Analyzing Information Technology

Keith W. Miller University of Illinois–Springfield

2024

Structured summary

Snapshot

The chapter discusses the importance of privacy in the digital age,

highlighting the ways in which information technology has changed
the environment for plagiarism and plagiarism detection, and
exploring the ethical issues surrounding data mining, surveillance,
and personal privacy.

Key findings
 The limitations of the text include its general nature, which may not provide specific
solutions to the complex issues discussed. The text also assumes a certain level of
knowledge about IT and software development, which may not be familiar to all
readers.
 The chapter does not appear to have any specific limitations, as it is a general
introduction to ethics in computer science and technology.
 The chapter notes that protecting personal privacy is not easy and is not likely to get
easier, and that the use of personal information is not going to diminish of its own
accord.
 The chapter notes that IT professionals may face challenges in taking responsibility for
ensuring the security and reliability of the systems they design and implement,
including conflicts of interest and pressure to meet deadlines and budgets.
 There are no limitations mentioned in the text.
 The future work suggested by the text includes the development of fair information
practices, the promotion of privacy protection, and the creation of a system of property
rights that serves the public interest. The text also suggests that IT professionals have a
key role to play in shaping privacy practices and promoting ethical software
development.
 The chapter suggests that future work in ethics in computer science and technology
should focus on ongoing conversations and reflections about the ethical implications of
IT professionals' work.
 The chapter suggests that future work is needed to develop a system of property rights
that serves the public interest, to protect personal privacy, and to promote transparency
and accountability in data collection and use.
 The chapter suggests that IT professionals must work to develop a culture of
responsibility and ethics in their profession, and that this will require cooperation
worldwide in creating widely accepted standards about what skilled computer
professionals should know, and the skills they should possess.
 There is no mention of future work in the text.
 The practical applications of the text include the development of fair information
practices, the promotion of privacy protection, and the creation of a system of property
rights that serves the public interest. The text also suggests that IT professionals can
apply their knowledge and skills to promote ethical software development and protect
privacy.
 The chapter provides several practical applications for IT professionals, including the
importance of protecting privacy and security, and the need to engage in ongoing
conversations about ethics. It also references existing codes of conduct and guidelines
for IT professionals.
 The practical applications of the text are the importance of online privacy, the need for
ethical analysis in IT decision-making, and the impact of technology on society,
including its effects on democracy and freedom of expression. The text suggests that
individuals, governments, corporations, and technologists should be aware of these
issues and make informed decisions regarding IT systems.
 The chapter provides practical guidance on how individuals can protect their personal
information, including using fair information practices, opting out of data collection, and
being mindful of online privacy policies.
 The chapter highlights the importance of IT professionals considering the ethical
implications of their work and taking responsibility for ensuring the security and
reliability of the systems they design and implement. This has practical implications for
the way IT professionals approach their work, including the need to engage in ongoing
education and training, and to prioritize ethics and responsibility in their decision-
making.
 There are no practical applications mentioned in the text.

Computer Ethics And Sociotechnical Systems

• The book "Computer Ethics: Analyzing Information Technology" by Deborah G.

Johnson explores the intersection of ethics and technology, with a focus on sociotechnical
systems.

• The author argues that technology is not neutral, but rather is infused with values and
shapes society, and that computer ethics should consider both the technical and social
aspects of technology.
• The book covers various topics, including the importance of privacy, intellectual property,
and professional ethics in computing, as well as the impact of technology on society and the
role of computer ethicists.

• The author incorporates concepts and insights from the field of science and technology
studies (STS) to frame technology as sociotechnical systems, highlighting the connection
between ethics and technology.

• The book includes scenarios and case studies to illustrate the significance of the broader,
more abstract matters addressed in each chapter.

• The chapter introduces the concept of sociotechnical computer ethics, which rejects
technological determinism and views technology as infused with value.

• The author argues that understanding the connections between ethics and technology is
crucial in a world where computers and information technology are increasingly shaping
our lives.

• Three scenarios are presented to illustrate the complex ethical and social issues that arise
around computers and information technology, including a virtual rape in a multi-user
online environment, surprises about social networking on Facebook, and the use of RFID
chips to track and care for the elderly.

• The scenarios raise questions about privacy, uses and abuses of technology, and the
obligations of companies to inform their customers about changes in the operation of their
business.

• The author suggests that understanding the social and ethical implications of our choices
about IT is essential to steering the development of future technologies in a direction that is
good for humanity.

The Connection Between Ethics And IT

• Computer ethicists struggle with questions about why computers raise ethical issues and
what the connection is between ethics and IT.

• Scholars in the field of computer ethics have debated whether IT creates new ethical
issues or new versions of old ethical issues, and whether traditional moral theories can be
extended to apply to IT.

• The "why computer ethics?" question is complex and has to do with technology in general,
as well as specifically with IT and whether there is something special about this set of
technologies that gives rise to a distinctive kind of ethical issue.

• The connection between ethics and technology is a key aspect of the "why computer
ethics?" question, and scholars have considered whether new moral theories are needed to
address the ethical issues surrounding IT.
• The standard account of computer ethics, proposed by James Moor, suggests that
computers create new possibilities for human action, which give rise to ethical questions
about whether and how to pursue these possibilities.

• According to the standard account, computer ethicists evaluate the new possibilities from
an ethical perspective, considering whether they fit with moral values, notions, and
practices.

• The field of computer ethics aims to fill policy vacuums that arise when new technologies
are invented and adopted, and to provide a framework for understanding and resolving
ethical issues that involve IT.

The Development Of Computer Ethics

• The field of computer ethics emerged in response to the creation of new possibilities for
human action through information technology (IT), which led to policy vacuums and
conceptual muddles.

• The task of computer ethics is to evaluate the new possibilities and fill the policy vacuums,
which involves sorting out conceptual muddles.

• The standard account of computer ethics, as described by Moor, is applicable to new

technologies in general, not just IT, and focuses on the newness of the technology.

• However, this focus on newness may lead to a skewed analysis that neglects the ongoing
role of IT in shaping the social and moral world.

• The emphasis on newness also overlooks the fact that technologies are developed in a
social world, with existing cultural, economic, and legal contexts that shape their design and
features.

• A more nuanced approach to computer ethics would recognize the importance of ongoing
ethical analysis and critique of policies, as well as the role of IT in shaping moral practices
and the social world.

• This approach would also acknowledge the possibility of different design and innovation
contexts leading to different technologies, and the opportunity for ethics to play a role in the
design of IT systems.

The Sociotechnical Systems Perspective

• The standard account of technology tends to overlook other stages in the lifecycle of
technologies, including design, manufacturing, marketing, distribution, and disposal, where
computer ethics can play a role in identifying ethical issues.

• The lifecycle of IT includes not only design and introduction but also contributes to the
configuration of social arrangements, social practices, and social institutions.
• The lens of ethics should be brought to bear on all stages of the lifecycle of IT, and the
sociotechnical systems perspective provides a foundation for IT ethics.

• STS (science, technology, and society) scholars reject technological determinism, which
consists of two claims: technology develops independently from society, and technology
determines the character of society when it is taken up and used.

• STS argues that scientific and technological development is influenced by social factors,
including government funding, social incidents, market forces, legal environment, and
cultural sensibilities.

• The character and direction of technological development are shaped by social factors,
and technology does not develop in isolation or according to its own logic.

• STS scholars also reject the view that technology determines society, arguing that social
factors affect the design, use, and meaning of a technology, and society can push back and
reconfigure a technology.

• The positive recommendation emerging from STS is that we acknowledge that technology
and society cocreate each other, and that technology shapes and is shaped by society.

