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Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic

Mälardalen University

School of Innovation, Design and Engineering

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

CDT409

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Ethics, Privacy and Civil Liberties

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Ethics of Computing

Ethics, Values and Practices – Why is it Important?

Agency implies making choices, which is related to preferences.

Questions of identity in a digital universe.

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Privacy

Privacy is a fundamental human right recognized in all major international agreements regarding human rights such as Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948).

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Privacy protection vs. Surveillance

The four basic features of computing technology that makes it unprecedented tools for monitoring and surveillance:

Searching, Sorting, Storage Simulation

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Privacy protection vs. Surveillance

Disappearance of boundaries between private and public/professional life:

- ubiquitous computing- ambiental intelligence

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Legislation

Privacy and Human Rights Report

Personal Information must be:– obtained fairly and lawfully – used only for the original specified purpose – adequate, relevant and not excessive to purpose– accurate and up to date, and– destroyed after its purpose is completed

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Legislation

The Council of Europe's 1981 Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Automatic Processing of Personal Data

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Guidelines Governing the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Data Flows of Personal Data

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Why Value Privacy?

Privacy and DemocracyIn intruding on privacy, which is closely related to

freedom and autonomy, surveillance can be considered to have, ultimately, a negative effect on democracy.

A Privacy CultureWhether or not privacy is protected by law or

contract, fostering a culture where privacy is valued and respected contributes to healthy human relations.

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Legitimacy by Design and Trustworthy Computing

The first phase of the intentional design for democracy is the explication of the embedded moral significance of ICT while the next is the development of the corresponding technology (Yu and Cysneiros, 2002).

　

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Legitimacy by Design and Trustworthy Computing

– Trust must be established in the use of ICT, where both users and the technology will be trustworthy.

– This in the first place presupposes the informed consent of all the parties involved.

– This trust must be established globally because the data contained in networked computers virtually knows no boundaries.

　

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Some common uses of data about people

Public Information Business Transactions

Birth Certificates Mail OrdersDriver Licenses Telephone OrdersCar Registrations SubscriptionsProperty Records DonationsMarriage License Credit CardsCensus Records Warranty CardsTelephone Directories Tattslotto, ...Consumer Surveys Accounts Payments PassportsVisas

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Privacy: The right of people not to reveal information about themselves, the right to keep personal information from being misused, the right to live their personal lives undisturbed.

Electronic invasion of personal data has become a serious ethical issue

Ethics, Privacy and Security

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Invasion of Privacy. Would you agree to: Your shopping habits, your income, to be

available to any number of businesses ? Your medical records being used by your

employer as one of the means of making decision regarding promotions, hiring, redundancy ?

Ethics, Privacy and Security

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Ethics, Privacy and Security

The rapid expansion of use of the Internet and E-Commerce has raised many problems with privacy aspects.

In America there exists the ‘Association of Corporate Privacy Officers’ which would indicate that there is much interest and concern regarding privacy of data.

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Database Security: is the protection of a database from– unauthorised access– unauthorised modification– destruction

PRIVACY is the right of individuals to have some control over information about themselves

INTEGRITY refers to the correctness, completeness and consistency of data

Security

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AIM PREVENTS- Confidentiality - Unauthorised disclosure- Integrity - Unauthorised Amendment- Availability - Unauthorised Withholding

Security Systems:1. Computer Security2. Communications Security

- transmission- encryption

3. Procedural security4. Physical security

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/courseware/cse1720/Week12.ppt

Security

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Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

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What are civil rights and what are civil liberties?

Civil Rights = The right of every person to equal protection under the law and equal access to society’s opportunities and public facilities.

Civil Liberties = Individual rights that are protected from infringement by government.

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CIVIL LIBERTIES1. The Bill of Rights2. First Amendment: Freedom of

Religion3. First Amendment: Freedom of

Speech and Press4. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms5. The Rights of Criminal Defendants6. The Right to Privacy

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Civil liberties are the personal rights and freedoms that the federal government cannot abridge, either by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation.

These are limitations on the power of government to restrain or dictate how individuals act.

CIVIL LIBERTIES

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The Right to Privacy

Privacy is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, nevertheless some areas are to be off-limits to government interference.

Examples:

– The right to Abortion– The right to Homosexuality– The Right to Die

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Civil Liberties after Sept 11

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Privacy before Sept. 11th

Tradeoff between security and privacy has always been a major issue for most Americans

Most sided with privacy at the expense of security

84% of Americans were concerned about the government, businesses, or individuals collecting information on them

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Privacy Before Sept 11th, cont.

54% were “very concerned” Only a minor portion of America (13%)

supported FBI internet surveillance to catch criminals

62% of Americans thought that new laws should be created to guarantee that privacy would be protected from government agencies

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9.11.2001

On September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C.

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NYTimes Poll 4/23/97

NYTimes Poll 9/27/01

29% wanted stronger laws at cost of civil liberties

55% want stronger laws at cost of civil liberties

62% did not want new laws

35% do not want new laws

Majority wanted protection from government

72% think antiencryption laws would prevent another attack

Shift in Public Opinion

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Government Reaction

The government is reacting to public opinion polls and are passing new controversial laws that expand government power

Have already passed many ‘anti-terrorism’ bills that cover matters such as wiretaps, electronic surveillance, regulation of airports, etc.

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Internet wiretapping scheme Installed at ISPs (Internet Service

Providers) Maintained and operated by FBI Monitors all email, both incoming and

outgoing

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Cryptography

Evidence produced from the Libyan bombings that Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, used phones scrambled by strong cryptography to hide the planning of the Libyan bombings

Evidence produced by the US government suggests that similar methods were used by the terrorist network for 9/11 attacks as well

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Cryptography

The US government has charged that such cryptography aids terrorism more than it protects privacy and therefore should be banned

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Autonomy vs. Paternalism

inform persuade threaten force paternalismautonomy

Ethics is both about drawing-up of borderlines and going beyond borderlines.

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Three Most Fundamental Ethical Principles

Human life

Care for children

Trust among people

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Conclusions

Public opinion will most likely remain concerned with security for years to come

Government expanding law enforcement powers

Privacy strongly related to public safety

http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~cs7/papers/zachary-pr.ppt