According to Richard Mason in his opinion on ethics in the digital age should be focused on these 4 represented by the acronym PAPA: Privacy, Accuracy, Property, and Accessibility.

Privacy calls into question what information should people have to disclose about themselves. Is there information that we should be able to keep to ourselves? How much of our lives should be able to be kept a record of? Who should make the decisions regarding these answers? Who is making sure this information is accurate?

Accuracy is a beast in its own right. Misinformation can descend ruin on someone’s lives. With the heavy rely on technology today accuracy can be vital to life and death. If a doctor enters in a prescription to the pharmacy for one drug and the system changes it to another medicine or if he enters it wrong it can potentially kill someone. Any time technology is relied on brings up the question of how reliable are the systems really and if they make mistakes or send out misinformation who is ultimately responsible? This leads us to the problem of property.

Property is a complex issue being intellectual property rights are also called into question. Once information is out there and is easily reproduced is it still property of the original person who put it out there or is it now property of everyone who has access to said information? This is also begs to question, with artificial intelligence expanding who then owns whatever information they come up with? Who has access to said information, and who controls who has access?

Access has three main levels. First, people would need to have the literacy to be able to read, write, reason, or calculate the information. Next, they would need to have the devices/resources to be able to obtain said digital information. Lastly, they need to have access to said information which can become very costly which circles back to the means to obtain what is needed to get the information.

The four of these merely scratch the surface of what complex ethical issues are being called upon during this ever changing and evolving digital age.

https://www.gdrc.org/info-design/4-ethics.html

Written by:
Richard O. Mason
Carr P. Collins Distinguished Professor of Management Information Sciences
Edwin L. Cox School of Business
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX