CS4001:Computing,Society&ProfessionalismMunmunDeChoudhury|AssistantProfessor|SchoolofInterac:veCompu:ng

Week8:MidtermReviewMarch2,2017

Ethics

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Therac25:WhatHappened

•  BetweenJune1985andJanuary1987,6knownaccidentsinvolvingmassiveoverdoses,causingdeath&seriousinjury

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ExampleBugs

•  DataEntryBug§  SeLngthebendingmagnetstakes8seconds§  “Delay”subrou:neusessharedmemorywiththedataentry

subrou:ne§  Sodatachangeswithin8secondswillbewipedoutwhenDelay

exits!§  Causesbugsthatonlyshowupwithproficientuserswhododata

entryin<8seconds

•  Set-UpTestBug§  Onevery256thpassthroughSet-Up(one-bytecounter),theupper

collimatorisnotchecked§  Problemifoperatorhits“set”exactlywhencounterrollsoverto0

•  Thesekindsofbugsarenotoriouslydifficulttotrackdown

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Lessons:General•  Focusingonpar:cularso\warebugsisnotthewaytomakeasafesystem

§  Assump:onthatfixingoneerrorwouldpreventfurtheraccidents§  “Thereisalwaysanotherso2warebug”

•  Itisabadideatoremoveindependenthardwareinterlocks,andtobelievetoomuchinso\ware§  Assumeso\warewillfail,andhandlethatproperly,ratherthantryingtowrite

“perfect” so\ware

•  Don’tbelieveinnumericalclaims§  “Riskassessmentcanbelikethecapturedspy:ifyoutortureitlongenough,it

willtellyouanythingyouwanttoknow”

•  Recordthereasonsfordesigndecisions(likeduplicatedataentry)

•  Designfortheworstcase

•  Don’tenhanceusabilityattheexpenseofsafety

•  Powerofusergroupstocausechangewhencompaniesdragtheirfeet

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Lessons:SoftwareEngineering

•  Documenta:onshouldnotbeana\erthought

•  EstablishQAprac:ces&standards

•  Keepdesignssimple

•  Designaudittrailsandloggingfromthebeginning

•  Performextensivetes:ngandformalanalysisatthemoduleandso\warelevel,ratherthanrelyingonsystem-leveltes:ng

•  So\warereuse?

Ethics

•  Ethicsisthephilosophicalstudyofmorality,ara:onalexamina:onintopeople’smoralbeliefsandbehaviors.§  Itstudiesfreehumanactsfromthepointofviewof

theirmoralvalue(theirgoodnessorbadness)inrela:onstoasociety’sul:mateend

•  Ethicsisalsotermedasmoralphilosophyasitinvolvessystema:zing,defending,andrecommendingconceptsofrightandwrongbehavior

EthicalTheories

•  FormalstudystartedwithSocrates

•  Ethicaltheoriesareframeworksformoraldecisionmaking

•  Weneedethicaltheoriestoexaminemoralproblemsbehindanissue,reachconclusions,anddefendthoseconclusionsinfrontofaskep:cal,yetopen-mindedaudience

•  Usedtoprovidelogical,persuasivejus:fica:onsbehindyourreasoninginthecaseofanargument

EthicalRelativism

•  Itisthetheorythattherearenouniversalmoralnormsofrightandwrong.

•  Thatis,differentindividualsorgroupsofpeoplecanhavecompletelyoppositeviewsofamoralproblem,andbothcanberight

•  Twokindsofethicalrela:vism:subjec:verela:vismandculturalrela:vism

ActUtilitarianism

•  Anac:onisgoodifitsbenefitsexceedsitsharms

•  Anac:onisbadifitsharmsexceeditsbenefits

•  Thistheoryiscalledu:litarianism,basedupontheprincipleofu:lity*,ortheGreatestHappinessPrinciple

•  *U:lityisthetendencyofanobjecttoproducehappinessorpreventunhappinessforanindividualoracommun:y

RuleUtilitarianism

•  Itistheethicaltheorythatholdsthatweoughttoadoptthosemoralrules,thatiffollowedbyeveryone,leadtothegreatestincreaseintotalhappinessoverallaffectedpar:es

•  Maindifferencewithactu4litarianism:theprincipleofu:lityisappliestomorau:li:es,whereasinactu:litarianismitisappliedtotheindividualmoralac:ons

Deontologists

•  An act is right if, and only if, it conforms to the relevant moral obligation; and it is wrong if, and only if, it violates the relevant moral obligation

•  They argue that the consequences of an action are irrelevant to moral evaluation

•  They emphasize that the value of an action lies in motive, especially motives of obligation

Kant’s Moral Theory

•  Historical Background §  Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

•  Kantianism is based on the writing of philospher Kant. He believed that people should be guided by universal moral laws. For these laws to apply to all rational humans, they must be based on reason.