• STS theory also rejects the presumption that technology refers to physical objects or
artifacts, arguing that artifacts have no meaning or significance unless they are embedded in
social practices and social activities.

• Technology is a social product, and the artifactual component of technology can function
only as part of a social system, which includes human arrangements and social practices.

• STS theorists recommend that we think of technology as sociotechnical systems, which

consist of artifacts and human arrangements working together to make a functional system.

Understanding Technology As Sociotechnical Systems

• Ethicists have traditionally focused on human behavior and action, neglecting technology,
which was seen as neutral and merely a product of nature.

• This perspective is dangerous because it overlooks the fact that people and artifacts are
intertwined, and that artifacts are shaped by humans and influence human behavior.

• STS scholars reject the idea that technology is simply material objects and instead view
technology as sociotechnical systems, which are combinations of things and people.

• Artifacts are important, but they cannot be fully understood without considering the social
practices and systems in which they operate.

• The material world powerfully shapes what people can and cannot do, but it is misleading
to look only at artifacts.
• Technology is not value-neutral; it is infused with social and moral values, and its
adoption often requires particular social arrangements.

• The relationship between technology and systems of power and authority is complex, and
particular technologies cannot exist or function without particular kinds of social
arrangements.

• The design and development of technology, such as Facebook and RFID devices, involve
social and moral values and are shaped by the interests of various stakeholders.

• Understanding technology as sociotechnical systems provides a fuller, more accurate, and

richer understanding of situations in which moral questions and dilemmas arise.

Sociotechnical Systems Perspective

• The sociotechnical systems perspective generates more questions than someone without
the perspective would have thought to ask, but it helps in identifying or articulating
particular kinds of concerns, and reveals new opportunities for resolution or intervention.

• This perspective frames technology as a system, drawing attention to macro-level issues,

but it also enhances micro-level analysis, making it compatible with and useful to both
levels of analysis.

• The sociotechnical systems perspective provides a richer account of situations in which

ethical decisions are made, one that may help in articulating moral concerns as well as
revealing additional avenues for addressing ethical questions and issues.

Understanding Ethics And Its Application

• Ethics is a normative lens through which to view human arrangements, choices, and
actions, aiming to understand, illuminate, and develop strategies for practical decision
making.

• The approach taken in this book is practical, using analytical methods to illuminate the
ethical aspects of situations and the ethical implications of deciding one way or another.

• Ethics is concerned with steering one's life, making intentional choices, and contributing
to the future, involving normative claims that are prescriptive and evaluative.

• The distinction between descriptive and normative claims is important, with descriptive
claims describing a state of affairs in the world and normative claims making
recommendations about what ought to be the case.

• Normative analysis deals with evaluating and critiquing states of affairs in search of ways
to think about what was wrong or what would be better, ultimately to inform action.

• Ethical analysis involves identifying a principle or value, exploring what the principle or
value implies, and making a case for a position, connecting the principle or value to a
particular situation.
• The dialectic method is used in ethical analysis, formulating normative claims into
arguments and examining them for coherence, plausibility, and consistency, as well as for
their fit with ordinary experience and relevant empirical information.

Understanding And Evaluating Moral Beliefs

• When individuals have difficulty articulating their reasons for believing a behavior or
policy is wrong, they must move from unreflective beliefs and gut feelings to claims
connected to a value or principle that others are likely to accept.

• The dialectic method requires individuals to give reasons for their moral beliefs, which
can then be examined and critically evaluated, leading to a better understanding of the
claim and its defense.

• The process involves moving from claims to reasons and arguments, and from one
formulation of an argument to another, better formulation, as well as moving back and forth
from cases to principles or theory.

• The dialectic method helps to clarify what is at issue, what the possible positions are, and
leads to more precise specification of the claim and its defense, even if it does not always
lead to a final and absolute conclusion.

• Good dialecticians are always open to further discussion, recognizing that every
discussion is an opportunity to learn more, see another connection or aspect, and to hear
another perspective.

• The dialectic method can be applied to various cases, such as euthanasia and blogging, to
explore the fit between the situation and moral concepts or theories, and to develop
arguments and understand the values and interests relevant to various actors.

Ethics And Relativism

• Many discussions of ethics begin with the idea that "ethics is relative," meaning that
ethical beliefs depend on factors such as country, culture, age, or personality.

• This claim is often used to end debates about delicate issues, with the conclusion that
"everyone is entitled to their own opinion" or "right and wrong depend on where you are
sitting."

• However, when subjected to scrutiny, the "ethics is relative" claim is complex and perhaps
confused.

• The claim can be understood as either a descriptive or normative claim, with different
implications for each interpretation.

• As a descriptive claim, "ethics is relative" suggests that ethical beliefs, rules, and practices
vary from culture to culture and from time to time, which is supported by evidence from
historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists.
• However, this claim can be challenged by questioning whether the diversity of belief is
superficial and misleading, and whether universal norms underlie the seemingly disparate
beliefs, rules, and practices.

• As a normative claim, "ethics is relative" suggests that right and wrong are relative to
one's culture or society, and that one should act in conformance with the rules of one's
society.

• However, this claim is problematic, as it can lead to inconsistencies and self-

contradictions, and does not provide guidance for making moral decisions in tough
situations.

• The "ethics is relative" claim also seems to be inconsistent with our ideas about moral
heroes, who often defy the rules of their society to stand up for what is right.

• Ultimately, the "ethics is relative" claim does not seem plausible, and we must continue to
explore other moral theories and frameworks to engage in the dialectic process.

Utilitarianism And The Pursuit Of Happiness

• According to utilitarianism, individuals should act to bring about the greatest amount of
happiness for the greatest number of people.

• Utilitarians believe that happiness is the ultimate intrinsic good, because it is valuable for
its own sake and cannot be understood as simply a means to something else.

• Everything else is desired as a means to happiness, and therefore has only secondary or
derivative value.

• The utilitarian principle provides a decision procedure for evaluating courses of action,
where the right action is the one that produces the most overall net happiness.

• This principle can be applied to individual acts or to the formulation of rules that, if
followed by everyone, would maximize happiness in the long run.

• Rule-utilitarians argue that we ought to adopt rules that, if followed by everyone, would
maximize happiness, while act-utilitarians believe that we should try to anticipate the
consequences of our individual actions.

• Utilitarianism can be used to evaluate laws and social practices, such as punishment, and
to decide whether they should be changed or retained based on their consequences for
human well-being.

Utilitarianism And Its Criticisms

• Utilitarianism is a moral theory that asserts that an action is right if it produces the
greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

• However, critics argue that utilitarianism can justify imposing enormous burdens on some
individuals for the sake of others, such as slavery and killing the innocent.
• Utilitarians respond that their theory does not justify such practices, as long-term
consequences are taken into account, and that practices like slavery and killing innocent
people would ultimately lead to more fear and anxiety, diminishing net happiness.

• Some utilitarians concede that there may be circumstances in which what seem to be
repugnant practices should be accepted because they bring about consequences having a
greater net good than would be brought about by other practices.

• Critics argue that utilitarianism treats individuals as means to an end, rather than as ends
in themselves, and that it leads to imposing an unfair burden on some individuals.

• The critique of utilitarianism implies a principle that is antithetical to utilitarianism,

suggesting that each and every person has value and should be respected, regardless of
their social value.

• An alternative to utilitarianism is deontological theory, which emphasizes the internal

character of the act itself, rather than its consequences, and asserts that certain actions are
always wrong, regardless of the circumstances.

Rationality And Morality

• Humans are rational beings, capable of reasoning about what they want to do and then
deciding and acting, which suggests that their end (their highest good) is something other
than happiness.

