Computer Ethics(1) IT Engineering II Instructor: Ali B. Hashemi

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1 Computer Ethics(1) IT Engineering II Instructor: Ali B. Hashemi 1 1

2 Main Points Computer Ethics Set of rules or standards of behavior for dealing with computer technology Academic field of study Examples of Issues in Computer Ethics How does computer ethics relate to your every day decisions? 2 2

3 What is Moral? mor al (môr¹el, mòr¹-) adjective 1. Of or concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human action and character: moral scrutiny; a moral quandary. 2. Teaching or exhibiting goodness or correctness of character and behavior: a moral lesson. 3. Conforming to standards of what is right or just in behavior; virtuous: a moral life

4 What is Ethics? eth ic (èth¹îk) noun 1. a. A set of principles of right conduct. b. A theory or a system of moral values. 2. ethics (used with a sing. verb). The study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person; moral philosophy. 3. ethics (used with a sing. or pl. verb). The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession: medical ethics. 4 4

5 Controls on Human Behavior Courtesy Law Ethics 5 5

6 The Scope of Behavioral Rules Individuals Organizations / Groups Society / Government 6 6

7 Ethical Theories: Relativism Subjective Relativism what s right for you may not be right for me Problem: no moral distinction between the actions of different people Cultural Relativism right and wrong rests with society s actual moral guidelines Problem: Just because societies have different views of right and wrong doesn t imply that they should. Problem: No framework for conflict between societies. 7 7

8 Ethical Theories: Kantianism People should be guided by the universal moral laws, which are devised rationally The only unqualified good is good will It is wrong to use other people Problem: allows no exception to moral laws Kantianism: the system of critical philosophy created by the 18thcentury philosopher Immanuel Kant, or the philosophies that have arisen from the study of his writings and have drawn inspiration from his principles. 8 8

9 Ethical Theories: Utilitarianism An action is right (or wrong) to the extent that it increases (or decreases) total happiness of affected parties. Action should be decided on the weight of good and harm that will result. Rule utilitarianism: adopt rules that if adopted will lead to the greatest increase in happiness Utilitarianism (n.) سودمندگرايي belief that usefulness is the basis of virtue and that decisions should be made according to what will be good for the greatest number of people 9 9

10 Ethical Theories: Social Contract Theory Living in a civilized society forces: The establishment of a set of moral rules A government to enforce these rules Rational people decide on moral rules (rights and duties) Negative rights include freedom of expression and privacy Positive rights obligate others to act for you, such as free education

11 Applied Computer Ethics 11 11

12 How Does This Apply to Me? (Scott Adams, 1/19/06) 12 12

13 The Levels of Behavior Feelings Beliefs Reputation Ability 13 13

14 Information Ethics Applying this to: Direct interaction Personal correspondence Telephone Print media Radio and television What else? 14 14

15 Information Ethics How it might differ when using a computer: Scope Speed It seems different with a computer! 15 15

16 Areas of Ethical Problems Personal intrusion Privacy Morality Deception Security Resources Intellectual property Inappropriate use Technology and social responsibility 16 16

17 Computer Ethics Issues: Examples Computers in the Workplace Computer Crime Privacy and Anonymity Intellectual Property Professional Responsibility 17 17

18 General Comments on Ethics The world of ethics is gray Ethical conflict is characterized by Intense feelings Rapid development 18 18

19 Computer Ethics: Standards of Conduct 19 19

20 The Top Ten Rules of Computer Ethics 1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people. 2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work. 3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's computer files. 4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal. 5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness. 6. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid

21 The Top Ten Rules of Computer Ethics (cont.) 7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization or proper compensation. 8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output. 9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you are designing. 10. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that insure consideration and respect for your fellow humans. (From the Computer Ethics Institute) 21 21

22 Commentary on the 10 Commandents 1.Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people Is it just people that we should not harm? What about the environment and animals? The environment is clearly harmed by the production and use of computers, and by the disposal of waste computers

23 Commentary continued 2.Thou shalt not interfere with other people s computer work 3.Thou shalt not snoop around in other people s files What is the other people are using the computer to do harm? Should we still refrain from interfering? Should computer files be provate even if they are being used as part of a criminal conspiracy? 23 23

24 Commentary continued 4.Thou shalt not use a computer to steal 5.Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness What if stealing or bearing false witness is the only way to prevent someone from doing a much greater harm? 24 24

25 Commentary continued 6.Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid This is too simplistic. Many of us use software on university or business computer systems where somebody else has paid for us to use the software. Beyond this, though, what if the software house that produced the software has used immoral methods to gain an excessively large share of the software market? This prevents competition, and enables it to over-charge for software? Under these circumstances is it wrong to use or copy software without paying the software house? 25 25

26 Commentary continued 7.Thou shalt not use other people s computer resources without authorization What if it is an emergency, and the only way to stop a great harm is to use computer resources without authorization? 26 26

27 Commentary continued 8.Thou shalt not appropriate other people s intellectual output Even here, it is possible that somebody has a brilliant idea that can produce great social benefit, but which will not be taken seriously if the true author is known. By appropriating their intellectual output, society as a whole will gain substantially 27 27

28 Commentary continued 9.Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you write Thought, unaccompanied by action, is pointless. They must act upon those thoughts. Further, it is not just in writing of software that thought of social consequences and action should follow: although both are necessary in the writing of software 28 28

29 Commentary continued 10.Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect There may be situations in the world where more good can be done by not showing respect for all, and the possibility of doing such good should not be dismissed out of hand 29 29

30 Netiquette - Network etiquette The conventions of politeness recognized on Usenet, in mailing lists and . The most important rule of netiquette is "Think before you post". Re-read and edit your carefully before you send. Check the spelling and grammar. When responding to a newsgroup posting, quote the minimum necessary to give some context to your reply and be careful to attribute the quote to the right person. Only send to the necessary recipients. is permanent and can be saved forever! Will be discussed more 30 30

