Computer Ethics Copyright 2002 Paradigm Publishing Inc Topics

Topics What are Ethics? Personal and Social Issues Computer Ethics: Issues The Need for Personal Ethical Guidelines Privacy Protection Issues On the Horizon Property Protection Issues Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 -2

What Are Ethics? the rules we use to determine the right and wrong things

Where Do Ethics Come From? Moral realism – commands given by a Supreme Being – eternal, unchanging laws Moral relativism – ethical issues differ from • society to society • person to person • situation to situation Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 -4

Normative and Applied Ethics Normative Applied determine a standard of ethical rule that underlies ethical behavior application of normative to controversial real-life issues wrong to steal? wrong to steal if starving? Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 -5

What are Computer Ethics? formation of a new branch of applied ethics unique set

Privacy Protection Issues Communication over the Internet makes us increasingly vulnerable to monitoring and data-gathering activities that can compromise our privacy. Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 -7

Public Information Availability A wide range of personal information has always been available through public records – usually in several areas, in record books Now, information is being posted on a Web site – with access to the Web and a credit card, some information can be obtained quite easily Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 -8

Commercial Threats to Privacy Consumer profiles – information about buying habits and lifestyle Cookies – small programs placed on computer’s hard drive by Web site Global Unique Identifiers – identification numbers that can be coded into hardware and software Cell phones and handheld computers – eventually, devices may contain complete identity Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 -9

Protection from Commercial Threats to Privacy Industry self-regulation – privacy statements – software to control how much is viewed and shared Government regulation – passing new laws that protect consumer privacy Consumer self-protection – conduct e-commerce only on sites protected by encryption programs – read privacy statements – pay attention to cookie warnings – only provide required lifestyle details Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 10

Government Threats to Privacy Carnivore intercepts communications and ignores unauthorized messages Encryption Restrictions virtually

Workplace Threats to Privacy Software programs that monitor workers’ behavior – – record number and type of keystrokes read messages sent and received create screen captures store copies of erased material There are no laws preventing electronic surveillance of employees in the workplace Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 12

Threats to Privacy from Interception of Wireless Communications Data is transmitted into the air where anyone may intercept it Traditional security methods do not work well – do not require authentication – encryption technology places burden on battery power and memory Creating better security is currently a major challenge facing the computer industry Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 13

Property Protection Issues The wealth of information on the Web and the increased ease with which it can be copied have made it simple for people to plagiarize Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 14

Intellectual Property Patents – for new and better ways of doing things Copyrights – for artistic and literary endeavors Patent and copyright violation is punishable by law Unauthorized copying of items appearing on Web sites is difficult to prevent Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 15

Fair Use use permissible is to use anotheracknowledged person’s material without permission if it is for noncommercial purposes involves limited excerpts Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 16

Intellectual Property Protection Fair Use and Digital Millennium Copyright Act – prohibits the circumventing of copyright protection systems – clarifies Fair Use as it applies to digital works – deals with ISPs’ liability for hosting copyrighted materials Industry efforts to enforce copyright protection – Software Publishers Association – Business Software Alliance • pursue the use of illegal software: violators face fines and jail sentences Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 17

Damage Due to Hacking and Viruses Identity theft – hacker assumes person’s identity after copying personal data – consumers can protect themselves by dealing only with merchants who encrypt credit card numbers and private data Viruses – cause damage to computer or software – avoid by only opening e-mail attachments from known sources and install an antivirus program Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 18

Personal and Social Issues Freedom of Speech – pornography sites – hate speech sites Few restrictions other than – child pornography – threatening material Filtering software – – – prevent access to sites track sites visited limit connection time record keystrokes prevent downloading access to previewed sites only Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 19

The Digital Divide the gap between those who have access to computers and the Internet and those who do not In the United States, both private sector and government initiatives have attempted to close the Digital Divide. Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 20

Software Producers’ Responsibilities Software companies continually work to improve their products and debug programs – may issue free updates to registered users Incompatibility issues may arise Protection from poorly designed software – ask for a refund – legal system for damages suffered due to software – code of ethics Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 21

Accessibility Americans with Disabilities Act “… the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation” compatibility with screen access software hardware features Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 22

The Need for Personal Ethical Guidelines Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 -

On the Horizon New Laws Addressing Computer Ethics Issues Self-Replication of Governmental Control Robots and the of Internet Content Human Repercussions Artificial Intelligence and Avatars Narrowing the Digital Divide Topics Copyright 2002, Paradigm Publishing Inc. 7 - 24