Computer Ethics Chapter 14 – Computers: Understanding Technology

Ethics Ethics are the internalized principles we use to determine whether some action is morally right or wrong Normative ethics involves determining a standard or norm that underlies ethical behavior Applied ethics involves the application of normative ethical beliefs to real-life situations

Computer Ethics Privacy Protection Property Protection Personal and Social Issues

Privacy Protection Public Information Availability – the Internet has expanded access to a wide variety of personal information – birth records, marriage licenses, divorce records, bankruptcy records, home sales and payment of taxes, traffic records, criminal records – that previously was available, but access was difficult

Privacy Protection (cont.) Creation of profiles of individual consumers through tracking online behavior through cookies Tracking of location of cell phones, cars – could anyone track you down, or would there be pressure to provide this capability to spouses, significant others, etc.

Protection from Commercial Threats to Privacy Industry self-regulation – privacy statements Government regulation – Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 is aimed at protecting children under the age of 13 Consumer self-protection

Government Threats to Computer Privacy FBI’s Carnivore program – an internet wiretap program

Workplace Threats to Privacy Companies can use electronic surveillance of employees in the workplace except where it has pledged not to do this

Property Protection Issues Damage due to viruses and hackers Plagiarism is use of other’s ideas and creations (their intellectual property) without permission and attribution Patents awards ownership of invention for a number of years, whereas copyright awards ownership of artistic and literary products to their creators

Fair Use It is permissible to use another’s material without permission in certain circumstances under a doctrine known as fair use. For example, –Authors may use limited excerpts of copyrighted material in their own work –Making a photocopy of a portion of a book or article is often permissible

Personal and Social Issues Pornography –Laws against distributing or possessing child pornography –Companies have fired people for visiting pornographic sites on company computers –Self-protection – Internet Explorer and 3 rd party filtering programs Google allows you to filter search results

Personal and Social Issues (cont.) The digital divide is the term used to describe the gap between those who have access to computers and those who do not – urban/rural, race, income/wealth, disabled The gaps are getting smaller