Time is Ripe for Cyberethics

Cyberethics has its origin in the philosophy of ‘Computer Ethics’, the term first introduced by Walter Maner in 1970s. Italian thinker Luciano Floridi has popularized it since 1990s as ‘Information Ethics’. Although Floridi has been working on the entire field of Information, his thoughts on ethical values in the world of Comuter generated information has led to the modern study and analysis of Cyberethics.

With the explosion of information, mainly by Internet, some guidelines have become necessary to adopt. These guidelines may together be called Cyberethics. Accuracy, accountability, accessibility, privacy, intellectual rights and copyright are the cornerstones of Cyberethics.

We may also stretch the guidelines to include non-bias in formation, confidentiality of information, software reliability, the quality of data supplied by online vendors, especially by e-traders, and nonmaleficence (do no harm).

Cyberethics is confronted with several cyber crimes. We may refer here Spyware which is a software secretly installed on a personal computer to gain information about the user. It not only violates privacy, but may also cause financial loss by diverting advertising revenue by redirecting web browser activity. Although anti-Spyware software has already been developed, the crime continues.

It is noticed that all cyber crimes are technology rich. The technology, which enables us to scale new height every day, is itself used to retard the progress.

The advocates of Cyberethics lay stress on the social responsibility of the providers of Information. Like ethics in moral life, Cyberethics depend largely on the moral values of the professionals. Police may intervene to check cyber crime, but there is no legal cover for the ordinary people who largely depend on Internet information. If the information were manipulated for personal gain, the world would shortly be in knowledge vacuum.

It takes years to earn credibility. It takes a second to ruin it. But the lure of easy money have led many, like in other fields of society, to corrupt the entire information system.
Ethics thus always knocks the doors of conscience.