June 2010 Edition
Computer Science Department, University of Cape Town
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Table of Contents
A good place to start on this course is to look at the reasons why we should study it at all. To facilitate this, we look at a few scenarios. For each of these scenarios, you should write think about any questionable ethical issues about each scenario.At his point you may not be to answer them, but you might have your own opinion. Write this down as well you should revisit them after relevant section and see if your opinion has been affected.
Hopefully these typical ethical questions illustrates to you the diverse characters of ethical issues including, property rights, privacy, free speech and professional ethics. Is computer ethics different to those that came before. Partially, the answer is no since all fields have similar problems and issue. Partially, the answer is also yes, since there are issues specific to computers such as speed and programs etc.
John invests a small amounts on the stock market. Last year he bought and successfully employed a software package to help him with his investments. Recently, he met Mary who was also interested in using the software. Mary borrowed the package, copied it and then returns it. Both vaguely knew that the software was proprietary but did not read up the details. Did John and Mary do anything wrong, if so what?
Something to consider:
Should software package be lent?
When is it justifiable to break the law? Bad law, inappropriate law or if the law is easy to break?
Inga sells hardware and software to over 100 000 customers per year. She has 10 years experience. As part of the billing process she keeps information on customers. She buys and uses a data mining tool to derive useful information about her clients information such as zip codes, credit card numbers, ID numbers etc. Most of this information identifies groups and not individuals. She can then use the information to market her wares more efficiently. Is this ethical since customers did not give her the information for this purpose?
Data mining is a process of exploration and analysis of large quantities of data, by automatic or semi-automatic means. This is done in order to discover meaningful patterns and rules. In many cases, the data was not collected primarily for the purpose of Data Mining.
Something to consider:
Should customer be notified?
Is there a need for establishment of a policy. What should this policy looks like.
Professional responsibility (professional Ethics): Do professionals have a responsibility to ensure computing serves humanity well?
In the US, a student JB posted sex fantasies on alt.sex.stories called Pamela's ordeal. The story was fictional, but JB named the main character, Pamela, after a REAL student. In it, he described the rape, torture and murder of Pamela. He also exchanged e-mails with other people in the newsgroups, discussing sex acts. An alumnus saw this and reported it to the University. JB was then arrested and held in custody. He was charged with transmitting interstate communication of threat to injure another person. The charges were eventually dropped, but did JB really do anything wrong?
Something to consider:
Should self-censorship be enforced. Who decides what is acceptable?
Is there a need for a public policy?
Mike works for a Software development company which develops computer games for children aged 8-14. The latest game that Mike worked on, uses inferential reasoning and allows players to choose different characters, primarily macho man and sexy woman. The game is used mainly by boys. Recently Mike attended a conference on gender and minorities, where he described the above. The conference delegates discussed the issue of lower participation of women in computing and how to make the industry more attractive to women.
Back at work, Mike realised that his production team is all male. Should he refuse to work on this team? Should he ask for the team to be reviewed? Will the game sell as well if different message was given? What is his responsibility?
Something to consider:
Should software package be lent?
When is it justifiable to break the law? Bad law, inappropriate law or if the law is easy to break?