that treats everyone the
same and shows no favoritism or discrimination
Common good approach - the ethical choice that advances the
common good
For the second part of Apply the Decision-Making Process part
of your report, refer to the diagram and discussion of the
Reynolds 7 Step Decision-Making Process in the Module 2
Reading for Week 2 to include identifying and choosing
alternatives. Include the decision and the evaluation results
(Note: use care not to go too far from the basic problem with
your assumptions you make for the evaluation.)

3. The flow is sequential up through the evaluation stage, at which
point if the results indicate unintended consequences, there is a
decision path that iterates the entire process to redefine the
problem and solution in an attempt to solve it better - and this
process continues repeating the entire process until there are no
discernable unintended consequences
Impact of the Decision Process
(heading)
Consider the Impact of the Decision Process on you, your
organization, stakeholders, your customers and suppliers, and
the environment
Rationale
(heading)
State the approach that comes closest to your ethical decision
and provide your Rationale using one of the four common
approaches. In the Rationale section, you should describe why
the ethical approach you chose for the Decision-Making Process
section was the best candidate among other possible choices for
an approach. Mention why these other approaches don't make as
good a fit with your topic area as the one you chose.
______
Choose and describe the context of a Current IT-related Ethical
Issue (under the Current IT-related Ethical Issue heading) from
the following list of topics:
1. Privacy on the Web. What is happening now in terms of
privacy on the Web? Think about recent abuses and
improvements. Describe and evaluate Web site policies,
technical and privacy policy protections, and current proposals
for government regulations.

4. 2. Personal Data Privacy Regulations in Other Countries. Report
on personal data privacy regulations, Web site privacy policies,
and governmental/law enforcement about access to personal
data in one or more countries; e.g., the European Union. This is
especially relevant as our global economic community expands
and we are more dependent on non-US clients for e-business
over the Internet.
3. Spam. Describe new technical solutions and the current state
of regulation. Consider the relevance of freedom of speech.
Discuss the roles of technical and legislative solutions.
4. Computer-Based Crimes. Discuss the most prevalent types of
computer crimes, such as Phishing. Analyze why and how these
can occur. Describe protective measures that might assist in
preventing or mitigating these types of crimes.
5. Government surveillance of the Internet. The 9/11 attacks on
the US in 2001 brought many new laws and permits more
government surveillance of the Internet. Is this a good idea?
6. The Digital Divide. Does it exist; what does it look like; and,
what are the ethical considerations and impact?
7. Privacy in the Workplace: Monitoring Employee Web and E-
Mail Use. What are current opinions concerning monitoring
employee computer use. What policies are employers using?
Should this be authorized or not?
8. Medical Privacy. Who owns your medical history? What is
the state of current legislation to protect your health
information? Is it sufficient? There are new incentives with
federal stimulus financing for health care organizations to
develop and implement digital health records.

5. 9. Software piracy. How many of you have ever made an
unauthorized copy of software, downloaded software or music
(free or for a fee), or used copyrighted information without
giving proper credit or asking permission? Was this illegal or
just wrong? How is this being addressed?
10. Predictions for Ethical IT Dilemma in 2020. What is your
biggest worry or your prediction for ethical concerns of the
future related to information technology?
11. Consumer Profiling. With every purchase you make, every
Web site you visit, your preferences are being profiled. What is
your opinion regarding the legal authority of these
organizations to collect and aggregate this data?
12. Biometrics & Ethics. Your fingerprint, retinal-vessel image,
and DNA map can exist entirely as a digital image in a
computer, on a network, or in the infosphere. What new and old
ethical problems must we address?
13. Ethical Corporations. Can corporations be ethical? Why or
why not?
14. Social Networking. What are some of the ethical issues
surrounding using new social networks? How are these now
considered for business use? What are business social
communities? Are new/different protections and security needed
for these networks?
15. Gambling in Cyberspace. Is it legal? Are there national
regulations and/or licensing? What are the oversight and
enforcement requirements? Are there international implications?
What are the social and public health issues?
16. Pornography in Cyberspace For example, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruling protecting as free speech computer-generated child

6. pornography
17. Medicine and Psychiatry in Cyberspace. Some
considerations include: privacy issues; security; third-party
record-keeping; electronic medical records; access to
information, even by the patient (patient rights); access to
information by outsiders without patient knowledge; authority
to transfer and/or share information. Are there any policies
proposed by professional organizations?
18. Counterterrorism and Information Systems Your protection
versus your rights
19. Open-source Software versus Closed-source Software
Ethical ramifications and impact on intellectual property law
20. Creative Commons Licenses How do they work and what are
the legal and ethical impacts and concerns?
21. Universal ID Card. What is the general position of the U.S.
government about issuing each individual a unique ID Card?
Which individual U.S. government agencies have already
provided a unique ID Card? What steps have been taken to
include individual ID information electronically in passports?
How is privacy and security provided?