•  Kant said that the only thing that is good without qualification is a good will.

Categorical Imperative: Two Formulations

•  Act only in such a way in which the maxim of action can be rationally willed as a universal law

•  Main idea: o  Dountoothersasyouwouldhavethemdo

untoyou(“mentallyreverseroles”)

•  It requires unconditional conformity by all rational beings, regardless of circumstances

•  Is unconditional and applicable at all times

•  Example of “breaking a promise” in pg. 68

CategoricalImperative:TwoFormulations

•  Actsothatyoualwaystreatbothyourselfandotherpeopleasendsinthemselvesandneveronlyasameanstoanend

•  Mainidea:§  Treatothersasyouwouldliketobetreated

Moralityisthesetofrulesthatra:onalpeoplewillagreetoobey,fortheirmutualbenefit,providedthatotherpeoplewillobeythemaswell.

TheSocialContract

•  “...par:esdonotknowtheirconcep:onofthegoodortheirspecialpsychologicalpropensi:es...”

•  “Thetermsofthesocialcontactarechosenbehindaveilofignorance.Thisensuresthatnooneisadvantagedordisadvantagedinthechoiceofprinciplesorrulesbytheoutcomeofnaturalchanceorthecon:ngencyofsocialcircumstances.”

PositionofSCT

VirtueEthics

•  Avirtueisanexcellenttraitofcharacter

•  Thevirtueethicistarguesthatwhatmalersmorallyisnotwhatwedoata:me,butwhatwebecomeover:me.

•  Tothevirtueethicistitistheacquisi:onofagoodcharacterthatis–orshouldbe–ourmoralaim

TheCaseFor

•  Inmanysitua:onsitmakesmoresensetofocusonvirtuesthanonobliga:ons,rightsorconsequences

•  Personalrela:onshipscanbemorallyrelevanttodecisionmaking

•  Itrecognizesthatourmoraldecisionmakingskillsdevelopover:me

•  Therearenoirresolvablemoraldilemmas

•  Itrecognizestheimportantrolethatemo:onsplayinlivingamorallife

TheCaseAgainst

•  Differentpeoplemayhavequitedifferentconceptsofhumanflourishing

•  Itcannotbeusedtogoverngovernmentpolicy

•  Itunderlinesalemptstoholdpeopleresponsiblefortheirbadac:ons

Docomputerprofessionalneedtoworryaboutethicslikelawyersorphysicians?

Therac-25PrivacyandsecurityFinancialdecisions(e.g.,taxso\ware)

SoftwareEngineeringCodeofEthics:8KeyPrinciples:

•  Product•  Public•  Judgment•  ClientandEmployer•  Management•  Profession•  Colleagues•  Self

Whistle-Blowing

•  Awhistleblowerissomeonewhobreaksrankswithanorganiza:oninordertomakeanunauthorizeddisclosureofinforma:onaboutaharmfulsitua:ona\eralemptstoreporttheconcernsthroughauthorizedorganiza:onschannelshavebeenignoredorrebuffed.

•  Examplessitua:ons:§  Ac:ons/productsofemployercanpoten:allyharm

thepublic§  Fraudulentuseoftaxdollars

MoralityofWhistle-Blowing

•  Inmostcaseswhistle-blowersarepunished

•  Aretheyheroesortraitors?§  Analyzetheirmo:ves(virtueethicstheory)

•  Dowhistle-blowerscauseharm?§  Disrup:onofanorganiza:on’ssocialand

professionalfabric§  Generatebadpublicity§  Causeemo:onaldistressandfinancialhardshipto

family§  Assessthenetpublicgood–u:litarianperspec:ve

CensorshipandInternet

•  Unliketradi:onalonetomanybroadcastmedia,theInternetsupportsmanytomanycommunica:ons

•  TheInternetisdynamic–newdevicesarebeingconnectedeachyear

•  TheInternetishuge–humancensorsnotprac:cal

•  TheInternetisglobal–na:onalgovernmentshavelimitedauthoritytorestrictac:vi:eshappeningoutsidetheirborders

•  Itishardtodis:nguishbetweendifferenttypesofpeoplee.g.,childrenandadultsontheInternet

ChildrenandInappropriateContent

•  Manyparentsandguardiansbelievethattheyoughttoprotecttheirchildrenfromexposuretopornographicandviolentmaterials

•  AfewyearsagothecenterofconcernwastheInternet–variouskindsofblockersandfiltersareused

