IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2013 - 76
Republic of China on the Disclosure
of Government Information (2007),
all the public sector agencies in
China disclose information actively,
even if they do not provide a website
statement pertaining to accessibility.
Some agencies consider it redundant
to provide such a statement as it is
stating the obvious.
Other Elements of
Website Statements
Among 26 State Council depart-
ments, 16 departments had a "con-
tact us" link. The majority of these
contained address, postcode, tele-
phone, and email address. There
were five departments whose con-
tact information was just an email
address. Among 17 public institu-
tions directly under State Council,
eight departments had "contact us"
information, and two departments
had only email information.
It is important to emphasize
that departments that are fully con-
tactable via various mechanisms
allow for oversight. This allows for
a responsive department that takes
action an individual request is made,
providing for better management of
public sector information. Public
sector agencies that are contactable
can respond to citizen issues in a
timely manner, especially com-
plaints by citizens, if they are easily
accessible. However, many public
sector agency websites in China
are lacking full contact details, so
that citizens and businesses cannot
communicate directly with agen-
cies over the Internet or telephone.
Lack of ability to contact the agency
may cause confusion, making reuse
of PSI difficult, if not impossible.
Additionally, users of PSI cannot
lodge complaints in time to protect
their own interests if needed.
Issues Concerning
Information Ethics
in Reuse of PSI
According to the results of the self-
administered website survey, we
can infer that the status of public
sector agency website statements
76
|
is not satisfactory. In fact, the cur-
rent state of affairs is worrisome
for a burgeoning industry like PSI.
Consequently, the focus of this sec-
tion is to demonstrate the issues
surrounding information ethics in
China. It is well known that the
reuse of PSI has increased signifi-
cantly since open innovation prac-
tices were promulgated, providing
value-added products. for instance,
in the meteorological sector there
are real-time daily precipitation
products, and in the maritime sec-
tor, marine environmental remote
sensing products.
Ethical Issues in Public Sector
Release of Information
Quality of PSI
In order to respond to requirements
for information disclosure by state
policy and law, public sector agen-
cies must disclose some data to the
public for free, so it can be quickly
accessed by users mostly without
cost. However, it is inevitable that
"free" data may come with inher-
ent deficiencies. for example, to
maximize their own interests, public
sector agencies may at times release
data that has little or no value
because it is easy to do so, or retain
data that is considered attractive, or
require the public to pay some price
to access the valuable data that is
highly re-usable. In short, data that
is made available but is of very poor
data quality is useless for the pur-
pose of reuse. The GIGO principle -
"Garbage in, garbage out," comes to
mind here. It is necessary to enhance
the quality of free data for reuse,
otherwise the reuse potential of PSI
is severely restricted.
Privacy of PSI
The data produced by public sector
agencies in the areas of law enforce-
ment, financial audit, economic and
market research, traffic control,
and education may contain person-
ally identifiable information (name,
address, image), that if separated,
render the quality of the data useless.
Yet, when personal information is
bundled and linked with public data,
its use by a third party inevitably
infringes on the privacy rights of citi-
zens. A classic example of this is in
the everyday life of a student. When
a student's examination results are
released for all to see, and include the
student's ID number and full name,
the student's privacy is infringed
upon. As public entities, schools
need to respect the privacy rights of
school students of all ages.
Accessibility of PSI
PSI, such as meteorological-specific
information and geographic infor-
mation is important for people's life
and work, so citizens and employees
should be able to access this infor-
mation from anywhere at any time,
with the latest updates made avail-
able. According to the Regulation of
the People's Republic of China on
the Disclosure of Government Information (2007), public sector agen-
cies should also disclose information
to the public. But the reality is not
satisfactory because some sectors
often disclose valueless information.
The expenditure of the Red Cross,
for instance, comes from govern-
ment investment and the contribution
of individuals and groups within and
outside China. Hence, such informa-
tion as fundraising, management,
how a charity distributes donations,
should be transparent to the public
[5]. An organization, particularly
a public sector agency, should be
guided by ethical principles, and
have respect for generally accepted
morals and rules.
Ethical Issues of Releasing
Information by a Third Party
The public sector does not always
disclose PSI themselves. There
are occasions when an agency will
designate a third party to unitarily
disclose PSI through integrating
information from various data-
bases across sectors. Given the lack
of legal regulation surrounding a
third party's conduct for releasing
information, questions concerning
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE
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