Name Collins Thaimuta

Registration Number 19/02896

Campus Ruaraka Main Campus
Mode of Study Full Time
Course BSc. Information Security and Forensics
Unit Code BISF 2104
Unit Name Legal, Ethical and Professional Issues in IT
QUESTION ONE

a) You are working for a private company as the lead developer on a new computer
controlled device for carrying out intricate and delicate eye surgery that is planned to be
much more accurate than previous devices. The computer controls direction, intensity and
timing of a beam allows surgeons to save patients eyesight. However, delays have put the
project behind schedule, it is not fully tested and the deadline for delivery to hospitals is
approaching. Your manager wants you to authorize the delivery of the devices to hospitals
on time so that the machines can be immediately used on patients, even though he is aware
that the planned testing is not complete. He threatens to fire you if you do not. Identify the
stakeholders then discuss the legal, social and professional / ethical implications of both
following and not following your manager’s instructions and come to a conclusion. (8
Marks)
The first stakeholders on this practice are the medical practitioners. These may be of various fields
such as opticians, physicians or even general doctors among others. If the order of devices occurs,
then these stakeholders may have both positive and negative implications. First of all, if all goes
well they will have an increase in their reputation as well as a deeper understanding of the problem
regarding their patients. Their patients will be more satisfied increasing their market but if negative
they risk loss of lives, poor reputations that were otherwise fine as well as being prohibited to take
part in the profession itself.
Another stakeholder is the company tasked with producing these devices. Success of the devices
may lead to improvement of services from the company as well as an increase in the reputation
that the company has due to an increase in the confidence by the customers as well as an increase
in sales and customer satisfaction. Failure may lead to legal action being taken against the company
as well as loss of life and permanent loss if eyesight on to the sides of the patients and also lack of
confidence and trust that had been placed by the customers on the manufacturer which will now
not be there.
The developer of the technology is also another stakeholder. If there is no problem the developer
will receive more accolades as well as future opportunities to do the same and more satisfied
customers and investors but failure would cause a disruption in business activities as well as
cessation of business due to no confidence, loss pf lives of the patients where blame will be on the
company that may be pressured to provide compensation as well as reduced or no confidence on
the company.

b) What are the five areas a corporate code of ethics should address? (5 Marks)

1.The first area to be looked into is integrity. This is a requirement whereby the corporates are
needed to be honest, truthful and straightforward with no hidden agenda about their business
activities. They should set themselves far from any form of misleading information of any
particular kind.
2.Another area to be looked into is the matter of objectives. This is objectivity which is not
following any conflict of interest, being subject to bias or allowing third parties or people to
override logical judgement.
3.Corporates need to address matters to deal with confidentiality. This means that they are not
supposed to disclose any form of information that pertains a particular entity or the organization
itself not unless it is required to be done.
4.It is necessary to look into professional behavior. At this time any form of behavior that would
jeopardize the organization should not be condoned or accepted. An in case of occurrence a
particular action should be taken against it.
5.Professional competence and due care also need to be looked into. This refers to a commitment
that is on the professional level and skill of the corporate. Those taking part under the authority of
the organization should have gone through supervision and the needed training.

c) In terms of IPR (intellectual property rights) protection what are the challenges that new
technology poses to consumers, artists, and business and what measures have content
providers taken in response to piracy and illegal file sharing? (6 Marks)
Challenges;
1.Among the challenges faced are financial loss because as individuals take part in piracy they
lead to loss on the side of the artists and companies that have a copyright claim to the material and
resources that they happen to have pirated.
2.Another challenge faced is the reduced integrity on the side of the consumers taking part in
piracy. When this happens consumers who do this do not have the inculcated values of integrity
resulting to a society that is imbalanced morally.
3.Another challenge is the loss of confidence in companies that are tasked with providing copyright
to the organization that is providing the copyrights to. When this happens it is necessary for the
company to take action or cease closure.
Responses;
1.Measures taken by content creators are such as stricter legal action taken by those who happen
to either infringe them by means of piracy or organizations that aided these activities to take place
in the first place by direct support or letting it happen.
2.There has also been the improvement in coordination and functioning between those taking part
in the copyright business and enforcers of the law such that any form of infringement is dealt with
in a quick and precise manner.
3.There has been an improvement pf technological and security systems such that they are suitable
to provide more secure services to the individual who has his resources and materials under
copyright and making piracy difficult.

