THE CONSEQUENCES OF APPLYING RIGHTS ETHICS IN THE PROCESS OF DESIGNING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

摘要

The purpose of this paper is to identify the consequences of applying ethical considerations in the process of designing information systems. It is assumed that by using an ethical theory, needs and interests of those who are stakeholders will be more explicitly considered. Rights ethics is the ethical theory, which has been applied in this study. The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) has been used as a model of the design process. A characterisation of rights ethics has been made. Key aspects of rights ethics in the context of information systems development are: duties are created out of rights, not vice versa; rights and duties have a reciprocal relationship; the individual is in focus; there exist positive and negative rights; fair judgements should guide decision-making; different communities create different categories of rights; there exists a distinction between legal and human rights. Based on these key aspects analyses of consequences for design process have been made. The result of the analyses is a general foundation upon which specific recommendations can be made.