Chapter 6

Ethics And Professionalism Of Emerging

Technologies
 Technology and ethics
 Technology can serve to promote or restrict human rights.
 Ethics is particularly important for the accountancy profession, with a
code for professional ethics based on five basic principles –
 Integrity
 Objectivity
Competence Confidentiality
 Professional behavior
 However, the emergence of new technologies raises some new challenges
for the profession to address.

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 General ethical principles
1. Respect privacy.
2. Avoid harm.
3. Be honest and trustworthy.
4. Be fair and take action not to discriminate
5. Respect the work required to produce new ideas, inventions,
creative work…
6. Honor confidentiality

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 Professional responsibilities
1. Strive to achieve high quality in both the processes and products of
professional work.
2. Maintain high standards of professional competence, conduct, and
ethical practice.
3. Know and respect existing rules pertaining to professional work.
4. Accept and provide appropriate professional review.
5.Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of computer systems and
their impacts, including analysis of possible risks.
6. Perform work only in areas of competence.
7. Foster public awareness and understanding of computing, related
technologies, and their consequences.
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 Cont...
8.Access computing and communication resources only when authorized
or when compelled by the public good.
9. Design and implement systems that are robustly and usably secure.

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 Professional leadership principles
1. Ensure that the public good is the central concern during all professional computing
work.
2. Articulate, encourage acceptance of and evaluate fulfillment of social responsibilities
by members of the organization or group.
3. Manage personnel and resources to enhance the quality of working life.
4. Articulate, apply, and support policies and processes that reflect the principles of the
Code.
5. Create opportunities for members of the organization or group to grow as
professionals.
6. Use care when modifying or retiring systems. Interface changes, the removal of
features, and even software updates have an impact on the productivity of users and the
quality of their work.
7. Recognize and take special care of systems that become integrated into the
infrastructure of society.
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 Digital privacy
 Digital Privacy is the protection of personally identifiable or business
identifiable information that is collected from respondents through
information collection activities or from other sources.
 It is a collective definition that encompasses three sub-related
categories; information privacy, communication privacy, and individual
privacy.
 It is often used in contexts that promote advocacy on behalf of
individual and consumer privacy rights in digital domains, and

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 Information Privacy
 Information privacy is the notion that individuals should have the
freedom, or right, to determine how their digital information is collected
and used.
 Every country has various laws that dictate how information may be
collected and used by companies.
Some of those laws are written to give agency to the preferences of
individuals/consumers in how their data is used.
 In other places, like in the United States, privacy law is argued by
some to be less developed in this regard,
For example, some legislation allows companies to self-regulate their
collection and dissemination practices of consumer information.

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 Communication Privacy
 Communication privacy is the notion that individuals should have the
freedom, or right, to communicate information digitally with the
expectation that their communications are secure;
meaning that messages and communications will only be accessible
to the sender's original intended recipient.
 Communications can be intercepted directly through various hacking
methods; this is expanded upon further below.
 Communications can also be delivered to recipients unbeknownst to the
sender due to false assumptions made regarding the platform or medium
which was used to send information.

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 Individual Privacy
 Individual privacy is the notion that individuals have a right to exist
freely on the internet,
in that they can choose what types of information they are exposed
to, and more importantly that unwanted information should not
interrupt them.
 An example is an internet user receiving unwanted ads and
emails/spam, or a computer virus that forces the user to take actions
they otherwise wouldn't.
 In such cases the individual, during that moment, doesn't exist digitally
without interruption from unwanted information; thus, their individual
privacy has been infringed upon.

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 Some digital privacy principles
 Data Minimization: collect the minimal amount of information necessary from
individuals and businesses consistent with the Department’s mission and legal
requirements.
 Transparency: Information collected will not be used for any other purpose
unless authorized or mandated by law.
 Accuracy: Information collected will be maintained in a sufficiently accurate,
timely, and complete manner to ensure that the interests of the individuals and
businesses are protected.
 Security: Adequate physical and IT security measures will be implemented to
ensure that the collection, use, and maintenance of identifiable information are
properly safeguarded and the information is promptly destroyed in accordance
with approved records control schedules.

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 Accountability and trust
 Emerging technologies can provide improved accuracy, better
quality and cost efficiencies for businesses in every sector.
 They can enhance trust in the organization’s operations and
processes, which is crucial for sustainable success.
 But this can produce a paradox: the very solutions that can be
used to better manage risk, increase transparency and build
confidence are often themselves the source of new risks, which
may go unnoticed.

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 Challenges in using Artificial Intelligence

 AI is only as good as the data it is exposed to, which is where certain

challenges may present themselves.
 Alternatively, AI also has the potential to take the burden of laborious
and time-consuming tasks from these people, freeing up their time and
brainpower for other things
 Managing the challenges posed by AI will require careful planning to
ensure that the
full benefits are realized and
risks are mitigated.

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 Challenges in using Robotics in manufacturing
 With automation and robotics moving from production lines out into
other areas of work and business, the potential for humans losing jobs is
great here too.

 As automation technologies become more advanced, there will be a

greater capability for automation to take over more and more complex
jobs.

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 Challenges in using the Internet of Things

 As more and more connected devices (such as smart watches and

fitness trackers) join the Internet of Things (IoT) the amount of data
being generated is increasing.
 Companies will have to plan carefully how this will affect the customer-
facing application and how to best utilize the masses of data being
produced.
 There are also severe security implications of mass connectivity that
need to be addressed.

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 Challenges in Big Data
 Almost all the technologies mentioned above have some relation to Big
Data.
 The huge amount of data being generated on a daily basis has the
potential to provide businesses with better insight into their customers
as well as their own business operations.
 Although data can be incredibly useful for spotting trends and analyzing
impacts, surfacing all this data to humans in a way that they can
understand can be challenging. AI will play a role here.

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 Treats
 New and emerging technologies pose significant opportunities for
businesses if they utilize them well and understand their true value early
on.
 They also pose risks and questions not only to business but to society as
a whole.
 Planning for
how to deal with these emerging technologies
where value can be derived and
assessing potential risks before they become a fully-fledged reality
 is essential for businesses that want to thrive in the world of AI, Big
Data and IoT.

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 Some risks of emerging technology are:
 Driverless car:
 while a compelling option for future fleer cars, companies could crash and burn from
claims related to bodily injury and property damage.
 Wearables:
 Google glass, Fitbit and other wearables can expose companies to the invasion of
privacy claims that may not be covered by general liability or personal injury claims
that weren’t foreseen.
 Drones:
 Turbulence is in the offing for manufacturers and organizations that fail to protect
themselves for property damage and bodily injury, as well as errors and omissions.
 Internet of things:
 The proliferation of sensors and cross-platform integration creates potential exposure
from privacy invasion, bodily injury and property damage that may connect an
organization to huge liabilities.
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