31 Food for Thought 31 31

32 Issues Can people (secretly) read your ? Who secretly reads your ? Doesn't my password protect me? Doesn t my vanish after I delete it? What motivates a snoop? Why do I need privacy? I've got nothing to hide. What can I do to have privacy? Where can I learn more about these privacy tools? Anything else I should know? 32 32

33 Computer Ethics: Academic Discipline 33 33

34 History of Computer Ethics as a Field of Study 1940s-1950s Norbert Wiener (MIT) Notes the social/ethical implications of computer technology Long before Nagasaki nd the public awareness of the atomic bomb, it had occurred to me that we were here in the presence of another social potentiality of unheard-of importance for good and for evil. (Cybernetics: or control and communication in the animal and the machine, pp , 1948) Published in 1950 computer ethics book The Human Use of Human Beings 34 34

35 History of Computer Ethics as a Field of Study 1960s Donn Parker(SRI International) Unethical and illegal uses of computers by computer professionals It seemed that when people entered the computer center they left their ethics at the door 1968: Led Code of Professional Conduct for the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Adopted by ACM in s Walter Maner (ODU) Coined computer ethics Created starter kit in Computer Ethics and gave workshops around country 35 35

36 History of Computer Ethics as a Field of Study 1970s Joseph Weizenbaum MIT CS created a program he called ELIZA imitation of psychotherapist engaged in initial interview with patient Outcry from psychotherapists computers would replace them Public began to see people as machines 36 36

37 History of Computer Ethics as a Field of Study 1980s Computer ethics becomes an academic discipline Public issues: Computer-enabled crime Disasters caused by computer failure Privacy invasion via databases Law suits over software ownership James Moor of Dartmouth College published article What is Computer Ethics Deborah Johnson published book Computer Ethics first textbook Terrell Ward Bynam & Maner created the first international disciplinary conference on computer ethics 37 37

38 History of Computer Ethics (some points of view) Any unique moral issues? Deborah Johnson: Ethics on-line. The scope of the Internet is global and interactive. The Internet enables users to interact with anonymity. Internet technology makes the reproducibility of information possible in ways not possible before. The above features make behavior on-line morally different than off-line

39 History of Computer Ethics (some points of view) James Moore: Computer technology is logically malleable[flexible] unlike previous technologies. It can create new possibilities for human action. Brey: disclosing non-obvious features embedded in computer systems that can have moral implications. Alison Adams: Take into account genderrelated biases. Combine feminist ethics with empirical studies

40 History of Computer Ethics as a Field of Study 1990s Lots of research Health HIPAA Wealth Opportunity Freedom Democracy Knowledge Privacy Security Notion of (computer) professional ethics Computer professional == anyone involved in the design and development of computer artifacts (Gotterbarn, 1991) 40 40

41 Sources and Other Information Bynum, Terrell, "Computer Ethics: Basic Concepts and Historical Overview", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2001 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) < Ethics in Computing: Computer Ethics Institute

42 Sources and Other Information (cont d) Netiquette: RFC 1855 (rfc1855) - Netiquette Guidelines Netiquette Home Page Netiquette (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

43 Summary Computer Ethics Field of study Set of rules or standards of behavior for dealing with computer technology Examples of Issues in Computer Ethics How does computer ethics relate to your every day decisions? 10 Rules of Computer Ethics Netiquette 43 43

44 Second Homework Assignment Write an essay for the subject you talked about. Define the most important issue. Additional points for strong, consistent logic that supports your argument. Submit 1 copy: Electronic copy File must be named <lastname.assignment#.section#>.doc E.g. hashemi.1.doc (no section) in case of multiple files, name them and zip them all

45 Sample topics in computer ethics Computers in the workplace: a threat to jobs? De-skilling? Health and safety? Computer security: Viruses. Spying by hackers. Logical security: Privacy, integrity, unimpaired service, consistency, controlling access to resources. Software ownership: Intellectual property vs. open source. Software development: quality, safety 45 45

46 Computers in the workplace Monitoring of employees: employer vs. employee point of view. Loyalty- Whistle blowing. Health issues. Use of contingent workers. A threat to jobs. De-skilling

47 Computer security Viruses: programming code disguised Worms: propagate w/o human intervention Trojan horses: gets secretly installed. Logic bombs: execute conditionally. Bacteria or rabbits: multiply rapidly. Computer crimes: embezzlement. Hackers: vandalism or exploration. Denial of service attack: flood a target site

48 Logical security Privacy invasion of , files, and own computer (cookies). Shared databases. Identity theft. Combating terrorism: Patriot act

49 Software ownership Knowledge: private greed, public good. Profit vs. affordability Freedom of expression and access to information Right to communicate: share and learn in a globalized world. Digital divide is immoral. Open source software: Linux. Open access. North-South information flow. Indigenous knowledge

50 Professional responsibility Codes of ethics. Professional organizations: ACM. IEEE, CPSR Licensing Industry certifications Common ethical issues: Piracy, inappropriate sharing of information, inappropriate usage of computing resources

51 Codes of ethics Avoid harm to others Be honest and trustworthy Acquire and maintain professional competence Know and respect existing laws pertaining to professional work Avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest Be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data 51 51

52 Global Information Ethics Freedom of speech in the USA Control of pornography Protection of intellectual property Invasion of privacy Global cyberbusiness Global education: free press Information rich and poor 52 52

Computer and Information Ethics

Computer and Information Ethics Instructor: Viola Schiaffonati May,4 th 2015 Ethics (dictionary definition) 2 Moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity The branch