Chapter 1:

Unwrapping the Gift

Based on slides prepared by Cyndi Chie,

Sarah Frye and Sharon Gray.
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Copyright © 2018, 2013, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Fifth edition updated by Timothy Henry
 What We’ll Cover
• Course Goals and
Activities
• Challenges of Ethics
and Technology
• A Few Key Topics
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 Professional Ethics
• Do you prefer to be
programming or configuring a
server?
• Few states license computer or
software engineers
• Why do I need an ethics
course?
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 Course Objectives
• Analyze ethically ambiguous scenarios using the fundamental theories of ethical analysis
• Detect and judge relevant ethical, social and legal issues in information systems, networks and technology
• Apply ethical analysis methodologies to relevant issues, including representative case studies and hypothetical
situations
• Draw conclusions and plan courses of action based on reasoned application of ethical methodologies and
analysis
• Publicly present argument and debate issues from all sides of issues with critical analysis, using proper
argument organization and logical argument structure and reasoned and effective responses to challenges
• Compare and apply various professional codes of ethics to common issues found in IT and management
situations.

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 Course Goals
• Critically analyze situations
and apply ethical principles
to decision making
• Understand and value both
sides of a situation
• Take action
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 Course Goals
• Critically analyze
situations and apply
ethical principles to
decision making
• Think deeply about
situations before they are
encountered
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 Course Goals
• Understand and value both
sides of a situation
• If there was only one
perspective, it wouldn’t be a
controversy
• Look for common ground
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 Course Goals

• Take action
• Pay it forward
• Change the world
• (for the good)
• Get an A

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 The Challenge of
Ethics

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 Facebook’s Motto
• Move Fast And Break Things
• Move Fast and Build Things
• Move Fast With Stable Infra
• Move Fast
• Ship Love
• Move Fast And Please Please Please Don’t Break Anything
• (May 2017)

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 Facebook Core Values
• Focus on impact:
• “If we want to have the biggest impact, the best way to do this is to make sure we always focus on solving the most
important problems.”
• Move fast:
• “We have a saying: ‘Move fast and break things.’ The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving
fast enough.”
• Be bold:
• “We encourage everyone to make bold decisions, even if that means being wrong some of the time.”
• Be open:
• “We believe that a more open world is a better world because people with more information can make better decisions and
have a greater impact.”
• Build social value:
• “We expect everyone at Facebook to focus every day on how to build real value for the world in everything they do.”

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 Google and Alphabet
• Google Motto
• Don’t Be Evil
• Alphabet Motto
• Do the Right Thing
• “Follow the law, act honorably,
and treat each other with
respect.”

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 The Challenge of Ethics
• Who has driven over the speed limit on the Interstate?
• I have!
• Never!

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 The Challenge of Ethics
• Who has driven over the speed limit on the Interstate?
• Why do so many drivers break this law?
• Why should the law remain (or not)?
• (Okay to break law if everyone else is?)
• How can you change it?
• How does our car self-reporting speed violations differ from traffic cameras reporting red
light violations at intersections?

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 The Challenge of Ethics
• Who has driven over the speed limit on the Interstate?
• Why do so many drivers break this law?
• Why should the law remain (or not)?
• (Okay to break law if everyone else is?)
• How can you change it?
• How does our car self-reporting speed violations differ from traffic cameras reporting red
light violations at intersections?

Common reasons people drive over the speed limit:

Everybody is doing it.
Won’t affect anybody else.
Culturally accepted.
Dangerous not to do it.
Won’t get caught.
It’s not enforced.

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 The Challenge of Ethics
• Who has driven over the speed limit on the Interstate?
• Why do so many drivers break this law?
• Why should the law remain (or not)?
• (Okay to break law if everyone else is?)
• How can you change it?
• How does our car self-reporting speed violations differ from traffic cameras reporting red
light violations at intersections?