• The capacity for rational decision making is the most important feature of human beings,
and it is connected with morality, as we could not be moral beings at all unless we had this
rational capacity.

• Deontologists emphasize that humans are creatures with goals who engage in activities
directed toward achieving these goals (ends), and that they use their rationality to
formulate their goals and figure out what kind of life to live.

• Morality requires that we respect each of these beings as valuable in themselves, and
refrain from valuing them only insofar as they fit into our own life plans.

• The categorical imperative, "Never treat another human being merely as a means but
always as an end," is derived from the idea that persons are moral beings because they are
rational, efficacious beings.

• This imperative means that we should treat others in ways that recognize their capacity to
think and decide and act for themselves, and never "merely" use them as a means to our
own ends.

Theories Of Rights And Justice

• The idea that individuals have fundamental "rights" is deeply rooted in social contract
theory, which hypothesizes that a social contract between individuals or between
individuals and government explains and justifies the obligations that human beings have to
one another.

• In social contract theory, the state of nature (without government or civil society) is
depicted as a state of insecurity and uncertainty, and rational human beings would agree to
live according to certain rules or give power to a government to enforce certain rules in
exchange for the benefits of cooperation.

• Different social contract theorists, such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, specify the
nature and limits of the obligations incurred differently, with some arguing that morality
exists prior to the social contract and others that there is no justice or injustice in a state of
nature.

• John Rawls introduced a new version of social contract theory in 1971, which argues that
justice is what individuals in the original position would agree to, behind a veil of ignorance,
where they do not know their personal characteristics but are rational and self-interested.

• Rawls's theory argues that two rules would be agreed to in the original position: equal
right to basic liberty and social and economic inequalities arranged to be to everyone's
advantage and attached to positions open to all.

• The theory of virtue ethics, which dates back to Plato and Aristotle, focuses on the
question of what is a good person and what are the virtues associated with being a good
person, such as courage, benevolence, and honesty.

• Virtue theory can be applied to the discussion of computers and information technology
and ethics, particularly in the context of professional ethics, where the characteristics of a
good computer professional should be considered.

Privacy And Property Rights In The Digital Age

• The behavior of breaking into computer systems without making copies of files is
compared to testing doors on houses to see if they are unlocked, and the question is raised
whether there is a difference between these two cases.

• Both types of actions may be felt to be intrusions of privacy and a violation of property
rights from the point of view of the person who is being intruded upon.

• The analogy helps to focus attention on the elements of the action or case that are relevant
to a moral evaluation, but it must be used with caution to avoid failing to recognize
important differences.

• The hacker's argument that they are providing a service by identifying and revealing the
flaws and vulnerabilities in computer systems is countered by an analogy that compares it
to setting a fire in a shopping mall to show the flaws in the fire protection system.

• The analogy highlights the importance of identifying the differences as well as the
similarities between the computer and non-computer cases when reasoning by analogy.
The Role Of IT In Shaping Societies And Ethics
• IT does not determine information societies, but rather is configured with and shapes
these societies, influencing ethical issues and social values.

• Human action is a central focus of ethics, and technology can be understood as the
instrumentation of human action, making the connection between ethics and technology
seamless.

• In IT-configured societies, many actions of individuals and organizations are instrumented

through IT, adding efficacy and making a difference in what individuals and organizations
conceive of as their options and what they actually do.

• Technology expands and enhances human capabilities, but also constitutes forms of action
that weren't possible or even conceivable without the technology.

• IT instruments collective or organizational action as well as individual action, and its

instrumentation has features that were not part of prior instrumentation.

• Thinking about IT as the instrumentation of human action has two important advantages
for ethical analysis: it keeps humans as the agents of actions, and it allows us to focus on the
contribution of the instrumentation to the character of human actions.

• The account of technology as the instrumentation of human action allows us to see both
the contributions of humans and of technology, and to see them as intertwined but distinct.

• Human activity is required both for the production and deployment of technology, and
concerns about accountability are likely to influence the deployment of autonomous bots
and robots.

Technology And Human Action

• We are all cyborgs, not just because of implanted technologies, but also because we rely on
external technologies like energy, transportation, and sanitation systems to live our daily
lives.

• The idea of being a cyborg raises questions about agency, action, and intentionality, and
how to conceptualize the actions of a being that is part human and part technology.

• The concept of responsibility is crucial in IT-configured societies, where individuals and

designers of technologies must be held accountable for their actions.

• The use of sophisticated programs to interact with clients and customers raises questions
about whether it matters if the response is generated by a human or a machine, and how to
ensure accountability in such systems.

• The account of technology as the instrumentation of human action is valuable for

understanding the implications of technology on human life and morality.
• IT systems have distinct features, such as global scope, anonymity, and reproducibility,
which contribute to ethical dilemmas and issues.

• The global scope of the Internet is significant because of its ease of use, immediacy, and
low cost, allowing individuals to communicate with many others across the world.

• The Internet's many-to-many communication is distinct from one-way communication

through radio and television, and is characterized by its interactivity and ease of use.

• Anonymity on the Internet is not absolute, as communications can be monitored and

traced, and identity can be distorted or manipulated through technology.

Identity And Anonymity In Online Communication

• The use of credit cards and online transactions creates a vast and complex technological
system that involves information moving from one node to another, making it possible to
link information about an individual.

• In contrast, voting systems are designed to maintain anonymity, where the link between
the individual and their vote is disconnected.

• Anonymity is complicated and depends on certain things being known or not known by
particular others in particular contexts, involving minimizing the kind of links that can be
made to different kinds of information.

• The distinctiveness of Internet communication comes from two elements: mediation

through a vast sociotechnical system, and the range of identity conditions that are available.

• IT instrumentation makes a variety of formats possible, facilitating and constraining

identity conditions, and allowing for variability in online communication.

• The gap between persons and machines in online communication raises questions about
who produced the machine activity, and tracking and monitoring of online communication
involves watching machine activity.

• The reproducibility of electronic information has dramatic implications for property rights
and crime, as it allows for effortless copying and reproduction of information without loss
of quality or value.

The Complexity Of Virtual Worlds And Online Interactions

• The virtual rape case in LambdaMOO raises questions about the nature of wrongdoing and
harm in virtual environments, and whether punishment should be limited to the virtual
realm.

• The case highlights the importance of considering the sociotechnical aspects of morality,
where moral norms can be socially and technologically constructed.
• The attachment individuals form with their avatars is a key factor in understanding why
players felt wronged or harmed by Bungle's behavior, and can be seen as analogous to a
person's attachment to their family emblem or memorabilia.

• The virtual rape case is a good illustration of the complexities of morality in IT-configured
societies, where friendship and interaction are shaped by, and shape, various factors
including moral norms and practices.

• The architecture of online systems, such as social networking sites, can influence how
individuals construct their identities and present themselves to others.

• The reproducibility of online interactions, where words and actions can be recorded and
made available to others, raises concerns about privacy and the construction of identity.

Education And Technology

• Many aspects of education have been reconfigured around IT, including online application
processes, communications between teachers and students, record keeping, and online
courses.

• The permeation of IT in education has disrupted ideas about the purposes, values, and
measures of education, changing what it means to be educated.

• The adoption of IT has led to new challenges, such as plagiarism and the need for
plagiarism-detection systems, which raise questions about academic integrity and the
values of education.

• The use of IT in education has also led to a rethinking of what and how we teach, and
whether education needs to change to accommodate a world in which cut and paste is the
norm.

• Plagiarism detection systems, such as Turnitin, have been developed to identify and
discourage illicit cutting and pasting, but their reliability and impact on student-teacher
relationships are concerns.

• The reconfiguration of education around IT continues to evolve, with ongoing debates

about the role of technology in education and its impact on values and practices.