•  Butwithsmartphoneuseandtheirubiquity,thisproblemhasbecomealargerchallenge

•  Howtotacklewithinadvertentblockingoflegitcontent?Some:mesblacklis:ngmaybeusedbysomeorganiza:onstocurbexpressionofspecificideologiesandideas

ChildInternetProtectionAct

•  InMarch2003,theSupremeCourtweighedtes:monyinthecaseofUnitedStatesvs.AmericanLibrary

•  TheCIPArequiresthatlibrariesreceivingfederalfundstoprovideinternetaccesstoitspatronsmustpreventchildrenfromgeLngaccesstovisualdepic:onsofobscenityandchildpornography

•  ACLUarguedthatwebfilteringisnotperfect–legitcontentcanbewithheld;havingadultsrequestturningthefiltersoffcanbes:gma:zed

•  Analysiswithethicaltheories(page132-135)

Defining Privacy •  Privacy related to notion of access

§  Privacy is not “being alone”, but defining who has access to what

•  Access §  Physical proximity to a person §  Knowledge about a person

•  Privacy is a “zone of inaccessibility”

•  Privacy violations are an affront to human dignity §  You violate privacy when you treat a person as a means to an end. §  Some things ought not be known – you look away when your friend is

typing their password

•  Too much individual privacy can harm society

•  Where to draw the line?

Information Technology Erodes Privacy

•  Information collection, exchange, combination, and distribution easier than ever means less privacy

•  Scott McNealy (Sun Microsystems): “You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.”

•  This class: we will consider how we leave an “electronic trail” of information behind us and what others can do with this info

Data Gathering and Privacy Implications

•  Facebook tags

•  Enhanced 911 services

•  Rewards or loyalty programs

•  Body scanners

•  Implanted chips

•  OnStar

•  Automobile “black boxes”

•  Medical records

•  Digital video recorders

•  Cookies and flash cookies

Secondary Uses of Information

Information Sharing: Netflix Prize

•  Netflix offered $1 million prize to any group that could come up with a significantly better algorithm for predicting user ratings

•  Released more than 100 million movie ratings from a half million customers §  Stripped ratings of private information

•  Researchers demonstrated that ratings not truly anonymous if a little more information from individuals was available §  Movie ratings predicted political leanings and sexual

orientation

•  U.S. Federal Trade Commission complaint and lawsuit

•  Netflix canceled sequel to Netflix Prize

InformationSharing:AOLSearchDataset

•  In2006,AOLresearchteamreleasedthreemonthsworthofsearchqueriesfrom650KAOLusers§  Supportuniversityresearch

•  Anonymiza:onusingarandomintegeriden:fierforeachuser

•  Butaggrega:onofqueriesbyasingleiden:fierrevealedalotabouttheperson,evenwithoutbyPII

•  Queriesalsocontainedpersonalinfo–address,SSN

•  NYTiden:fiedseveraloftheusers

•  Followingpublicbacklash,thedatasetwastakendowna\er3days

•  WheredidAOLgowrong?

Privacy&Government:ABalancingAct

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A Balancing Act

• Federal, state, and local governments in United States have had significant impact on privacy of individuals

• Government must balance competing desires of citizens – desire to be left alone – desire for safety and security

• National security concerns increased significantly after 9/11 attacks

Solove’sTaxonomyofPrivacy

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Solove’s Taxonomy of Privacy

• Information collection: Activities that gather personal information

• Information processing: Activities that store, manipulate, and use personal information that has been collected

• Information dissemination: Activities that spread personal information

• Invasion: Activities that intrude upon a person’s daily life, interrupt someone’s solitude, or interfere with decision-making

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Arguments

DefiningFeaturesofArguments

•  Argumentrequiresjus:fica:onofitsclaims§  Itisnotsufficienttosimplygivereasonswithout

jus:fica:on§  Exampleofanargumentbetweenateenageranda

parent

•  Argumentisbothaprocessandproduct§  Itisa“living”en:tythatchangesthepar:cipants

•  Argumentcombinestruthseekingandpersuasion§  Thisisacon:nuumthatwethepar:cipantsmustbalance§  Astudent’sargumentonthetopic“IsAmericanSign

Languageaforeignlanguageforthepurposesofmee:ngauniversity’sforeignlanguagerequirement?”