d) Elaborate various ways in which professional bodies can contribute to professional

practice in Organizations (6 Marks)
1.These bodies can come up with increased standards of their professionals and those who wish to
join the profession. This will lead to an output in the professional work that they take part in
ensuring that those who take part in the profession are best suited for the job.
2.The professional bodies can also offer additional; training through workshops and conferences
to those who are under it. These will provide enlightenment to the professional about improving
their professional practice in various means and fields.
3.Professional bodies can also improve on the syllabus of those in school studying for the purpose
of joining those careers. This will lead to them being able to get the needed and required studies
as well as being more equipped for the job.
4.These bodies may also make it a compulsory requirement for the individuals in these professions
to take part in certifications that will be able to increase their level of knowledge in that field thus
making them more skilled and resourceful.
5.These bodies may also put in stricter requirements that will make aspiring professionals able to
join those professional bodies and this will make sure that there is a standard that will be followed
when it comes to the quality of their professionals.
QUESTION TWO [25 MARKS]
a) Many people fear that the development of intelligent robots could have devastating
consequences for the human race. Using viable examples discuss the ethics of conducting
AI research (6 Marks)

1.AI research has brought with it a new age of privacy and surveillance. This is because with
the mergence and improvement of AI systems there has been subsequent abusing of these
systems whereby individuals and groups have found themselves infringing the privacy of
others with regards to data and information that they have. Currently one can use skills that
they have acquired and the provided and enhanced technology to infringe the privacy of
others which goes against a code of ethics and is not accessible such as hackers using their
skill set and technology to gain access to prohibited data and information.

2.Manipulation of behavior through the illegal access of data and information is also another
moral impediment brought about by AI research. With the illegal access of data and
information also brings about the misuse of that data and information. Most of the time when
hacking occurs it normally has a specific purpose. Severally, individuals find themselves
being harassed by others to do certain tasks such as leaking private information about their
organizations or paying a certain sum of money so that their private information is not leaked
and this brings with it manipulation of behavior abusing the ethics behind AI.

3.AI emergence and improvement has brought about a bias in decision systems. Most AI
systems are mostly logically based as the decisions they make actually depend on logic.
Several times individuals and organizations have been known to influence the decision
making of these systems by altering the algorithms behind them and making them respond
and make decisions according to their liking abusing the ethics in this field as they do not
follow what is required of them.

4.Automtion of services causing unemployment is a factor brought about by AI research and

improvement. With automation of services brings about unemployment as many
organizations have automated most of their services even those that did not require
automation to be done. Most of these cases is usually a selfish cause with the motive of
making sure that these organizations avert paying of labor to employees bring about an issue
when it comes to the ethics.

5.Emergence of autonomous systems has been on the rise. Most of these systems are
beneficial while others are Harmful to the human race. Devastation comes in when we see
weapons being automized thus posing a threat to world peace as now countries that regard
themselves as super powers seek to compete on which are more superior than the other in
terms of their arms resources and reserves. Examples of when ethics of AI was not upheld is
seen in countries such as the USA and North Korea constantly waging wars against each
other as a show of superiority.

6.A field of AI that has been of use to humanity and also abused is the field of Human Robot
Interaction. The abusing of this field comes with the emergence of sex robots. These are
devices that go against morality and have brought about a downfall in the perception of
ethics as AI is clearly misused instead of being utilized for the main purpose which it is
meant for. At this point it is clear that AI is not only used to benefit humanity but at times is
used in ways that are harmful and wasteful.

b) “When technology exploits our weaknesses, it gains control,” Discuss this statement
with reference to social media (6 Marks)

1.Social media has a tendency of taking up the user’s time and attention. This causes the user
to be dormant reducing the physical activity that is necessary for normal growth and
development of the user. The effect that is brought by this is negative such as health issues
that may arise like obesity, cardiovascular disease on the user as well as instances of
premature death on the side of the user.

2.Social media has brought about an avenue that individuals seek to obtain data and
information wrongfully that does not belong to them but belongs to other individuals and
organizations that have not granted them access. This data is used wrongfully against the
owners as most of it is usually very sensitive and private in nature. This is a negative
implication brought about by social media.
3.With emergence of social media brings with it vices such as cyber bullying whereby
individuals are trolled online and continuously harassed by other individuals and groups of
people. The effect that this has on people psychologically is immense as it may have adverse
effects in their sanity and way of thinking as well as result to depression on the side of those
affected. Cases of suicide have also been seen to be on the rise.

4.Over use of technology is also known to cause a reduction in mental activity and thinking
as well as reduced mental development especially if the user is addicted to the same. It was
observed that users who used technology and social media excessively were unable to make
certain logical and necessary logical decisions while children that overuse technology find
themselves having slow mental development.

5.Another negative implication is the segregation and harassment of individuals on social

media mostly due to factors such as religion, political affiliation as well as ethnicity. People
harass each other on social media platforms’ due to such indifferences as they are unable tp
accommodate those of their fellow social media users bringing forward a thrift in
communities, countries and groups of people.