Democracy And The Internet

• Democracy is good for individuals and makes for a better state, as citizens develop their
capacities and the state benefits from the ideas that citizens contribute and from an
informed citizenry.

• In modern, large-scale, nation-states, democracy has meant that citizens have a right to
elect representatives to the government, and these governments are accountable to the
citizens.
• The size of nation-states has been a persistent and daunting challenge to the idea of
democracy, as it has diluted the power of individual citizens to influence their government.

• Changes in technology have meant changes in the way democratic institutions have been
constituted, and the Internet is seen by many as the latest technology to transform
democratic practices and institutions.

• The Internet has changed many aspects of government, including campaigning, with the
use of websites, blogs, e-mail, YouTube, and more, as well as making public records online
and allowing citizens to perform functions online.

• Many-to-many communication is a prominent feature of the Internet, allowing individuals

to be producers and distributors of information, providing forums that are mediated
differently than mass media, facilitating access to many more sources of information, and
facilitating the formation of associations that are independent of geographic space.

• The Internet has empowered individuals to produce and distribute information by

removing traditional hurdles, and it has made the cost of information production and
distribution so low that many can be providers as well as receivers.

• The Internet provides a variety of forums in which citizens can exercise their democratic
right of free speech, and these forums bypass traditional media.

• The Internet has made it possible for individuals to find others with the same interest and
form associations online, which links directly to Madisonian democracy.

• The Internet might be considered a "democratic technology" because it allows individuals

to be producers and distributors of information, bypasses the traditional power of mass
media, provides access to a broader array of sources of information, and facilitates the
formation of interest group associations independent of geographic space.

• However, there are also counterdemocracy patterns of behavior, such as the competition
for attention on the Internet, the need for filtering and sorting information, and the
potential for powerful institutions to maintain their power or dominance in an industry.

• The algorithms used by search engines, such as Google, make value decisions and order
information presented to users in a linear hierarchy, which raises questions about the
democratic character of the Internet.

• The Internet is used by powerful institutions to maintain their power or dominance in an

industry, and the controversy over net neutrality is an example of how powerful forces seek
to control the Internet.

Privacy And Surveillance In The Digital Age

• The Internet is not inherently democratic, and its democratic potential is influenced by
various factors, including the institutions and policies that govern its use.
• The Internet's global scope and many-to-many communication capabilities can contribute
to global democracy, but they also pose challenges to nation-states' control over
information and behavior.

• The Internet's potential to facilitate democracy is influenced by the policies and practices
of governments, corporations, and technologists, which can either promote or undermine
democratic values.

• The collection and use of personal data by service providers, marketers, and governments
raise concerns about privacy and surveillance, and can have implications for democracy and
freedom of expression.

• The use of cookies, data mining, and other technologies to track and analyze online
behavior can compromise individuals' privacy and autonomy, and can be used to
manipulate and control behavior.

• The Google in China case highlights the complexities of balancing freedom of expression
with national security and cultural norms, and raises questions about the role of
corporations in promoting democratic values.

• The Lidl case in Germany and the Czech Republic illustrates the potential for employers to
use surveillance and data collection to monitor and control employees, and raises concerns
about privacy and human dignity.

• The use of consumer profiling and recommendation engines in e-business can lead to
inaccurate and intrusive targeting of individuals, and raises ethical issues about the use of
personal data for commercial purposes.

• The widespread use of IT has facilitated unprecedented flows of information, making it

easier to collect, store, and share personal data.

• The scale of personal information gathering has expanded exponentially, and electronic
records have none of the limitations of paper records, making it easier to create, store,
maintain, manipulate, search, and share records.

• New kinds of information, such as transaction-generated information (TGI), have been

created, and personal information is distributed more widely and endures for longer
periods of time.

• The effects of erroneous personal information are magnified, and individuals in IT-
configured societies are intensively tracked and monitored, leading to concerns about
privacy and surveillance.

• Surveillance can occur through various means, including closed-circuit television cameras,
computer monitoring, navigational devices, cell phones, and website tracking, and can lead
to the creation of comprehensive profiles of individuals.
• The flow of personal information raises critical and normative questions about the value
of privacy, the impact of surveillance on social arrangements, institutions, and practices,
and the kind of beings we become when we live in surveillance societies.

The Importance Of Privacy In The Digital Age

• The collection and use of personal information can have severe negative consequences,
such as discrimination, harassment, and denial of benefits, even if the information is
accurate.

• The argument that privacy is overrated because people trade it off for benefits is flawed,
as individuals may be naive or uninformed about the choices they make, and the
consequences of giving up personal information may be distant and unclear.

• The cumulative effects of giving up privacy in various contexts can lead to a significant loss
of privacy overall, even if each individual choice seems benign.

• The claim that personal information-gathering practices can be beneficial to organizations

and individuals is strong, but it is essential to consider both the positive and negative
consequences of these practices and to ensure that the information is accurate and relevant
to the decision being made.

• The intensive and extensive gathering and flow of personal information in IT-configured
societies can have significant negative consequences, including the loss of autonomy,
equality, and democracy.

• Privacy is a complex value that is intertwined with autonomy, equality, and democracy,
and its importance ought to be recognized in IT-based practices.

• The value of privacy lies not only in its instrumental benefits, such as enabling human
relationships and trust, but also in its intrinsic value as a fundamental aspect of human
dignity and autonomy.

Privacy And Control Of Information

• Rachels argues that privacy is necessary to maintain a diversity of relationships, as the
kind of relationships we have with others is a function of the information we have about
each other.

• He suggests that if everyone had the same information about us, we would not have a
diversity of relationships, and that controlling the kind of information we reveal about
ourselves allows us to have different types of relationships.

• The example of a dentist-patient relationship developing into a friendship or intimate

relationship illustrates how the amount and kind of information exchanged about one
another affects the nature of the relationship.
• Rachels's argument is that we need privacy (control of information about ourselves)
because it allows us to have a diversity of relationships, and that relationships are a
function of information.

• However, the intense and wide-ranging flow of personal information in information

societies may facilitate a diversity of relationships, but not necessarily in a way that is
valuable or desirable.

• The gossip example illustrates how losing control of information can lead to a loss of
control over relationships and how one is viewed and treated by others.

• Control of personal information is a means by which we control the relationships we have

and how we are treated in those relationships, and is an important component of our
autonomy.

• The value of privacy is more complicated than Rachels suggests, and may depend on
contextual norms and democratic principles.

• Nissenbaum's account of privacy as contextual integrity emphasizes the importance of

information norms in particular domains, and how these norms vary from context to
context.

• According to Nissenbaum, when information norms are violated, an individual's privacy is

violated, and norms about what kinds of information are appropriate and how it will be
distributed are essential to maintaining privacy.

Privacy, Autonomy, And Democracy

• The importance of privacy lies not only in its individual benefits but also in its role as a
social good, essential for autonomy and democracy.

• When privacy is treated as an individual interest, it often loses to organizational goals and
interests in a utilitarian cost-benefit framework.

• Instead, understanding privacy as a social good can give it a fair hearing when balanced
against other social values like security and efficiency.

• The connection between privacy and autonomy is crucial, as surveillance can undermine
individuals' ability to develop themselves independently and make their own decisions.

• Living in an IT-configured society can be likened to living in a "panopticon," where

individuals feel compelled to conform to norms and behave in ways that are publicly
acceptable, leading to a loss of autonomy and democratic citizenship.

• The argument for privacy is, therefore, an argument for the space individuals need to
develop autonomy, which is essential for democracy and critical thinking.
• The norms by which individuals are being measured, evaluated, and treated are often
invisible, inaccessible, or unknown, leading to a lack of transparency and accountability in
the use of personal information.

