Ethical Issues in Computing

Ethical and Social Issues Privacy

Government surveillance Corporate surveillance Web tracking/weblogs Email archives

Security Viruses Crackers

Intellectual Property Software/digital media

• Piracy• File sharing

Open source movement Computer Crime

Theft of property Destruction of property

Free Speech Issues Junk email Censorship Pornography Harassment

Information overload Spam Virtual office

Information warfare DOS and other attacks Retaliatory viruses

The digital divide Race Gender Ethnicity Rural/urban The poor

New forms of Relationships Communication Business

• Telecommuting• Information as a commodity

Leisure/Recreation Software development

Open Source Liability for bugs

• Reliability Interoperability

New codes of conduct The ACM code The Hacker Ethic

New health issues RSI Addictions (internet, gaming, etc.) Ergonomics

Artificial intelligence Humanizing our machines Strengths and weaknesses

Computers in education Use of technology

CS-1094 Computers and Society

ACM Code

ACM

Association for Computing Machineryhttp://www.acm.org

Commitment to ethical professional conduct is expected of every member.

Section 1

Fundamental Ethical ConsiderationsNot specific to computingServe as the context for our actions in

computing and elsewhere

1.1 Contribute to society and human well-being

“…computing professionals must attempt to ensure that the products of their efforts will be used in socially responsible ways, will meet social needs, and will avoid harmful effects to health and welfare.”

Example: Star Wars programming

1.2 Avoid harm to others

To minimize harm “computing professionals must minimize malfunctions by following generally accepted standards for system design and testing.”

Example: Therac Radiation machine AT&T telephone system crash Dallas/Fort Worth airport radar crash Patches and Service Packs

Related issue: Software liability

1.3 Be honest and trustworthy

Providing “full disclosure of all pertinent system limitations and problems.”

Example: ?

1.4 Be fair and take action not to discriminate

“Inequities between different groups of people may result from the use or misuse of information and technology.”

Example: The Digital Divide

58.1%53.6% 53.3% 51.1% 47.9% 47.1%

39.8% 39.7% 36.2%31.1% 29.2% 29.2% 26.6% 24.5% 22.5% 21.3%

10.3%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Sweden

Denm

ark

Nethe

rland

s

Finlan

d

Austri

a

United

Sta

tes

United

King

dom

Irelan

d

Luxe

mbo

urg

EU Ave

rage

Belgium

Ger

man

y

Icela

nd

Franc

e

Spain

Portu

gal

Gre

ece

Note: EU country estimates are for February 2001 and US estimates are for August 2000.Source: European Union, http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/index_en.htm and U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic and Statistics Administration.

Greater than 50% of People Use The Internet (35)Approx. 50% of People Use the Internet (9)Less Than 50% of People Use the Internet (6)

Sept. 2001

August. 2000

Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80

Age (Centered 3-year moving avg.)

Per

cent

Dec. 1998

Sept. 2001

Aug. 2000

Oct. 1997

Computer and Internet Use at Any Location Age Distribution (3 year moving average), Percent of Persons Age 3 to 80

Source: NTIA and ESA, U.S. Department of Commerce, using U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Supplements

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Married Couple withChildren

Male with Children Female with Children Households withoutChildren

Pe

rce

nt

Oct. 1997 Dec. 1998 Aug. 2000 Sept. 2001

62.0

45.8 45.349.5

Computer and Internet Use Anywhere by Type of Household, Persons Age 3 +

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Asian Amer. &Pacific Isl.

White Black Hispanic

Perc

ent

Oct. 1997 Dec. 1998 Aug. 2000 Sept. 2001

60.4 59.9

39.8

31.6

Internet Use Anywhere by Race/Hispanic Origin, Percent of Persons Age 3 +

1.5 Honor property rights including copyrights and patent

More than moral duty it is legal obligation

Patents, intellectual property with or without copyrights, license agreements

“Unauthorized duplication of materials must not be condoned.”

Example: Pirated software, etc.

1.6 Give proper credit for intellectual property

Don’t take credit for someone else’s work or ideas Example: Group effort on individual’s labs

• Combated by websites to compare versions

Term paper sites Contracted assignment services Code libraries

Anti-plagiarism websites Beyond intellectual property rights

The Open Source Movement

1.7 Respect the privacy of others

Only collect the necessary amounts of data Procedures governing

appropriate access appropriate usedata security

Examples: Government TIA program

1.8 Honor confidentiality

If you say you won’t reveal information, you don’t!

If you don’t promise confidentiality you say so in a way that people hear you.Examples: Websites that bury confidentiality

in the fine print of their Privacy Policies.

Sections 2-4

(Not on the final exam)

Section 2

More Specific Professional Responsibilities 2.1 Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness

and dignity in both the process and products of professional work.

• Your reputation is only as strong as your code. 2.2 Acquire and maintain professional competence

• Stay active in the profession and current advances. 2.3 Know and respect existing laws pertaining to

professional work• Professional organizations often help with this

2.4 Accept and provide appropriate professional review 2.5 Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of

computer systems and their impacts, including analysis of possible risks

Section 2

More Specific Professional Responsibilities2.6 Honor contracts, agreements, and assigned

responsibilities2.7 Improve public understanding of computing and

its consequences2.8 Access computing and communication

resources only when authorized to do so

Section 3

Organizational Leadership Imperatives 3.1 Articulate social responsibilities of members of an

organizational unit and encourage full acceptance of those responsibilities

3.2 Manage personnel and resources to design and build information systems that enhance the quality of working life

3.3 Acknowledge and support proper and authorized uses of an organization’s computing and communication resources

3.4 Ensure that users and those who will be affected by a system have their needs clearly articulated during the assessment and design of requirements; later the system must be validated to meet requirements.

Section 3

Organizational Leadership Imperatives3.5 Articulate and support policies that protect the

dignity of users and others affected by a computing system.

3.6 Create opportunities for members of the organization to learn the principles and limitations of computer systems.

Section 4

Compliance with the code As an ACM member I will …

4.1 Uphold and promote the principles of this Code• The future of the computing profession depends on both technical

and ethical excellence

4.2 Treat violations of this code as inconsistent with membership in the ACM

• Adherence is voluntary• Violations by gross misconduct are grounds for membership

termination