Putting Information Ethics to Work

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Putting Information Ethics to Work

• Rafael Capurro
• Hochschule der Medien
• Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences
• www.capurro.de
• COST/TIST Conference, June 28, 2005, Vitznau
  Switzerland

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IT and Information Ethics

• In designing tools we are designing ways of
  being (Winograd/Flores 1986, xi)
• Designing ways of (well) being is the matter of
  ethics
• Conclusio In designing (good) (IT) tools we are
  dealing (implicitly) with ethics.

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Shannon Weaver (Source http//www.cultsock.ndi
rect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/index.html
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Shannon Weaver

• Three levels of communication problems
  (Shannon/Weaver 1949/1972, 4)
• Level A. How accurately can the symbols of
  communication be transmitted? (The technical
  problem)
• Level B. How precisely do the transmitted symbols
  convey the desired meaning? (The semantic probem)
• Level C. How effectively does the receiver
  meaning affect conduct in the desired way? (The
  effectiveness problem)

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Shannon Weaver

• The effectiveness problem is closely
  interrelated with the semantic problem, and
  overlaps it in a rather vague way and there is
  in fact overlap between all of the suggested
  categories of problems. (Shannon/Weaver 1972,
  5-6)

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Message Society

• Digital Networks
• Global Local glocal
• Interactivity
• Sustainable (IT) development
• Human-centered and inclusive information society

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Lawrence Lessig Code and Other Laws of
Cyberspace
MARKET
CODE
LAW
MORALITY
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Infoethics Morality IT

Code
Infoethics
Morality
Ethics
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Code is law (L. Lessig)

• What kind of (moral) code?
• Human dignity
• Freedom of speech
• Privacy
• Autonomy
• Cultural diversity
• Freedom of scientific research

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Information Ethics

• Information ethics deals with ethical questions
  in the field of digital production and
  reproduction of phenomena and processes such as
  the exchange, combination and use of information.

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Information Ethics

• Fields of research
• Development of moral standards, norms or values
• Critical appraisal on the creation of (new) power
  structures
• Critical appraisal of information visions and
  myths
• Critical appraisal of hidden contradictions and
  intentionalities in information theories and
  practices

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Putting Information Ethics to Work

• Promoting Reflection and Sustainability at
• Macro-Level
• WSIS Overcoming the Digital Divide
• Ethics Committees (EGE, National Ethics C.)
• Meso- und Microlevel
• Creating spaces of ethical reflection
• Codes of ethics
• Decision support groups
• Ethics counseling

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Putting Information Ethics to Work

• Sustainable IT Processes Legal, economic,
  ecologic, social, ethical
• Self-awareness (individual, institutions)
• Which information should be communicated with
  whom, how far, how long?
• Transparency, data protection (habeas data)
• Open Source, Free Software, Open Access

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Putting Information Ethics to Work

• Coaching information values
• Sustainability
• Solidarity
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Integrity
• Privacy
• Security
• Confidentiality

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Putting Information Ethics to Work

• Managing Information Ethics
• Promoting
• Reflection
• Local and global awareness
• Responsibility and Accountability
• Identity and diversity
• Cultural awareness
• Best Practices

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The European Group on Ethics in Science and New
Technologies (EGE)

• The EGE is an independent, pluralist and
  multitisciplinary body which advises the European
  Commission on ethical aspects of science and new
  technologies in connection with the preparation
  and implementation of Community legislation or
  policies.

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EGE Members 2001-2004

• Prof. Göran HERMERÉN (Sweden), President,
  Philosopher, Professor of Medical Ethics, Faculty
  of Medicine, Lund University. 
• Prof. Linda NIELSEN (Denmark), Vice-President,
  Professor of Law, Rector of the University of
  Copenhagen. 
• Prof. Nicos C. ALIVIZATOS (Greece), Professor of
  Constitutional Law, University of Athens. 
• Prof. Rafael CAPURRO (Germany), Professor of
  Information Management and Information Ethics at
  University of Applied Sciences. 
• Prof. Inez DE BEAUFORT (The Netherlands),
  Professor of Health Care Ethics at the Medical
  Faculty of the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. 
• Prof. Yvon ENGLERT (Belgium), Head of Fertility
  Clinic, Free University of Brussels (ULB),
  Professor of Medical Ethics and Deontology, ULB. 
  