Social Sorting And Prediction

• Organizations use prediction to sort individuals into categories, treating them accordingly,
and affecting their opportunities and experiences.

• This social sorting can lead to inequality, as individuals in different categories have
varying levels of access to resources, services, and opportunities.

• The use of categories can be crude and lead to discrimination, even if organizations avoid
using categories like race, gender, and religion.

• The cumulative effect of social sorting may result in divided and segmented societies,
undermining democracy.

• A radical idea is proposed, where organizations are prohibited from using anything but
the crudest categories, treating all customers and clients alike, and requiring permission to
use other categories.

• This approach could lead to more privacy, autonomy, and equality, as individuals would be
treated as rational beings capable of making decisions for themselves.

Privacy Protection And Fair Information Practices

• The Code of Fair Information Practices specifies five principles for protecting personal
data: no secret record-keeping systems, individual access to and correction of personal data,
consent for data use, data reliability and security, and accountability.

• The Federal Trade Commission and other organizations have developed guidelines for fair
information practices, including notice/awareness, choice/consent, access/participation,
integrity/security, and enforcement/redress.

• Despite these guidelines, personal data is often used for unintended purposes, and
individuals may not have access to or control over their personal information.

• Transparency policies and opt-in rather than opt-out approaches can help protect privacy
and ensure that individuals are aware of and consent to the use of their personal data.

• IT professionals can play a crucial role in protecting privacy by designing systems that
minimize data collection, ensure data security, and provide individuals with control over
their personal information.

• Individuals can take steps to protect their own privacy, such as using anonymous
remailers, encrypting email, and opting out of third-party information sharing.
Digital Intellectual Property
• The chapter discusses the complexities of digital property definitions, including the
protection of property rights in software through copyright, trade secrecy, and patent
protection.

• The concept of digital intellectual property is explored, highlighting the difficulties in

protecting software due to its reproducibility and the ease of copying.

• The chapter introduces three scenarios related to digital intellectual property, including
obtaining pirated software abroad, free software that follows proprietary software, and
using public domain software in proprietary software.

• The scenarios raise questions about the fairness and legality of certain actions, such as
copying software, using free software to replicate proprietary software, and selling revised
public domain software.

• The chapter provides background information on IT systems, hardware, and software, and
explains the differences between algorithms, object code, and source code, which are
important for understanding digital intellectual property issues.

Software Ownership And Intellectual Property Rights

• The concept of software ownership is complex and has been difficult to define, with
various legal protections such as copyright, trade secrecy, and patent being used to control
access to software.

• The value of software was quickly recognized, and this value created an intense interest in
control and ownership, leading to digital intellectual property rights issues at both micro
and macro levels.

• Scenarios such as Carol buying software that would be illegal to obtain in the United
States, Earl and Jake making individual choices about what to do with the software they
created, and the macro-level issue of whether current laws are fair and effectively structure
software markets, highlight the complexity of IT ethics in this area.

• The law continues to be contested, with courts and law journals filled with case after case
in which property rights are being claimed and accusations of infringements are being
made.

• The music, film, and television industries have challenged various online schemas for
downloading of music, movies, and television, and the use of wireless connections (WiFi)
are being framed as theft.

• American television writers recently went on strike to win more financial rights to Web-
based distribution of the shows they had written, adding to the mix of international law and
agreements because the Internet makes it so easy to move copyrighted materials and
patented processes across national boundaries.
• Three forms of legal protection that are now widely used to own and control access to
software are copyright, trade secrecy, and patent, which create proprietary software (PS).

• The Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) movement is based on an entirely different
vision of how software can be developed and distributed, with FOSS programmers
cooperating to develop and maintain software and then encouraging users to copy and
distribute the software, often free of charge.

• In the United States, when a software developer creates an original piece of software, the
developer can use copyright law to obtain a form of ownership that will exclude others from
directly copying the software without permission.

• Copyright protection is rooted in the U.S Constitution and protects "original works of
authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from
which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or
with the aid of a machine or device."

• Although copyright provides a significant form of protection to authors, when it comes to

software, the protection is limited and complex issues of interpretation often arise,
particularly with regards to the distinction between ideas and expression.

• Algorithms are generally thought to be the ideas expressed in a program and, hence, they
are not copyrightable, but the source code and object code are understood to be "literary
works," that is, formal expressions of ideas.

• The problem is that it is often sufficient for a competitor to study the software and with
minor effort, and without directly copying, create comparable, and sometimes better,
software.

• The inadequacy of copyright to protect what is valuable in software is not something that
can be fixed by tinkering with copyright law, but rather has to do with the distinction
between idea and expression, and the fact that software is both expressive and functional.

• Another problem with copyright is uncertainty as to what counts as an infringement, with

the burden of proof being on the copyright holder to prove infringement.

• A famous and important early case in the legal history of software ownership was the case
of Franklin v. Apple, decided by the U.S Supreme Court in 1984, which established that
computer programs expressed in object code are copyrightable.

Intellectual Property Protection For Software

• Copyright law protects software by preventing others from copying or building upon it
without permission, but it has limitations, such as requiring proof of access to the
copyrighted material and being limited in time.
• Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a technological mechanism used to prevent copying,
but it is often circumvented by hackers and users, and its legal support through the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has been controversial.

• Trade secrecy laws allow companies to keep certain information secret, but they are not
uniform, and enforcing employment and licensing agreements can be challenging, especially
when the secret must be revealed to license the software.

• Patent protection offers the strongest form of protection for software, giving the inventor
a monopoly on the use of the invention, but its application to software is still debated, and
the patent system's goal is to foster invention, promote disclosure, and assure that ideas
already in the public domain remain free for use.

Patent Law And Software Development

• The patent system restricts what can be patented, excluding abstract ideas, mathematical
formulae, scientific principles, laws of nature, and mental processes to prevent inhibiting
further invention.

• A patent claim must satisfy a two-step test, including falling within permissible subject
matter and meeting utility, novelty, and nonobviousness requirements.

• Software has difficulty qualifying as permissible subject matter, as it is considered a

process or part of a process, and specifying what subject matter is transformed by software
is a challenge.

• Granting patents on software raises concerns about owning mental processes and
algorithms, which could interfere with freedom of thought and lead to monopolies on
mathematical algorithms.

• Despite these challenges, thousands of software patents have been granted, leading to
concerns that too much software is being patented and hindering innovation.

• The situation has led to a two-track system, with proprietary software protected by
copyright, trade secrecy, and patent law, and Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) that is
produced and distributed under alternative licenses.

• FOSS encourages users to run, redistribute, and modify the code, and its licensing
schemes, such as copyleft, ensure that software remains free and open.

• The debates around software patents and FOSS highlight the complexities of property
rights and the ongoing struggle to define what software "is" and how it will evolve in the
future.

Natural Rights And Property Ownership

• The concept of property ownership is complex, and the natural rights theory argues that
individuals have a right to what they produce with their labor, as they own themselves and
their labor.
• According to John Locke's labor theory of property, an individual who mixes their labor
with something has a natural right to it, as they would not have existed without their labor.

• This argument is intuitively appealing, as it seems unfair for someone to take the products
of another person's labor without permission, effectively making them a slave.

• However, the natural rights argument has flaws, such as the question of why mixing one's
labor with something makes one the owner of it, and whether property rights in software
are necessary for justice.

• Another flaw is that software is intellectual property, and when someone copies or uses it,
the original creator does not lose access to it, unlike physical property.

• The issue is not about ownership or possession, but about control and economic gain in a
market environment, which is an economic right rather than a natural right.

