CIS Presents

Today I went to the CIS presentation called "Data, Dollars, and the Unintentional Subversion of Human Rights" given by Thomas White. Mr. White spoke about ethical issues in the IT industry and well-intentioned decisions that resulted in unintended negative consequences. He began by talking about the petroleum and auto industries and how no one predicted the consequences of consuming so much gasoline in SUVs and Hummers. As a result, the price of gasoline, the amount of energy consumed, and the amount of petroleum imported greatly increased over 30 years.

Mr. White believes that these unintended negative consequences were a result of poverty of the imagination and ethical illiteracy. People failed to recognize the global implications of local buyer and seller behavior and the risk of harm from current actions was not considered in view of the rights of future generations. Also, he stated that there was a faulty conception of business in a democracy. People needed to realize that there are restrictions on business through laws and ethics and that human rights need to be taken into consideration.

The information technology (IT) industry has similar opportunities and problems to those of the petroleum and auto industries. The upside of the IT industry is that it is healthy and vibrant, with regular technological advances that enhance services, conveniences, and productivity. However, there are also issues that involve ethics and the invasion of personal privacy. One issue involves obtaining the ISP addresses of illegal downloaders. Another deals with radio frequency ID tags that can be put in items of clothing, credit cards, and other items to identify a person, track what is bought, and find out where a person is. Also, there was the situation with Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and Yahoo in China. They agreed to censor their information and provide user information to the government in order to conduct their business there. Overall, Mr. White’s message was that people need to consider all the consequences that their business actions will have. I thought this presentation was very interesting and informing, showing me how even well-intentioned decisions can have negative results.