UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2018/2019
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BIT2109 BAC2104 PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN IT
BUSS 207: BUSINESS ETHICS IN IT
BCT 3104: COMPUTER LAW AND ETHICS
FULL TIME/PART TIME/DISTANCE LEARNING
DATE: DECEMBER, 2018 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE (Compulsory)
a) When working with IT systems it is important that an organisation’s management has both
legal and ethical policies in place. Explain BOTH the terms ‘Legal’ and ‘Ethical’.
(6Marks)
b) What action would you take if you suspected that software being developed by your
company might be harmful because it had not been rigorously tested for reasons of
minimising cost? (4 Marks)
c) Briefly discuss whether technology determines society or if society determines technology
(4 Marks)
d) Describe the essential elements relating to conduct that identify a professional activity
(4 Marks)
e) Using relevant examples describe two ethical theories (2 Marks)
f) How can information and information systems be used to gain power and, thereby create
additional ethical issues? (6 Marks)
g) Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works,
and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. Identify the key forms of
intellectual property (4 Marks)
QUESTION TWO
a) Suppose you are a middle-school or high-school teacher presenting information technology
in a social-studies course. You are to explain the impact of IT in society is. Draw from both
your own prior knowledge and what you have learnt in this course, to put together a narrative
of the concepts you would present in that learning unit .
(4 Marks)
b) A company had been collecting information about us (and our friends) from the web and
using it to profile and target each of us with specific advertising that an algorithm had decided
was most likely to appeal to us. Discuss the moral and ethical issues raised by this
(10 Marks)
c) Discuss the statement “the virtual self creates new possibilities for human behaviour”
(6 Marks)
QUESTION THREE
a) Differences between countries may hinder attempts to regulate global computing activities.
Explain using the headings below, with an example in EACH case, how a computer based activity
that might be routinely accepted in one country might be unknown or unacceptable in another
country
(i) legal differences between countries (3 Marks)
(ii) differences in technical capabilities between countries (3 Marks)
(iii) differences in cultural or social norms between countries (3 Marks)
b) Do you think that it is ethically defensible for ISPs and government agencies to keep records of
all Internet activities undertaken by individuals? Give reasons for your answer. (5 Marks)
c) Discuss how Personality Traits and Attitudes, Moral Development, and the
Situation affect Ethical Behavior at the work place (6 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR
a) Discuss why internet addiction has become a major concern to psychologists
(6 Marks)
b) As an IT professional working within the industry you will be expected to follow a code of ethical
conduct through your working life. Each individual needs to have their own code which should
cover conduct: Socially ,Legally and Professionally For any TWO of these categories give an
example of an IT moral or ethical dilemma and an appropriate response to it.
(6 Marks)
c) The “magical” experience of browsing the World Wide Web often lulls users into a false
sense of security. The Web seems like a “virtual” space, where neither personal identities
nor consequences for behavior exist. Discuss with reference to ethical and morality issues
raised by anonymity (8 Marks)
QUESTION FIVE
a) Is there any relationship between business ethics and corporate governance ? If so, how do
business ethics influence governance process in a company ? (6 Marks)
b) Explain if White Hat is an ethical form of hacking or a person using his or her hacking
abilities under the pretence of doing a good deed to extort companies out of money
(4 Marks)
c) “There exist the tension between businesses interests in maximizing profits and the public’s
interest in receiving complete, truthful, and non-misleading information about products that
they purchase” Discuss (10 Marks)