• The dispute between proprietary software (PS) and free and open-source software (FOSS)
advocates is largely about which system is best for the production and distribution of
software, and which system will produce the best consequences.

The Debate Over Software Ownership And Morality

• The debate between Proprietary Software (PS) and Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
is not just about technical differences, but about which system produces the best
consequences for the development and distribution of software.

• The standard argument for PS is that individuals and companies will not invest in software
development unless they can reap rewards, but this argument can be challenged, and FOSS
provides a counterexample.

• An alternative to the traditional forms of ownership is a credit system, where

programmers are recognized for their work and can benefit from their reputation.

• Framing the debate in a utilitarian framework means focusing on which system produces
better consequences, and deciding ownership issues in terms of their effects on creativity
and development in the field of software.

• The existence of both PS and FOSS systems allows us to observe how they work and learn
which system produces better results.

• Making a copy of PS without permission or violating an FS license is illegal and harms the
owner of the PS, depriving them of their legal right to require payment in exchange for the
use of the software.

• Arguing that it is wrong to copy PS without permission and wrong to violate an FS license
is, in essence, arguing that it is immoral to do something illegal.
• While there may be cases in which individuals are justified in breaking a bad law, it is not
permissible to break laws whenever they are deemed not good, and citizens have a prima
facie obligation to obey the laws of a relatively just state.

Software Copying And Property Rights

• The concept of software copying as an act of civil disobedience is explored, with the idea
that some acts of disobedience to law are morally justified if they are based on immoral
laws that compel immoral acts or support unjust institutions.

• To make a case for software copying as civil disobedience, one would need to show that
the system of property rights for software is unjust and that adhering to those laws compels
immoral acts or supports unjust institutions.

• Authors such as Stallman and Nissenbaum have argued that not helping a friend in need
by copying software is wrong, but their arguments only apply to restricted circumstances
and do not consider the harm done to the copyright or patent holder.

• The case for the moral permissibility of software copying would be stronger if the system
of property rights in software, or all property rights, were shown to be unjust.

• However, in most cases, the claims of the software owner seem stronger than the claims of
someone who needs a copy to make their life easier.

• An analogy is made between breaking into a private swimming pool and making an illegal
copy of software, highlighting that both acts violate the legal rights of the owner and
constitute a harm to the owner.

• The chapter also touches on other forms of digital intellectual property, such as music and
movies, and how they are equally controversial, with some artists using the internet to
share their work freely and others using Creative Commons licenses to facilitate sharing
and reuse.

Technology, Law, And Ethics

• The chapter discusses the intersection of technology, law, and ethics in the context of
intellectual property, software development, and online interactions.

• The rise of free and open-source software (FOSS) and Creative Commons has created
alternative systems for producing and distributing creative works, which are shaped by IT,
law, and notions of right and wrong.

• The issues of property rights in software are complex and multifaceted, involving
questions of fairness, economic justice, and moral intuitions.

• The chapter argues that property rights in software should be developed to serve the
greater good, rather than being seen as fixed or natural.
• The development of FOSS and Creative Commons has created new relationships between
authors and consumers, with distinctive moral rules and obligations.

• The chapter also touches on the importance of evaluating laws and public policy on
software ownership to ensure the future development of IT.

Establishing Order In Cyberspace

• The development of the Internet has been likened to the settlement of a new frontier, with
individuals and groups vying to have their visions realized and their particular interests
served.

• The process of civilizing the Internet involves establishing "law and order," but law is only
one of several means by which order is established and maintained.

• The Internet is a work in progress, and many of the big issues have been settled but are
open to renegotiation, and much is yet to be settled.

• Order is created through a combination of sociotechnical elements, including law, markets,

social norms, and architecture.

• Law defines property rights and privacy rights, and these rights are protected through the
criminal justice system.

• Crime prevention and security go beyond the criminal justice system, with IT systems
designed to prevent crime, and order is created in the architecture of IT systems.

• The Internet has facilitated new forms of order, such as collaborative knowledge
production through wikis, and has also raised challenges for order, such as censorship and
the protection of children from offensive behavior.

• The regulation of human behavior on the Internet is achieved through a combination of

law, markets, social norms, and architecture, which sometimes work together and
sometimes are at odds with one another.

Moral Evaluation Of Computer Crimes

• The moral character of a crime can be affected by the instrumentation used, even if the
outcome is the same, as seen in the comparison between traditional bank robbery and
online bank robbery.

• The distinction between old crimes instrumented in new ways and new crimes that
couldn't exist without computers is important for moral evaluation.

• Phishing, a form of fraud, raises questions about whether the remote and anonymous
nature of the crime makes it morally different from offline fraud.

• The challenge in evaluating computer crimes lies in figuring out the nature of the
wrongdoing and what might be appropriate in terms of sanction, rather than simply
determining whether the behavior is undesirable.
• Analogies can be useful in thinking about new crimes, but the notion of "equivalence" can
be tricky, and seemingly analogous behavior could be morally different because of the
different instrumentation.

Computer Security And Hacking

• Robert Morris, a Cornell student, created a worm that slowed down systems and acquired
passwords, but did no permanent damage, and was found guilty of violating the Federal
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.

• Morris claimed he was trying to expose a flaw in the system and had tried other means to
get the problem fixed, but system administrators had not listened to him.

• The case is illustrative of the problem of hacking, where individuals may have good
motives, but their actions can still cause harm and wreak havoc on the Internet.

• The literature on whistle blowing suggests that individuals should always try to fix a
problem through internal channels, rather than taking matters into their own hands.

• Gene Spafford argues that the hacker defense is equivalent to saying that vigilantes have
the right to break into homes to demonstrate that they are susceptible to burglars, which is
not acceptable.

• Spafford also points out that online break-ins, even when done to call attention to flaws in
security, waste time and money, and pressure individuals and companies to invest in
security.

• It is not a good thing for individuals to try to break into systems just to show that they can
do it or even just to show a flaw in the system.

• The third argument that hackers make is that gaining unauthorized access to computer
systems does no harm as long as the hacker changes nothing, but this argument is weak
because individuals can be harmed simply by the unauthorized entry.

• Hackers may argue that they help to keep Big Brother at bay, but whether hacking and
hackers are the best form of protection seems another matter.

• The hacker arguments point to problems in the way that IT and the Internet are currently
ordered, and suggest that the Internet could be configured differently.

• Protecting IT systems from intruders is a central focus of security, and security is an

instrumental value that is targeted to protect IT systems from intruders and the disruption
they can cause.

Security And Ethics In Digital Order

• Security measures, both technical and social, are necessary to protect against intruders
and maintain digital order, but they can also be circumvented or compromised by users
who prioritize convenience over security.
• The design of computer systems determines what intruders must do to break in, leading
to a "security arms race" where combatants invest time, money, and effort to defeat each
other.

• Security is not just a technical issue, but also an ethical one, as it involves questions of
responsibility, blame, and accountability in the event of security breaches.

• The question of fault in security breaches is complicated, as individuals may not have the
resources or knowledge to invest in security, and blaming them for not doing so may be
unfair.

• However, individuals who have the means to secure their systems have a responsibility to
do so, especially if their systems are part of a larger network that could be compromised.

• The trade-offs between security and other values, such as privacy, are a critical ethical
issue, as seen in the controversy around the USA Patriot Act, which granted the government
broader powers for electronic surveillance.

• Achieving adequate security involves balancing the good at which it aims against other
social values and individual rights, and any serious ethical analysis of security must
consider these trade-offs.

Knowledge Production And Freedom Of Expression

• Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that allows anyone with internet access to
contribute and edit articles, with a process of discussion and consensus-building to ensure
accuracy and reliability.