• Will the number of lives saved by autonomous vehicles not

making human type errors offset the few times that vehicles
do make an error?
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 The Challenge of Ethics
• Developing low cost computer controlled motor
• Could revolutionize the small motor industry
• If quality standards are met, motor is not powerful
• Management directs team to modify the software:
• When tested, air filter is fully engaged
• Otherwise the air filter is disengaged

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 The Challenge of Ethics
• What would you do as a software engineer at this company?

A) Leak the information to the local news because this illegal activity cannot continue!

B) Talk with various levels of management and try to change the decision.
If that fails, go to the local news.

C) Talk with various levels of management and try to change the decision.
If that fails, at least you tried.

D) Go along with management’s decision because it seemed

like the other engineers were fine with it, so it must be okay.

E) Go along with the directive because you didn’t like

the air quality standards anyway. They were too strict.

F) You try to change it and if you fail, you quit

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 The Challenge of Ethics
• Volkswagen Defeat Device
• New diesel engine could not meet U.S. EPA and European air
quality standards and customer performance expectations.
• Software detected when car was in emissions testing
• Engaged the normal emissions control system.
• At other times the emissions control system
was disabled

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 The Challenge of Ethics
• At first, Volkswagen blamed “rogue” software engineers
• Audi’s new diesel engine could not meet emission standards and consumer
performance expectations at the same time so they developed the defeat
device.
• Volkswagen engineers went to them for advice
on a new VW engine
• Porsche engineers went to VW engineers
for advice a new Porsche engine

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 •
The Challenge of Ethics
First cars with device were 2009 models
• Almost 500,000 vehicles were sold with device
• Device software was enhanced over time
• Tens of thousands of cars were “fixed” with only a software patch

Potential Reasons VW Engineers violated laws:

Everybody is doing it.
Won’t affect anybody else.
Culturally accepted.
Dangerous not to do it.
Won’t get caught.
It’s not enforced.

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 •
The Challenge of Ethics
First cars with device were 2009 models
• Almost 500,000 vehicles were sold with device
• Device software was enhanced over time
• Tens of thousands of cars were “fixed” with only a software patch

• When these same situations happen to you,

how will you prevent yourself from making the same
decision as the Volkswagen engineers?
• How secure would you feel using a self-
driving car from Volkswagen?

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 • Medical Doctors

Professional Licensing
• Nurses
• Psychologists
• Teachers (K-12)
• Engineers
• Lawyers
• Pilots
• Electricians
• Plumbers
• Architects
• Bartenders
• Massage Therapists
In many U.S. states, Software Engineers are not legal “Engineers” because they
• Barbers have not passed the PE Exam.

• Nail Technician (Manicurist)

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 Global View
• We can have a very American-centric view
• Global view is important — *any* web site is visible worldwide
• Culture varies widely
• Laws vary widely
• Ethics vary widely

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 Global View
• From a worldwide perspective
• Few people are comfortable with technology
• Less than 45% of world has Internet connection
• Only 7% of the world has college-level degree (about
30% in U.S.)
• Top 10% of world population (8.2%) by salary

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 Key Topics
• The Pace of Change
• Change and Unexpected Developments
• Themes of Technology Challenges
• Ethics

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 Security
• Have you heard of the small business Fazio Mechanical?
• A) Yes
• B) No

© Google Street View

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 Security
• Have you heard of the small business Fazio Mechanical?
• Specializes in supermarket refrigeration systems
• Small business (less than 200) employees in southwest
Pennsylvania
• Target Security Breach (Fall 2013)
• Data on 40 million credit cards stolen
• Over 70 million customer records stolen
• Started with phishing email sent to Fazio Mechanical

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 Security
• Small businesses
• can’t afford a security staff
• are gateways to larger systems
• often go out of business after a
breach

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 Security
• Security breaches occur:
• Poorly written software
• Poorly configured networks
and applications
• Whistleblowing versus
Responsible Disclosure
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 Mobile Phones & Connectivity
Culture
•

•
Internet Streaming

Continuous Connection
Shift
• Digital Photos
• Targeted News
• Other Impacts

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 The Pace of Change

• “In a way not seen since Gutenberg’s printing press

that ended the Dark Ages and ignited the Renaissance,
the microchip is an epochal technology with unimaginably far-
reaching economic, social, and political consequences.”
• ̶ Michael Rothschild1

