ZCAS University
BIT/BNE112/ PCE112/BCS112/BCOS112/BTS112/BBC112
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN COMPUTING
MID-TERM TEST
MONDAY 31 OCTOBER, 2022
08:30- 11:30 HRS
TIME ALLOWED : WRITING – THREE HOURS
READING – 5 MINUTES
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Section A: this question is compulsory and must be attempted.
2. Sections B: Answer THREE (3) questions from this section.
3. This examination paper carries a total of 100 marks.
4. Candidates must not turn this page until the invigilator tells them to do so.
Page 1 of 4
SECTION A: Question 1 is compulsory and must be attempted
Question 1
Refer to the two scenarios below to answer questions in this section.
Scenario 1
Alexis, a gifted high school student, wants to become a doctor. Because she comes from a poor
family, she will need a scholarship in order to attend college. Some of her classes require
students to do extra research projects in order to get an A. Her high school has a few older PCs,
but there are always long lines of students waiting to use them during the school day. After
school, she usually works at a part-time job to help support her family.
One evening Alexis visits the library of a private college a few miles from her family’s
apartment, and she finds plenty of unused PCs connected to the Internet. She surreptitiously
looks over the shoulder of another student to learn a valid login/password combination. Alexis
returns to the library several times week, and by using its PCs and printers she efficiently
completes the extra research projects, graduates from high school with straight A’s, and gets a
fullride scholarship to attend a prestigious university.
Scenario 2
You are the senior software engineer at a start-up company developing an exciting new product
that will allow salespeople to generate and email sales quotes and customer invoices from their
smartphones. Your company’s sales force has led a major corporation to believe your product
will be available next week. Unfortunately, at this point the software still contains quite a few
bugs. The leader of the testing group has reported that all of the known bugs appear to be minor,
but it will take another month of testing for his team to be confident the product contains no
catastrophic errors. Because of the fierce competition in the smartphone software industry, it is
critical that your company be “first to market.” To the best of your knowledge, a well-
established company will release a similar product in a few weeks. If its product appears first,
your start-up company will probably go out of business.
a) Explain the options that the peoples in the each of the two scenarios have? (8 marks)
b) Briefly describe the Kantian and the Act utilitarian ethical theories. (12 marks)
c) Evaluate the two scenarios from a Kantian perspective. (10 marks)
d) Evaluate the two scenarios from an act utilitarian perspective. (10 marks)
Page 2 of 4
(Total: 40 marks)
SECTION B: Attempt any THREE questions in this section
Question 2
a) Explain what ethics are. (2 marks)
b) Describe virtue ethics in your own words (6 marks)
c) Evaluate similarities and differences between
i. subjective relativism and ethical egoism. (6 marks)
ii. a consequentialist theory and a non-consequentialist theory? (6 marks)
(20 marks)
Question 3
In December 2010, Facebook introduced a new time-saving feature called Tag Suggestions.
When a Facebook user adds a new photo, Facebook uses facial recognition software to suggest
the name of the friend appearing in the photo. In June 2011, the Electronic Privacy Information
Center (EPIC) filed a complaint about Facebook Tag Suggestions with the Federal Trade
Commission.
a) Explain what is meant by privacy? (2 marks)
b) Debate the advantages and disadvantages of giving people privacy rights (8 marks)
c) Discuss the possible reasons why EPIC filed a complaint against Facebook tags. (5 mark)
d) Explain what Facebook should have done to avoid social and Ethical issue with the
Facebook tag Feature. (5 mark)
(20 marks)
Question 4
Refer to the two scenarios below to answer questions in this section
Scenario 1: A professor puts a few journal articles on reserve in the library and makes them
assigned reading for the class. Some students in the class complain that they cannot get access to
the articles because other students always seem to have them checked out. The professor scans
them and posts them on his Web site. The professor gives the students in the class the password
they need to access the articles.
Page 3 of 4
Scenario 2: A professor only owns one copy of a book and wishes to make copies of the book to
place on physical reserve for his students to check out.
a) When referring to copyrighted materials, what is meant by the term “fair use” and
describe with examples the factors that the courts can use to determine if an action
amounts to fair use.
(10 marks)
b) Evaluate scenarios 1 and 2 and debate whether the use of the material weigh in favour of
the four fair use factors? (10 marks)
(20 marks)
Question 5
Professionalism encompasses a number of different attributes, and, together, these attributes
identify and define a professional.
a) Explain in your own word what professionalism is and discuss five (5) attributes of a
professional. (6 marks)
b) Discuss what green computing and demonstrate with examples how organisations can
practice Green IT practices. (8 marks)
c) Differentiate Compliance-Based and Value-Based Code of Ethics. (6 marks)
(20 marks)
END OF EXAMINATION
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