• The site has been criticized for bias, inconsistencies, and susceptibility to vandalism, but
defends itself by arguing that it is no more unreliable than traditional paper-based
encyclopedias.

• The traditional way of producing knowledge involves a system of credentials, where

established authorities filter and review information before publication, whereas Wikipedia
relies on a consensus-based approach.

• The credential system has a strategy for achieving reliability, with editors and publishers
relying on authorities in the field to protect their companies from lawsuits and damage to
their reputation.

• Wikipedia's alternative filtering system involves drawing on the knowledge base of all
internet users, with an iterative and collaborative process of editing and discussion.

• Critics argue that Wikipedia's approach is not a good means for achieving reliable
knowledge, but the site argues that its approach can be effective in producing accurate
information.
• The debate highlights the importance of understanding how knowledge is produced and
filtered, and the need for multiple systems of knowledge production.

• Freedom of expression is a central issue in the production of knowledge, with the internet
making it more complicated to balance the need for filtering with the risk of censorship.

• John Stuart Mill's arguments for freedom of expression emphasize the importance of
allowing the collision of adverse opinions to supply the remainder of the truth, and the need
for vigorous debate to prevent the dogma from becoming a mere formal profession.

• The internet has made it easier for people with varying sensibilities, values, and interests
to come together and exchange ideas, but also raises the risk of conflict, misunderstanding,
offense, and bad feelings.

• Restrictions on free speech are often placed when other important values are at stake,
with the harm principle and the offense principle being two key principles that come into
play in debates about free speech.

Free Speech And Censorship On The Internet

• The case of convicts posting lurid details of their crimes online, causing distress to victims'
families, raises questions about free speech and censorship on the Internet.

• Experts argue that the First Amendment of the US Constitution protects such electronic
information, but the case highlights the tension between free speech and the need to protect
human sensibilities.

• The issue of pornography on the Internet, particularly its accessibility to children, is a

challenging free speech issue, with proponents of regulation arguing that it can be harmful
to children, while opponents fear a "slippery slope" of censorship.

• Technical devices that allow parents to restrict their children's access to online
pornography have been developed, but the challenge of protecting values like free speech
online is recognized as sociotechnical, requiring a multipronged approach.

• The global scope of the Internet adds complexity to the issue, with private entities like
ISPs and content providers playing a significant role in regulating online speech, raising
concerns about the potential for private censorship.

Professional Ethics And Responsibility In IT

• Leikessa, an IT professional, objects to a client's decision to prioritize cost over security,
citing the sensitivity of the data to be stored in the system and the potential risks of weak
security.

• Juan, a private consultant, is hired by a hospital to evaluate proposals for upgrading their
system, but fails to disclose his ties to one of the companies making a proposal, Tri-Star
Systems, despite having a significant portion of his trust consisting of Tri-Star stock.
• The Therac-25 case, in which a radiation therapy machine caused several deaths and
injuries due to design and coding flaws, highlights the importance of computer
professionals taking responsibility for the systems they create and the potential
consequences of their decisions.

• IT professionals have a special type of relationship with society, involving a social contract
in which they commit to practicing in ways that benefit society in exchange for special
powers and privileges.

• Professions are typically associated with a set of distinct characteristics, including mastery
of an esoteric body of knowledge, a commitment to serving the public interest, and a code of
ethics that guides their behavior.

• The work of IT professionals is enmeshed in social relationships, and managing these

relationships is an important dimension of their work, involving interactions with clients,
employers, and others who are affected by the systems they create.

Characteristics Of Professions
• Knowledge is essential to a profession, and it is typically abstract and systematized,
requiring disciplined study, such as higher education, to master.

• A profession often has both researchers and practitioners, with researchers focusing on
continuous improvement of the esoteric body of knowledge and practitioners applying that
knowledge.

• Members of strongly differentiated professions typically have autonomy in their daily

work, making decisions based on their expertise, and collectively, as a professional group,
they regulate themselves by setting admission standards, educational requirements, and
standards of practice.

• Professions generally have a single unifying, formal organization recognized by regional

and/or national governments, which exercises collective autonomy and controls admission
to the profession, sets standards for practice, and specifies accreditation standards for
educational degrees.

• Most professions have a code of ethics, which makes a public statement committing the
profession to standards of behavior that benefit the public, sets expectations, and
contributes to the creation of a professional culture.

• A distinctive culture is associated with the practices in a profession, arising from the
conditions in which individuals work and the values and purposes the profession
recognizes as its reason for being.

Professionalization Of Computing
• The trend toward curricular standardization in computing is a sign that the field is
maturing and moving toward a more differentiated status.
• The Computing Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB) is the single organization in the
United States that accredits programs in computer science, information systems, and
software engineering.

• Certification is another means by which computer experts acquire credentials in an aspect

of computing, but it tends not to contribute to the professionalization of computing.

• There is a division in computing between researchers and practitioners, with academic

computer scientists developing and improving upon the body of knowledge that their
students and others will use in practice.

• No single professional organization encompasses all computing experts, and there are a
variety of professional associations in the field.

• Employers are not required to hire individuals with particular credentials in computer
science, and professional organizations in computing have only a limited amount of
influence over their members.

• Computer experts have varying degrees of autonomy depending on where they work and
what positions they have in an organizational hierarchy.

• Codes of ethics are an essential component of professionalization, and many professional

organizations in computing have adopted codes of ethics and professional conduct.

• The process of developing and adopting a code of ethics is complex and often highly
politicized, and fulfilling all of the functions mentioned above is probably impossible.

• The professionalization of medicine was driven by the need to distinguish qualified

doctors from "charlatans" and "quacks," and to ensure a level of competence and adherence
to approved practices.

• In contrast, computing specialists can operate as "guns-for-hire" with no legal prohibition

on their work, making clients and customers vulnerable to charlatans.

• The lack of professionalization in computing means that clients and employers are not in a
position to determine whether software and computing products are safe and reliable.

• A stronger profession of computing and a sense of professionalism among computer

experts would be in the interest of both the profession and the public.

• Computer experts are caught between the pressures of the marketplace and their own
expertise, and are evaluated by double standards of quality and marketability.

• Computer experts have a form of efficacy in their knowledge and roles, which provides a
basis for professionalization and responsibility.

• The efficacy of computer experts forms the foundation for responsibility, and it is critical
that they take responsibility for safe and reliable computing to maintain public trust.
• The development of a professional code of ethics is an important step towards
professionalization, but it is not a magic bullet, and attention must be paid to shaping the
culture of the profession.

The Culture And Professionalism Of Computing

• The stereotypes of computer professionals as being antisocial and preferring technical
challenges to social interactions are arguable and may not accurately depict the culture of
computing.

• Computers connected to the Internet have become a common vehicle for intense social
interactions, making generalizations about computer professionals difficult.

• Professional organizations have been taking action to change the gender balance in
computing, which is a form of changing the culture of computing.

• Computing has several key characteristics associated with professions, including mastery
of an esoteric body of knowledge and a code of ethics.

• However, computing is not a strongly differentiated profession, with limited autonomy

and self-regulation.

• Software engineering is one subgroup in computing that has been particularly concerned
about its professionalism and has made efforts to develop into a distinct professional track.

• The development of software engineering into a profession is still in its early stages, with
efforts to establish licensing, codes of ethics, and standardization of skills.

• The relationship between computer professionals and society is still being worked out,
with a focus on managing relationships with employers, clients, and coworkers.

• Professional ethics play a crucial role in managing these relationships, including issues of
loyalty, honesty, and respect for autonomy.