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 The Pace of Change
• 1940s: First computer was built.
• 1956: First hard-drive disk weighed a ton and stored five
megabytes.
• 1991: Space shuttle had a one-megahertz computer. Ten
years later, some automobiles had 100-megahertz computers.
Speeds of several gigahertz are now common.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• “It is precisely this unique human capacity to transcend

the present, to live one’s life by purposes stretching into
the future – to live not at the mercy of the world, but as a builder
and designer of that world – that is the distinction between human
and animal behavior, or between the
human being and the machine.”
• ̶ Betty Friedan3

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 Change and Unexpected Developments
• Cell Phones
• Relatively few in 1990s. Approximately five billion worldwide in 2011.
• Used for conversations and messaging, but also for:
• taking and sharing pictures
• downloading music and watching videos
• checking email and playing games
• banking and managing investments
• finding maps
• Smartphone apps for many tasks, including:
• monitoring diabetes
• locating water in remote areas

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Cell Phones:
• Location tracking raises privacy concerns.
• Cameras in cell phones affect privacy in public and non-public places.
• Cell phones can interfere with solitude, quiet and concentration.
• Talking on cell phones while driving is dangerous.
• Other unanticipated negative applications: teenagers sexting, terrorists detonating
bombs, rioters organizing looting parties.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Kill switches
• Allow a remote entity to disable applications and delete files.
• Are in operating systems for smartphones, tablets and some
computers.
• Used mainly for security, but raise concerns about user autonomy.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• “While all this razzle-dazzle connects us electronically,

it disconnects us from each other, having us
“interfacing” more with computers and TV screens than
looking in the face of our fellow human beings. Is this
progress?”
• ̶ Jim Hightower, radio commentator, 19957

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Social Networking:
• First online social networking site was www.classmates.com in 1995.
• Founded in 2003, Myspace had roughly 100 million member profiles by 2006.
• Facebook was started at Harvard as an online version of student directories
• Social networking is popular with hundreds of millions of people because of the
ease with which they can share aspects of their lives.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Social Networking:
• Businesses connect with customers.
• Organizations seek donations.
• Groups organize volunteers.
• Protesters organize demonstrations and revolutions.
• Individuals pool resources through “crowd funding”.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Social Networking:
• Stalkers and bullies stalk and bully.
• Jurors tweet about court cases during trials.
• Socialbots simulate humans.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Communication and the Web

• In the 1980s, email messages were short and contained
only text.
• People worldwide still use email, but texting, tweeting ,
and other social media are now preferred.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Communication and the Web

• Blogs (“Web log”) began as outlets for amateurs wanting to express ideas, but they
have become significant source of news and entertainment.
• Inexpensive video cameras and video-manipulation tools have resulted in a burst
of amateur videos.
• Many videos on the Web can infringe copyrights owned by entertainment companies.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Telemedicine
• Remote performance of medical exams and procedures,
including surgery.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Collaboration
• Wikipedia: The online, collaborative encyclopedia written by
volunteers.
• Informal communities of programmers create and maintain free
software.
• Watch-dogs on the Web: Informal, decentralized groups of people
help investigate crimes.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• E-commerce
• Amazon.com started in 1994 selling books on the Web. It has grown to be one of the
most popular, reliable, and user-friendly commercial sites.
• eBay.com facilitates online auctions.
• Traditional brick-and-mortar business have established Web sites.
• Online sales in the United States now total hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
• Sellers can sell directly to buyers, resulting in a peer-to-peer economy.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• E-commerce and trust concerns

• People were reluctant to provide credit card information to make online purchases,
so PayPal.com grew out of need for trusted intermediary to handle payments.
• Encryption and secure servers made payments safer.
• The Better Business Bureau established a Web site to help consumers see if others
have complained about a business.
• Auction sites implemented rating systems.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Free stuff
• Email programs and email accounts, browsers, filters, firewalls, encryption
software, word processors, spreadsheets, software for viewing documents,
software to manipulate photos and video, and much more
• Phone services using VOIP such as Skype
• Craigslist classified ad site
• University lectures

