Digital Ethics in a Digital World
How digital ethics are different than the analog world.
Digital ethics, sometimes called information ethics, is the study of how people or businesses should interact online, how they handle digital data and even broader digital-related issues. We’re almost always connected with smart phones, smart computers, smart watches and even smart homes. Technology has removed boundaries and brought about many changes to how people connect and interact around the world. These changes have affected our society in ways that we’re just now starting to understand.
Let’s dive in with a big one. Is computer code considered speech? This is important because speech is protected by the government. Put simply, code is the language that humans use to talk to computers and how computers talk to each other. But if code is legally considered speech, then potentially, if someone writes a virus code – this could be protected by the law as free speech.
At an event about understanding digital ethics called the World Ethical Data Forum, people come together to discuss a range of interrelated issues around the use and future of data. Consumers are becoming more aware and concerned about what happens with their personal data once it’s collected by companies. Personal data could be your online browsing habits, what you do and say on social media, what you say to your smart products like Alexa and Google Assistant or even your health-related data from your smart watch or bracelet. Is it ethical for these companies to track and store such personal information? And on the flipside, what if your data could save someone’s life? Do you have an ethical responsibility to share that information with them?
While the nuances of digital ethics are sure to be debated for many years to come, it’s good to stay up to date on the latest conversations. Especially since one discussion is how to plan for “singularity” (aka an artificially intelligent super computer predicted to become so smart it won’t need humans anymore). Watch out for super WALL-E!