TheContinuumofTruthSeekingandPersuasion

•  Exploratoryessayexaminingallsidesofanissue•  Argumentasinquiry,askingaudiencetothinkoutissuewithwriter

•  Dialogicargumentseekingcommongroundwitharesistantaudience

•  Classicalargumentaimedataneutralorpossiblyskep:calaudience

•  One-sidedargumentaimedatafriendlyaudience(o\enforfund-raisingorcallstoac:on)

•  Aggressiveone-sidedarguments•  Outrightpropaganda

TruthSeeking

OutrightPropaganda

GenresofArgument

•  Genretypes:§  Personalcorrespondence;Lelertoeditor;

Newspapereditorialorop-ed;Magazinear:cle;Scholarlyjournal(peer-reviewed);Conferenceproceedings;Organiza:onwhitepaper;Proposal;Legalbriefsandcourtdecisions;Publicaffairsadvocacyadver:sements;Advocacywebsites;Blogs;Visualarguments;Speeches;Powerpointpresenta:ons;Books;Documentaryfilms

•  Understandstatusofworkinrela:ontogenre§  Understandstylis:cfeaturesofeachgenre

DialecticalThinking

•  Thinkingdialec:cally–ac:velyseekoutalternateviews

•  Ques:ons:§  WhatwouldwriterAsaytowriterB?§  TowhatextentdowriterAandwriterBdisagreeabout

factsandinterpreta:onoffacts?§  Towhatextentdotheydisagreeaboutunderlying

beliefsandassump:onsandvalues?§  CanIfindareasofagreementbetweenthem?§  Whatnew,significantques:onsdoesthetextpostfor

me?§  A\erassimila:ngtheseinforma:on,whataremy

currentviews?

ARGUMENTATIVEESSAY

TheargumentaHveessayisagenreofwri:ngthatrequires

youto:1.inves:gateatopic;

2.collect,generate,andevaluateevidence;and

3.establishaposi:ononthetopicinaconcisemanner.

TheRhetoricalTriangleDon’tforgettoincorporateelementsofethos,pathos,andlogos.

ElementsofanArgument

•  Claim:statementtobejus:fied/proven/upheld

•  Reason:thereasons,support,andevidencetosupportyourclaim

•  Warrant:astatedorunstatedbelief,rule,orprinciplethatunderliesanargument§  Audiencemustacceptthewarrant

•  Togivebodyandweighttoourarguments,weneed:§  Grounds:astatement,suppor:ngevidence,facts,

datathatisestablishedbeforeanargumentisbegun§  Backing:argumentthatsupportsthewarrant

OrganizingYourArgumentØ  TitleØ  Introduc:on

•  ThesisstatementØ  BodyParagraphs

•  Construc:ngTopicSentences

•  BuildingMainPoints•  CounteringtheOpposi:on

Ø  Conclusion

WhatisEvidence?

•  “Evidence”Ialltheverifiableinforma:onawritermightuseasasupportfortheirargument,suchasfacts,observa:ons,examples,cases,tes:mony,experimentalfindings,surveydata,sta:s:cs,etc.

•  Evidenceispartofthe“grounds”and“backing”ofanargumentinsupportofreasonsandwarrantrespec:vely

RhetoricalUnderstandingofEvidence

•  Kindsofevidence§  Datafrompersonalexperience§  Datafromobserva:onsorfieldresearch§  Datafrominterviews,ques:onnaires,surveys§  Datafromreadingandresearch/library/internet§  Tes:mony§  Sta:s:caldata§  Hypothe:calexamples,casesandscenarios§  Reasonedsequenceofideas

GatheringEvidence

•  Createaplanforgatheringevidence.§  Whatpersonalexperienceshaveyouhadwiththisissue?§  Relevantobserva:onalstudies§  Whatpeoplecouldyouinterview?§  Whatques:onscouldbeaddressedthroughasurveyora

ques:onnaire?§  Whatusefulinforma:ononthisissuemightbegathered

fromreferencesources(e.g.,journal)?§  Whatusefulinforma:ononthisissuemightbegathered

fromthelibrary?§  Canasearchenginehelp?§  Couldanyreliablesta:s:calsourceprovideyourelevant

informa:on(e.g.,CensusBureau,CDC)?

GatheringEvidence

•  GatheringdatafromInterviews§  Determineyourpurpose§  Dobackgroundreading§  Formulatewellthoughtoutques:onsbutalsobeflexible§  Comewellpreparedfortheinterview§  Bepromptandcourteous§  Takebriefbutclearnotes§  Transcribeyournotessoona\ertheinterview

•  GatheringdatafromSurveys§  Includebothclosed-responseques:onsandopen-responseques:ons§  Makeyoursurveyorques:onnaireclearandeasytocomplete§  Explainthepurposeoftheques:onnaire§  Seekarandomsampleofrespondentsinyourdistribu:onofthe

ques:onnaire§  Convertques:onnairesintousabledatabytallyingandsummarizing

responses