• Prof. Catherine LABRUSSE-RIOU (France), Centre de
  recherche en droit privé, Université de Paris. 
• Dr. Anne McLAREN (United Kingdom), Geneticist,
  Research Associate at Wellcome CRC Institute,
  Cambridge. 
• Prof. Pere PUIGDOMÈNECH ROSELL (Spain), Research
  Professor at the Department for Molecular
  Genetics, Director of Institut de Biologia
  Molecular de Barcelona, CSIC 
• Prof. Stefano RODOTA (Italy), Professor of Civil
  Law, University of Rome, Chairman of the Italian
  Data Protection Authority, Chairman of the
  European Group of the Data Protection
  Authorities. 
• Prof. Günter VIRT (Austria), Professor of
  Theology, Institute of Catholic Moral Theology,
  University of Vienna. 
• Prof. Peter WHITTAKER (Ireland), Biologist,
  Professor of Biology, Institute of Environment,
  Philosophy and Public Policy, University of
  Lancaster, Furness College. 

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EGE Members 2001-2004
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EGE Secretariat

• Dr. Michael D. Rogers, European Commission, BERL
  10/345,  rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels,
  Belgium.
• EGE-Website europa.eu.int/comm/european_group_eth
  ics 
• EGE-Newsletter "Ethically Speaking" providing
  also information on the activities of the
  National Ethics Committees.

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EGE Opinions 2001-2005

• Opinion n. 16 (2002)Ethical aspects of patenting
  inventions involving human stem cells
• Opinion n. 17 (2003)Ethical aspects of clinical
  research in developing countries
• Opinion n. 18 (2003)Ethical aspects of genetic
  testing in the workplace
• Opinion n. 19 (2004)Ethical aspects of cord
  blood stem cells banks
• Opinion n. 20 (2005)Ethical Aspects of ICT
  implants in the human body (2005)

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Ethics and Public Policy

• Ethics councils within the sphere of public
  policy have the function of reflecting on the
  moral and legal foundations of specific
  controversial issues without being itself neither
  a legal nor a moral authority.
• Their task is reflection, not decision-making or
  dogmatic proclamation.

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Ethics and Public Policy

• They should counterbalance ethical arguments and
  give an opinion on matters that remain
  controversial and subject to revision.
• Todays public policy has a need for such
  counsels particularly with regard to new
  developments in science and technology

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Ethics and Public Policy

• Although they might look for consensual opinions,
  consensus should not be a conditio sine qua non
  of their proposals. It is also not their function
  to make public policy more moral, but to
  encourage ethical reflection within the public
  sphere

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National and International Ethics Committees

• Most European and non-European national and
  international ethics committees have been created
  in the nineties.
• UNESCOs International Bioethics Committee (IBC)
  was created in 1993. The Steering Committee on
  Bioethics of the Council of Europe dates from
  1992.
• US President George W. Bush created The
  Presidents Council on Bioethics on the basis of
  the Executive Order 13237 from November 28, 2001
  (http//www.bioethics.gov/).
• Most national and international ethics committees
  are in fact (until now) committees on bioethics.
  The EGE is the first international committee with
  a broader scope.

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Bibliography

• Capurro, Rafael Ethics and Public Policy within
  a Digital Environment. In I. Alvarez, T. W.
  Bynum, J.A. de Assis Lopes, S. Rogerson (Eds.)
  The Transformation of Organisations in the
  Information Age Social and Ethical Implications,
  ETHICOMP 2002, Lisboa 2002, 319-327. Online
  http//www.capurro.de/ethicomp02.html
• Capurro, Rafael Ethics Between Law and Public
  Policy. In Journal of International
  Biotechnology Laws (JIBL) Vol. 1, Issue 2 / 2004,
  62-66.Online http//www.degruyter.de/rs/280_7046
  _DEU_h.htm

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Bibliography

• Lessig, Lawrence Code and Other Laws of
  Cyberspace. New York 1999
• Shannon, Claude E. / Weaver, Warren The
  Mathematical Theory of Communication. Univ. of
  Illinois Press 1949/1972, 5th ed.
• Winograd, Terry / Flores, Fernando Understanding
  Computers and Cognition. A New Foundation for
  Design. New Jersey 1986.

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Portals Journals

• World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
  http//www.itu.int/wsis
• ICIE (International Center for Information
  Ethics) http//icie.zkm.de
• IRIE (International Review of Information
  Ethics) http//www.i-r-i-e.net
• EIT (Ethics and Information Technology)
• ICES (Journal of Information, Communiation and
  Ethics in Society)