6.Crime and terrorism has also been on the rise due to social media. This is observed as the
platform has been taken as a means to pass forward false philosophies as well as recruit
individuals unknowingly and knowingly to these illegal sects and groups. The effect brought
forward is that human rights are infringed when crimes are committed by these groups as
well as the nation losing resourceful people to these groups.

c)Briefly describe how and why online hate can turn into real violence (6 Marks)

Online hate involves people and individuals passing bias perceptions and ideologies through
social media platforms without any form of thinking on the negative results that may be
brought about by this. Whenever hate is passed online it affects a particular group as it may
be racist based, religious based, ethnic or may just be an ideology that is not agree upon by
everyone. The effect of this is that it sometimes goes very far and some individuals cross the
lines causing a state of uneasiness. If this state is further exploited negatively the effect is that
violence occurs as individuals will now see it as the last resort necessary to prove their
supremacy and an example of this is seen in countries that have ethnic issues or racist
perceptions where it takes some online hate to bring people to fighting. Various social media
platforms have tried to curb this by limiting those who cause hate through blocking them and
this has had an effect of reducing the violence though if violence caused by hate seeks tp be
finished that has to be done at an individual level first.

d) ‘The human imagination is the greatest enemy of ethics and morality” Discuss this
statement with reference to virtual reality and online gaming (6 Marks)

1. Virtual reality and online gaming causes social isolation on the real life side of the person
taking part of the virtual reality activity. This is seen whereby these people engross
themselves too much thus failing to give attention and time to those who are around them.
The effect caused by this is that the lack of social interaction causes a thrift between people
and families as no time is given for socialization.

2.Virtual reality and gaming has an effect on the sensory organs in use particularly sight and
hearing. This brings forth sensory vulnerability. These organs are at a risk of failure ir
damage as the users either use the wrong equipment or they overuse these facilities and
equipment thus bringing to themselves implications that would have otherwise been avoided
if at all care would have been taken.

3.Virtual criminality and factors such as torture are observed and known implications of
virtual reality and online gaming. As individuals take part in these virtual realities so do they
establish livelihoods that some of them even earn from. But we have other individuals who
take part in negatively exploiting these virtual platforms by causing heinous crimes such as
rape, robbery and theft. This has a negative implication on those taking part in the activity in
a responsible manner.

4.Virtual reality and online gaming has brought forth immoral fantasies as well as an upsurge
in immoral activity both in real world as well as both in the virtual world. The rise of
immorality is accrued by companies and organizations that produce immoral content to be
used on virtual premises and platforms. The effect brought about by this is an upsurge of
rape, human and child trafficking for sexual purposes as well as pedophilia which not only
affect individuals but also the whole society at large.

5.Psychiatric and mental issues are also well known issues that are brought about by virtual
reality and online gaming. This is because people taking part in virtual reality are known to
revolve excessively around their avatars such that they become dependent on them fully and
do not view themselves able to live without their avatars. These people end up neglecting
their real life personas and personalities causing social issues. Furthermore, if anything were
to happen to their avatars they end up being devastated and this results to them having mental
issues.

6.There is a negative effect of virtual reality and gaming which is an increase in accidents
that is caused by the over estimation of their abilities in the virtual world with regards of
what is possible and able to be done in the physical n actual environment. This is most
especially common in children and young individuals who wish to replicate what they took
part in on the virtual platform resulting to serious injuries that would have been avoided of
care at all had been taken. Others also wish to impress or prove others wring by activities
such as parkour and rope walking mostly for social media clout and popularity and end up
causing injury unto themselves and at certain instances even death.

e) Differential between- ethics, religion, law and morality (1 Mark)

1.Morality-This is the beliefs with respect to what is right or wrong and what is perceived as
good and bad behavior.

2.Laws-These are the rules that are compulsory and have to be followed by a group of people,
community or country so that they are able to bring regulation and order to the society. The
following of laws is compulsory.

3.Religion-This is a system of belief that is built on the foundation of faith in a power that us
supernatural and is a structure of worship and faith.

4.Ethics-These are the principles pertaining conduct that facilitate the governing of an
individual or a certain group of people.
REFERENCES

1. Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). (2020).

Retrieved 3 December 2020, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-ai/

2. Fiona J McEvoy, Y. (2020). 10 ethical concerns that will shape the VR industry. Retrieved 3
December 2020, from https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/04/10-ethical-concerns-that-will-

shape-the-vr-industry/

3. Top 9 ethical issues in artificial intelligence. (2020). Retrieved 3 December 2020, from
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/10/top-10-ethical-issues-in-artificial-intelligence/

4. (2020). Retrieved 3 December 2020, from http://www.strongprofassoc.org/wp-

content/uploads/2016/05/PAS-Module-4-May2016.pdf

5. (2020). Retrieved 3 December 2020, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/07/23/10-effecti

6. CIMA - Code of Ethics at a Glance. (2020). Retrieved 3 December 2020, from

https://www.cimaglobal.com/Professionalism/Ethics/CIMAs-code-at-a-glance/

7. (2020). Retrieved 3 December 2020, from http://www.strongprofassoc.org/wp-

content/uploads/2016/05/PAS-Module-4-May2016.pdf