1. Information William Hugh Murray October 15, 2001 Ethics

2. “He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge; and one only evil,namely, ignorance.” -- attributed by Diogenes to Socrates Ethics

3. Definitions: • Information is knowledge about something, esp. facts and news. • Information retrieval is the process of finding stored information on a computer. • Information technology (abbreviation IT) is the science and activity of storing and sending out information by using computers. Ethics

4. Information: • the (recording) communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence • a (1) : knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction (2) : INTELLIGENCE, NEWS (3) : FACTS, DATA • b : the attribute inherent in and communicated by one of two or more alternative sequences or arrangements of something (as nucleotides in DNA or binary digits in a computer program) that produce specific effects • c (1): a signal or character (as in a communication system or computer) representing data (2) : something (as a message, experimental data, or a picture) which justifies change in a construct (as a plan or theory) that represents physical or mental experience or another construct • d : a quantitative measure of the content of information; specifically : a numerical quantity that measures the uncertainty in the outcome of an experiment to be performed Ethics

5. From Information Theory: • Information: that quality or property of a record or message that reduces the uncertainty in the communication • Bit: that quantity of information that reduces uncertainty by half Ethics

6. Examples • A medical record • A database of medical records • An expression of an idea • An image • Encoded sound • A movie • A model • Encapsulation of work • Encapsulation of special knowledge • An expression of a design • DNA • A robot personality Ethics

7. “The automation of a process results in data that would not have existed otherwise.” “In the future, work will consist of organizing the data into knowledge and converting the knowledge to value.” Shoshanna Zuboff, Harvard Business School Ethics

8. Contrast Information to: • Data • Noise • Code • Methaphor • Myth Ethics

9. DoD Hierarchy of Sensitivity to Disclosure • Raw data • Organized and analyzed data • Conclusions • Plans of action Ethics

10. Information Ethics • Study of right behavior with regard to the creation, Ethics