Understanding, appreciating and taking corrective steps to maintain and enhance social and ethical responsibility in the information age is important not only because of our increased dependence on information and communication technologies, but also because information and communication technologies pose complex challenges. Ethical Issues of Information Systems strives to address these pertinent issues. This scholarly and academic book provides insight on many topics of debate and discussion in the field and lends the most recent research in the field of IT ethics and social responsibility.

This book explores the impact of technology on ethical issues. A series of real-world scenarios are drawn from both business- and technology-oriented contexts.

Legal and ethical issues have become a standard part of engineering and business schools' curricula. This has not been the case for computer science or management information systems programs, although there has been increasing emphasis on the social skills of these students. This leaves a frightening void in their professional development. Information systems pose unique social challenges, especially for technical professionals who have been taught to think in terms of logic, structures and flows. Social, Ethical and Policy Implications of Information Technology focuses on the human impact of information systems, including ethical challenges, social implications, legal issues, and unintended costs and consequences.

"This scholarly examination of the ethical issues in information technology management covers basic details such as improving user education and developing security requirements as well as more complicated and far-reaching problems such as protecting infrastructure against information warfare. Social responsibility is analyzed with global examples and applications, including knowledge-based society in Latin America, socioeconomics factors of technology in the United States, and system ethics in the Arab world."

"Information Systems for Business and Beyond introduces the concept of information systems, their use in business, and the larger impact they are having on our world."--BC Campus website.

The frequency of new editions of this book is indicative of the rapid and trem- dous changes in the fields of computer and information sciences. First published in 1995, the book has rapidly gone through three editions already and now we are in the fourth. Over this period, we have become more dependent on computer and telecommunication technology than ever before and computer technology has become ubiquitous. Since I started writing on social computing, I have been ad- cating a time when we, as individuals and as nations, will become totally dependent on computing technology. That time is almost on us. Evidence of this is embodied in the rapid convergence of telecommunication, broadcasting, and computing devices; the miniaturization of these devices; and the ever increasing storage capacity , speed of computation, and ease of use. These qualities have been a big pulling force sucking in millions of new users every day, sometimes even those unwilling. Other appealing features of these devices are the increasing number of applications, apps, as they are increasingly becoming known, and being wireless and easily portable. Whether small or big, these new gizmos have become the c- terpiece of an individual’s social and economic activities and the main access point for all information. Individuals aside, computing technology has also become the engine that drives the nations’ strategic and security infrastructures that control power grids, gas and oil storage facilities, transportation, and all forms of national communication, including emergency services.

This new edition provides an updated discussion on the ethical and social issues that continue to evolve as computing and information technologies proliferate. It surveys thought-provoking questions about the impact of technology. It shows how changes in information technology influence morality and the law and is a cogent analysis of civil liberties, harassment, and discrimination. In addition, the book explores techniques in electronic crime investigation. This new edition features three new chapters that cover computer network crimes, computer crime investigations, and biometrics.