Client-Professional Relationships And Responsibilities

• Companies may try to prevent employees from taking jobs at other companies to protect
their secrets, and employees may want to move on to new jobs, creating a balance between
the employer's concerns and the employee's right to work where they want.

• The client-professional relationship is a contractual relationship where the client seeks

the professional's special knowledge and expertise, and the professional must use their
knowledge in the client's interests, requiring trust.

• Three models of client-professional relationships are the agency model, where the
professional acts as an agent of the client, the paternalistic model, where the professional
makes decisions for the client, and the fiduciary model, where both parties exchange
information and make decisions together.
• The fiduciary model is the most appropriate for client-computer professional
relationships, where the professional should give the client the opportunity to make
decisions about the system and tradeoffs.

• Computer professionals should not act as agents or paternalistically, but rather aim for
fiduciary relationships with their clients, involving shared responsibility and trust.

• Professionals have responsibilities not only to their clients but also to those affected by
their work, such as workers or people living near a manufacturing plant, and must consider
the risks and effects of their work.

Professional Responsibility And Ethics

• The paradigm of professions is helpful in conceptualizing the responsibilities of computer
professionals, specifying that society grants the right to practice their profession in
exchange for their promise to practice in ways that serve society and do no harm.

• Professionals receive the right to practice and other forms of societal support in exchange
for taking on the burden of responsibility for managing themselves to protect the public.

• Computer professionals have obligations to multiple parties, including clients, employers,

co-professionals, and the public, and balancing these obligations can be complex and
require trade-offs.

• Professionals have an interest in the reputation of the profession as a whole, which affects
how individual members are perceived and treated, and may support doing something
about a coworker's behavior that affects the reputation of the profession.

• Rules about being honest, avoiding conflicts of interest, and giving credit where credit is
due can be understood as obligations of one member of a profession to other members.

• Issues of professional ethics often arise from conflicts between responsibilities to different
stakeholders, such as employers, clients, co-professionals, and the public.

• Whistle-blowing is a dramatic form of the problem of balancing loyalty to employer and

social responsibility or professional responsibility.

• Licensing is a legal means of regulating who can engage in certain activities, but
establishing and maintaining licensing regulations can be expensive and controversial.

• The law comes into play when it comes to the buying and selling of computer software and
hardware, and different sets of law apply to selling a product and providing a service.

Professional Ethics And Responsibilities In Software Sales

• Sellers must charge more than the production cost to make a profit, but they must also
recognize the buyer as an end with needs, desires, and the ability to make decisions.

• The seller's duty is to be honest about the product and not coerce or manipulate the buyer,
ensuring the buyer is freely choosing and accurately informed about what they are buying.
• Although honesty and coercion are complex notions, the seller should provide relevant
information to potential buyers and offer enticements without crossing the line into
exploitative practices.

• The selling-buying relationship is a contractual relationship, and disputes can arise, which
are worked out by appealing to a complex body of case law dealing with various disputes.

• In addition to contracts, the buying and selling of software may be covered by torts, which
deal with wrongful acts other than breach of contract, and negligence is a fundamental
failure in professional responsibility.

• Negligence presumes a standard of behavior that can reasonably be expected of an

individual engaged in a particular activity, and members of professional groups are
understood to have role-responsibilities (duties).

• To prosecute computer professionals for negligence, prevailing standards in the field must
be identifiable, and experts are in the best position to articulate those standards and
distinguish between reasonable behavior and blatant incompetence.

Analysis

Research comparison

Confirmation of earlier findings

The standard arguments that have been made on behalf of privacy as an instrumental good
take privacy to be instrumental for certain kinds of human relationships or for a diversity of
such relationships. Fried (1968), for example, argued that friendship, intimacy, and trust
could not develop in societies or contexts in which individuals were under constant
surveillance. This argument was consistent with ideas hinted at in early twentieth-
century science fiction works concerned with totalitarian control, works such as
George Orwell’s 1984 (1949) and Zamyatin’s We (1920)

Study subjects
20 people

Bingo Software Systems has an idea for a new file organizing system that Bingo believes will
be significantly more intuitive than existing systems. Bingo is a small company employing
twenty people. It obtains venture capital and spends three years developing the system

Statistics and tests

Obtaining Pirated Software
Scenarios 5.1 Obtaining Pirated Software Abroad 5.2 Free Software that Follows
Proprietary Software 5.3 Using Public Domain Software in Proprietary Software
Introduction: the Complexities of Digital Property Definitions Setting the Stage Protecting
Property Rights in Software Copyright Trade Secrecy Patent Protection Free and Open
Source Software The Philosophical Basis of Property Natural Rights Arguments Critique of
the Natural Rights Argument A Natural Rights Argument Against Software Ownership PS
versus FOSS Is it Wrong to Copy Proprietary Software? Breaking Rules, No Rules, and New
Rules Conclusion Study Questions

Bingo’s software
First, a competing company, Pete’s Software, starts distributing a file organizing system that
performs many of the same functions that Bingo’s software does, but has a different
interface and a few new features

Earl’s software
The license specifies that anyone can freely copy and use Earl’s software without
restrictions

Bingo Software
Referring back again to Scenario 5.2, patent protection could give Bingo Software the power
to prevent Pete’s from marketing its system if important aspects of Bingo’s system were
deemed patentable. [If only it were that simple!]

Study compliance

Ethics
And consider the debates over stem cell research and the requirement that researchers
obtain the informed consent of subjects on whom they experiment

The Code specifies that: (1) there must be no personal data record-keeping system whose
very existence is secret, (2) there must be a way for an individual to find out what
information about him or her is in a record and how it is used, (3) there must be a way for
an individual to prevent information about him or her that was obtained for one purpose
from being used or made available for other purposes without his or her consent, (4) there
must be a way for an individual to correct or amend a record of identifiable information
about him or her, and (5) any organization creating, maintaining, using, or disseminating
records of identifiable personal data must assure the reliability of the data for their
intended use and must take precautions to prevent the misuse of data

Even though the ACM subsequently decided not to support efforts in the licensing of
software engineers, the code of ethics for software engineers was approved by both the
ACM and the IEEE

Conflict of Interest Introduction: Why Professional Ethics? Therac-25 and Malfunction 54

The Paradigm of Professions Characteristics of Professions Sorting Out Computing and its
Status as a Profession Mastery of Knowledge Formal Organization Autonomy Codes of
Ethics The Culture of Computing Software Engineering Professional Relationships
Employer–Employee Client–Professional Other Stakeholders–Professional Professional–
Professional Conflicting Responsibilities A Legal Perspective on Professionalism in
Computing Licensing Selling Software Selling–Buying and the Categorical Imperative Torts

The NSF receives far more requests for funding than it can grant, so making investments in
nanotechnology means that the NSF will not make investments elsewhere

If the code is provided to all of those who enter the field, it tells new members what will be
expected of them

Most of the codes of ethics for computer experts are available on the Web

Funding
The NSF receives far more requests for funding than it can grant, so making investments in
nanotechnology means that the NSF will not make investments elsewhere

Data and code

If the code is provided to all of those who enter the field, it tells new members what will be
expected of them

Most of the codes of ethics for computer experts are available on the Web

Abstract
of the Arguments for Privacy and Against SurveillanceReturning to our broad analysis of
privacy, where do we stand? We have seen that personal information flows intensively and
extensively in IT-configured societies. The flow of information shapes organizational
practices and these practices powerfully affect the lives and experiences of individuals. The
effects of these practices have been framed as issues of privacy, but we have seen that
privacy is an extremely complex idea and the effects of personal information gathering
practices are multifaceted, touching on other values such as autonomy, equality, and
democracy.

Bibliography
1. of Illinois–Springfield, K. W. M. U.. (2024). Analyzing Information Technology.