Ethical Scenario

Question: Describe about recent ethical dilemma or ethically questionable situation relating to ICT that you are familiar with. This situation can be either in the media (for example one you have sourced from a newspaper, or online through social media) or through your workplace? Answer: In an article posted in the ProPublic on 9 February 2015, it was seen that one of the largest banks of USA has discriminated against the blacks of Latin America and the Asians. The fault that the bank made was that bank had qualified less qualified people for the loan using hidden racial criteria to give loan in one of the loan programmes. Cases have been filed in the Manhattan court the suit also accused the bank of directing homebuyers to particular neighborhoods on the basis of their ethnicity or race. It was said that the bank has broken the Fair Housing Act, a law passed in 1968. This law was passed to prevent the segregation of the countrys cities. Fair Housing Justice Center filed the suit, it is a non-profit organization based in New York City which is funded by the Housing and Urban Development of U.S. so as to put into effect the federal law which bans discrimination of houses (Business-ethics.com, 2015). It was enquired by the Fair Housing Justice Center, who sent trained actors to find out whether the non-white and white homebuyers was treated differently, when they were trying to qualify for a mortgage. They all said that they were married and that they had no children and they were applying for the first time in home loan. Even the black Latinos and the Asians were asked to show high qualification, and incomes. It was seen that a black was denied the loan by saying that she does not have enough savings, while a white people (actor) who had less income and savings and credit, was approved for the loan. It can be clearly seen that the bank was doing discrimination against the black and the whites in USA when it was banned in the year 1968. The black people were clearly suffering ad were losing out on their white counterparts even though they had higher qualifications and salary. It can be said that the honesty, right, duty and fairness plays an important role in the ethical decisions of a company. It can be said the companies should not breach the interest of the publics while they are practicing their profession. The trust of the stake holders should not be put under threat (Josephsoninstitute.org, 2015). It needs to be kept in mind that the public interest should not be breached as well as the trust of the stakeholders. Integrity and Honesty are essential for the people to make professional decision. Though there may be certain circumstances where, it will be beneficial for a person to be deceiving in some way or the other. But the persons should keep in mind that the he or she should not do any such thing that will enhance the reputation of the person at the cost of the reputation of the others. The people in general should have certain rights in order to survive in the place. America does have a strong record of human rights. Though some people are denied the basic rights based on their color, sex or race. The people should be equally treated in the public and all the information concerning them are to be shared, since the people have the right to information (Igi-global.com, 2015). If any people demands any sort of information which concerns them, then they have the right to get that information and anyone who keeps the information secret is to be dealt with seriously. People of Australia have thought of ethical issues for a long time, but the concept of ICT is a new phenomenon. It needs to be kept in mind that the ethical situation arises in the context of the relation with the people (Australia.gov.au, 2015). In the fast changing technological environment, the ethical issues are increasing. The ethical issues are raised and demand that the situation is to be resolved. The rise in the use of the ICT has enabled that the people get all the information and thus has resulted in affecting the society greatly. The vital issues that ICT raised was the invasion of corporate and individual privacy, societal and individual rights, intellectual property rights, values, accountability and preservation for the consequences that have arisen from the use of ICT. The ACS codes of ethics is based on the factors five factors The Primacy of the Public Interest The Enhancement of Quality of Life Honesty Competence Professional Development Professionalism It should be seen that the ACS deals with the following rules and code of ethics (ACS Code of Professional Conduct Professional Standards Board Australian Computer Society, 2015). In the above example, it was seen the people who were black were denied the loan and were given the reason that they had insufficient savings which was misleading information and the secrecy of information was done when the people demanded an analysis. The ACS one-page Code of Professional Conduct that has six ethical values, it encourage the corporate members, individual members, and other businesses as well as the ICT departments, to show prominent display. In the context of the American example it was seen that the company broke the law by discriminating among the people. By doing this they tried to give benefits to the white people and harmed the rights of the white people (Press.anu.edu.au, 2015). It can be said that the actions decreased the happiness of the people in the country. If the laws are set right and the codes of ethics are maintained then the people will be benefitted. And will increase their happiness. The people at large will see that the country is protecting their rights and they will feel that secure and can rely on the laws. There is as such no right or wrong practice. People who do wrong are in their mind and heart believes that they are right in their actions. People do not intend to harm other willingly, it is often a situation or practice that guides the mind of the people to do wrong things or practice wrong doings. References ACS Code of Professional Conduct Professional Standards Board Australian Computer Society. (2015) (1st ed.). Retrieved from https://www.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/4901/Code-of-Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf Australia.gov.au,. (2015).Rights | australia.gov.au. Retrieved 17 March 2015, from https://www.australia.gov.au/topics/law-and-justice/rights Business-ethics.com,. (2015).Housing Enforcement Group Sues MT Bank for Discrimination | Business Ethics. Retrieved 17 March 2015, from https://business-ethics.com/2015/02/09/1645-housing-enforcement-group-sues-mt-bank-for-discrimination/ Igi-global.com,. (2015).Ethics and Social Issues Related to Information Communication Technology (ICT): Computer Science and Information Technology Book Chapter | IGI Global. Retrieved 17 March 2015, from https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/ethics-social-issues-related-information/43777 Josephsoninstitute.org,. (2015).Josephson Institute of Ethics: Making Ethical Decisions: The Six Pillars of Character. Retrieved 17 March 2015, from https://josephsoninstitute.org/MED/MED-2sixpillars.html Press.anu.edu.au,. (2015).'15. Ethical issues of emerging ICT applications a Euro-landscape' in Professionalism in the Information and Communication Technology Industry by Edited by John Weckert and Richard Lucas | ANU Press. Retrieved 17 March 2015, from https://press.anu.edu.au/apps/bookworm/view/Professionalism+in+the+Information+and+Communication+Technology+Industry/10791/ch15.xhtml