Ethics

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Ethics
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Defined

• ethics (used with a sing. verb) The study of
  the general nature of morals and of the specific
  moral choices to be made by a person moral
  philosophy.
• ethics (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The rules
  or standards governing the conduct of a person or
  the members of a profession medical ethics.
• American Heritage Dictionary

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An ethical issue is said to arise whenever
one party in pursuit of its goals engages in
behavior that materially affects the ability of
another party to pursue its goals.

• Mason, Mason, and Culnan,
• Ethics of Information Management, Sage

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Ethical Guidelines

• The ability to cause harmful consequences gtgt need
  for ethical behavior.
• Power gtgt consequences.
• Agency acting on behalf of others is power.
• Control over scarce resources is power.
• Information is power. Confidentiality, privacy.
• Info and info systems have economic ,social,
  political effects. Design is political.

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Reasons for formal ethical codes

• To regulate members behavior 
• To inform them of expected behavior
• Reminder that ethical behavior overrides many
  other considerations
• Reminder of personal responsibility
• To hold members accountable
• Bases for judging in cases of breach
• Help address situations where conflicting views
  of what is right are possible
• To present profession to society
• State its ethical bases, reassure stakeholders,
  and give them a basis for evaluating professionals

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Who is being protected?

• Subjects
• The testers
• Sponsoring organization(s)
• Users of data, findings

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Ethics and needs and usability assessment

• User and task analysis
• Testing
• User information collected by system in operation
• Design

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Principles(Based largely on Burmeister, 2000)

• Non-harming/minimal risk
• Physical, social, psychological
• Informed consent
• Information
• Comprehension
• Voluntariness
• Participation not coerced, directly or indirectly
• Can withdraw at any point
• Confidentiality
• Waivers/permission to use info
• Overview by others (human subjects review)

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ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGISTS AND CODE OF
CONDUCT 2002

• Principle A Beneficence and Nonmaleficence
  strive to benefit those with whom they work and.
  safeguard the welfare and rights of those with
  whom they interact
• Principle B Fidelity and Responsibility
  establish relationships of trust with those with
  whom they work. uphold professional standards
  of conduct, clarify their professional roles and
  obligations, accept appropriateresponsibility for
  their behavior, and seek to manage conflicts of
  interest
• Principle C Integrityseek to promote accuracy,
  honesty, and truthfulness in the science,
  teaching, and practice of their profession.
  do not steal, cheat, or engage in fraud,
  subterfuge, or intentional misrepresentation of
  factstrive to keep their promises
• Principle D Justice recognize that fairness
  and justice entitle all persons to access to and
  benefit from the contributions of psychology and
  to equal quality in the processes, procedures,
  and services being conducted exercise reasonable
  judgment and take precautions to ensure that
  their potential biases, the boundaries of their
  competence, and the limitations of their
  expertise do not lead to or condone unjust
  practices
• Principle E Respect for People's Rights and
  Dignityrespect the dignity and worth of all
  people, and the rights of individuals to privacy,
  confidentiality, and self-determination. special
  safeguards may be necessary to protect the rights
  of those whose vulnerabilities impair autonomous
  decision-making

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User and task analysis

• What we ask observe
• Privacy
• Trust
• Willingness to look bad
• How we use that information
• How we interpret it
• How we report it
• Whom we tell
• Managers and supervisors?
• Confidentiality and harming?

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Testing

• Larger issue of ethical testing
• Treatment of test subjects
• How testers treat them
• Effects on them of the test situation
• Stress
• Embarrassment
• Exposure to harmful material e.g. via internet
• Children, religious or cultural sensitivity
• Uses of the data
• Special populations who may need protection
• Children
• Internal subjects

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Informed consent

• Participants must have necessary information and
  understand it
• Can children give informed consent?
• Consent must be freely given
• Can employees choose freely?
• Written consent forms

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Informed Consent to Research (from APA)

• Inform participants about
• the purpose of the research, expected duration,
  and procedures
• their right to decline to participate and to
  withdraw from the research once participation has
  begun
• the foreseeable consequences of declining or
  withdrawing
• reasonably foreseeable factors that may be
  expected to influence their willingness to
  participate such as potential risks, discomfort,
  or adverse effects
• any prospective research benefits
• limits of confidentiality
• incentives for participation and
• whom to contact for questions about the research
  and research participants' rights.
• provide opportunity for the prospective
  participants to ask questions and receive
  answers.

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Informed Consent for Recording Voices and Images
in Research (APA)

• obtain informed consent from research
  participants prior to recording their voices or
  images for data collection unless
• the research consists solely of naturalistic
  observations in public places, and it is not
  anticipated that the recording will be used in a
  manner that could cause personal identification
  or harm, or
• the research design includes deception, and
  consent for the use of the recording is obtained
  during debriefing.

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Taping concerns

• Videotaping and identity
• Video, audiotaping catching unrelated behavior,
  comments

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Confidentiality Privacy (from APA)

• Maintaining Confidentialitytake reasonable
  precautions to protect confidential information
  obtained through or stored in any medium,
• Discussing the Limits of Confidentialitydiscuss
  with persons and organizations (1) the relevant
  limits of confidentiality and (2) the foreseeable
  uses of the information
• RecordingBefore recording the voices or images
  of individuals obtain permission from all such
  persons or their legal representatives.
• Minimizing Intrusions on Privacy(a) include in
  written and oral reports and consultations, only
  information germane to the purpose. (b) discuss
  confidential information obtained in their work
  only for appropriate scientific or professional
  purposes and only with persons clearly concerned
  with such matters.
• Use of Confidential Information for Didactic or
  Other Purposes do not disclose in their
  writings, lectures, or other public media,
  confidential, personally identifiable information
  unless (1) they take reasonable steps to
  disguise the person or organization, (2) the
  person or organization has consented in writing

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Methods

• Informed consent
• Written waiver recorded not sufficient
• Repeated on recording useful
• Confidentiality
• Keep identifying info and data separate
• Maintain control over the data

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Human subjects review

• Comes from medical research
• Institutional oversight
• UC Berkeley Committee for the Protection of Human
  Subjects http//cphs.berkeley.edu7006/

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User information collected by system in operation

• What is collected
• How is it used
• What does the user know
• What control does the user have
• Limiting info
• How info used
• Correcting info

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Truste model privacy statementhttp

• What personally identifiable info NAME
  collects.
• What personally identifiable information third
  parties collect through the Web site.
• cookies
• What organization collects the information.
• How NAME uses the information.
• With whom NAME may share user information.
• What choices are available to users regarding
  collection, use and distribution of the
  information.
• What security procedures protect from loss,
  misuse or alteration of information under NAME
  control.
• How users can correct any inaccuracies

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Some particular concerns
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Design itself

• Technology and anger
• Making people feel stupid
• Inconvenience is more than an inconvenience
• Trust and reliability
• A system that doesnt do what the user expects

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Web site design

• NCI Usability.gov about

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Other areas of ethical dilemmas

• How public is internet behavior?
• Monitoring chat groups, weblogs, and the like
• Relationships with subjects
• What happens when they become your friends?
• Altering results
• Being asked to
• Being tempted to
• When is it altering?