Information Ethics

Code:

CINF043

Acronym:

EI

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Social Science

Instance: 2025/2026 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Communication and Information Sciences
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor of Arts in Information Science

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
CINF	20	Study plan	2	-	6	41	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

Allow students to understand the ethical bases of the infocommunication process so that:


- Know how to distinguish between Information Ethics and ethics of information professionals (if there are relations between these two levels, they represent specific and distinct dimensions).



- Acquire, as an operational competence, the awareness that the production, selection, storage of information and its dissemination through communication unfold, implying interesting and profound relations with Ethics.



- To be able to have a reasoned opinion on the Ethics of Information, to distinguish Ethics from Professional Deontology and to explain to what extent Ethics is related to the various procedures and activities of the infocommunication process.



- Understand the ethical implications and network relationships in organizations in the Digital Age

Learning outcomes and competences

It is intended that students discover the importance of Information Ethics in the info-communicational process, distinguish Ethics from Deontology and perspective the theme in focus on the present and the future of the Information Age.

Working method

Presencial

Program

I Theoretical part

1. Ethics, a branch of Philosophy: preambular synopsis

1.1 Ethics and Moral

1.2 Ethics and Deontology


2. The Digital Age is Challenging Ethics

2.1 Information Ethics: origin and authors

2.2 Information Ethics: issues and dilemmas

2.2.1 Ethics and Intellectual Property: The Problem of Plagiarism, "Content Piracy" and scientific-industrial Espionage

2.2.2 Ethics and Information Technology: fake news, manipulation, data curation and integrity

2.2.3 Privacy and the Data Protection Act (LGPD) or GDPR

2.2.4 Freedom of Access to Information

2.2.5 Cybercrime: nature and extent

2.2.2 Ethics in Organizations



II Practical part

Analysis and reflection on practical ethics cases in the most diverse contexts: organizational and individual.

Mandatory literature

Araújo, Luís de; Ética, Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda, 2010. ISBN: 978-972-27-1881-3
Araújo, Luís de. ; Sob o signo da ética, Granito, Editores e Livreiros Lds, 2000. ISBN: 972-8594-09-7
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. ; Ética: manuscritos ordenados segundo a reconstrução cronológica da sua composição ao cuidado de Ilse Yodt, Heinz Eduard Todt, Ernst Feil e Clifford Green, Assírio & Alvim, 2006. ISBN: 979-972-37—1170-9.
Comissão de Ética para os Profissionais da Informação em Portugal; Código de ética para os profissionais da informação em Portugal, 2000
Cortina, Adelia; Ética Mínima, Martins Martins, 2009. ISBN: 978-85-99102-92-3
Diniz, Debora; Terra, Ana; Plágio: palavras escondidas, Letras Livres; Editora Fiocruz, 2014. ISBN: 978-85-98070-36-0
Journal of Information Ethics; McFarland & Company Inc Publishers. ISBN: 1061-9321.
Kant, Emanuel; Fundamentação da Metafísica dos Costumes, Lisboa Editora, 2000. ISBN: 972-680-267—9
Kolakowski, Leszek; Ética. In Enciclopédia Eunaudi, vol. 37 – Conceito Filosofia/Filosofias, Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda, 1997. ISBN: 972-27-0869-4
Moore, Adam D; Information Ethics: privacy, property and power, University of Washington Press, 2005
Conselho Federal de Biblioteconomia; Novo Código de Ética e Deontologia do Bibliotecário Brasileiro [PDF]. , http://crb6.org.br/2020/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Resolu%C3%A7%C3%A3o-207-C%C3%B3digo-de-%C3%89tica-e-Deontologia-do-CFB-1.pdf, 2019
Paletta, Francisco; Silva, Armando Malheiro da; A Ética da Informação na Era Digital: desenho de uma experiência pedagógica no âmbito da cooperação científica luso-brasileira. In XVII Encontro Nacional de Pesquisa em Ciência da Informação – XVII ENANCIB, Novembro de 2016, (Anais online)., 2016
Rosas, João Carlos; Merrill, Roberto, Org.; ; Ética, tecnologia e democracia, Edições Humus, 2010. ISBN: 978-989-8139-70-2
Savater, Fernando; Ética para um jovem, Editorial Presença, 1998. ISBN: 972-23-1657-5
Silva, Armando Malheiro da; A Pesquisa e suas aplicações em Ciência da Informação: implicações éticas. In Ética da Informação: conceitos, abordagens, aplicações. E-book do I Simpósio Brasileiro de Ética da Informação João Pessoa, 18 a 19 de março de 2010. Gustavo Henrique de Araújo Freir, Anais online, 2010
Silva, Armando Malheiro da; A Pesquisa e suas aplicações em Ciência da Informação: implicações éticas. In Ética da Informação: conceitos, abordagens, aplicações. E-book do I Simpósio Brasileiro de Ética da Informação João Pessoa, 18 a 19 de março de 2010. Gustavo Henrique de Araújo Freir, Anais online, 2010
Capurro, R. (n.d.); Towards an ontological foundation of information ethics. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from http://www.capurro.de/oxford.html, 2021
Fabris, A. ; Ethics of Information and Communication Technologies. , Springer International Publishing, 2018
Fields, Z; Handbook of research on information and cyber security in the fourth industrial revolution, IGI Global., 2018
Floridi, L. ; Information: A Very Short Introduction , Oxford University Press, 2010
Floridi, L. ; The philosophy of information, Oxford University Press., 2013
Floridi, L. ; Protection of information and the right to privacy: A new equilibrium? , Switzerland: Springer, 2014
Floridi, L. ; The 4th revolution: How the infosphere is reshaping human reality, Oxford University Press., 2016
Floridi, L. ; The ethics of information, Oxford University Press., 2015
Ganapathi, P., & Shanmugapriya, D. ; Handbook of research on machine and deep learning applications for cyber security, Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global), 2020
Hendry, D., Friedman, B., Ballard, S., Bontempi, G., Chavarriaga, R., Maratea, M; Ethics and information technology, Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.springer.com/journal/10676, 2021
Hendry, D., Friedman, B., Ballard, S., Bontempi, G., Chavarriaga, R., Maratea, M; Ethics and information technology, Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.springer.com/journal/10676, 2021
IRIE - International review of Information Ethics. (n.d.); Retrieved February 28, 2021, from http://www.i-r-i-e.net/, 2021
Journal of Information Ethics; Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://mcfarlandbooks.com/customers/how-to-buy-journals/journal-of-information-ethics/, 2021
Journal of information, communication, and ethics in society. ; Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/1477-996X, 2021
Quinn, M. J. ; Ethics for the information age. , Hoboken, NJ: Pearson, 2020
Paletta, F..; da Silva, A. M.; Ethics of information in the Digital Age. Informação & Sociedade: Estudos, 27(1). Recuperado de https://periodicos.ufpb.br/ojs2/index.php/ies/article/view/32983, 2017
Schultz, R. A. ; Information technology and the ethics of globalization: Transnational issues and implications, : Information Science Reference., 2010

Teaching methods and learning activities

The classes will be based in the expositive method, with the formulation of questions to be discussed with the students and with the support of some texts that they must read and discuss.


keywords

Social sciences

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Trabalho escrito	100,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Frequência das aulas	41,00
Trabalho de investigação	50,00
Estudo autónomo	71,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Not applicable

Calculation formula of final grade

The final classification (FC) is calculated as follows:

FC =written assignment x 0,7 +  Oral presentation x 0,3

Classification improvement

According to mandatory rules.