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Free stuff
• Advertising pays for many free sites and services, but not all.
• Wikipedia funded through donations.
• Businesses provide some services for good public relations and as a
marketing tool.
• Generosity and public service flourish on the Web. Many people share
their expertise just because they want to.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Free stuff
• In order for companies to earn ad revenue to fund
multimillion-dollar services, many free sites collect
information about our online activities and sell it to
advertisers.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Artificial intelligence
• A branch of computer science that makes computers perform
tasks normally requiring human intelligence.
• Researchers realized that narrow, specialized skills were
easier for computers than what a five-year-old does:
recognize people, carry on a conversation, respond
intelligently to the environment.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Artificial intelligence
• Many AI applications involve pattern recognition.
• Speech recognition is now a common tool.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Artificial intelligence
• Turing Test: If the computer convinces the human
subject that the computer is human, the computer is said
to “pass”.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Discussion Questions
• How will we react when we can go into a hospital for surgery performed entirely by a machine?
Will it be scarier than riding in the first automatic elevators or airplanes?

• How will we react when we can have a conversation and not know if we are conversing with a
human or a machine?

• How will we react when chips implanted in our brains enhance our memory with gigabytes of data
and a search engine? Will we still be human?

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Robots
• Mechanical devices that perform physical tasks
traditionally done by humans.
• Can operate in environments that are hazardous for
people.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Smart sensors, motion, and control

• Motion sensing devices are used to give robots the
ability to walk, trigger airbags in a crash, and protect
laptops when dropped.
• Sensors can detect leaks, acceleration, position,
temperature, and moisture.

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 Change and Unexpected Developments

• Tools for disabled people

• Assistive technology devices help restore productivity and
independence to people with disabilities.
• Researchers are experimenting with chips that convert brain
signals to controls for leg and arm muscles.

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 Themes
• Old problems in a new context:
• Crime, Pornography, Violent Fiction
• Adapting to new technology:
• Thinking in a new way
• New laws, social institutions, business policies,
personal skills, attitudes, and behavior.

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 Themes
• Varied sources of solutions to problems:
• Natural part of change and life
• Global reach of Net:
• Ease of communication with distant
countries

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 Themes
• Trade-offs and controversy:
• Increasing security means reducing convenience.
• Perfection is a direction, not an option.
• Differences between personal choices, business policies, and law.
• Government versus Private versus Public versus Commercial

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 What is Ethics?
• Study of what it means to “do the right thing”.
• Assumes people are rational and make free choices.
• Rules to follow in our interactions and our actions that
affect others.

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 Ethical Views
• Deontological theories
• Emphasize duty and absolute rules
• Intrinsically good actions
• Universal rules apply to everyone
• People are an end, not a means

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 Ethical Views
• Utilitarianism
• “The needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few (or the one)”
• Actions that result in greatest over increase in happiness or utility
• Natural rights
• People can make their own decisions
• Based on their own judgement

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 Ethical Views
• Negative rights (liberties)
• The right to act without interference
• Positive rights (claim-rights)
• An obligation of some people to provide
certain things for others
What are examples of liberties (negative rights) and
claim-rights (positive rights) that are at opposition to each other?

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 Ethical Views
• Golden rule
• Treat others as you would want them to treat you.
• Contributing to society
• Doing one’s work honestly, responsibly, ethically,
creatively, and well is virtuous.

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 Ethical Views

• Social contracts and a theory of political justice

• People willingly submit to a common law in order
to live in a civil society.

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 Ethical Views
• No simple answers
• Human behavior and real human situations are complex.
• There are often trade-offs to consider.
• Ethical theories help to identify important principles or
guidelines.

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 Organizational Ethics
• Do organizations have ethics?
• Ultimately, it is individuals who are making
decisions and taking actions.
• Can we hold both the individuals and the
organization responsible for their acts.

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 Ethics
• Some important distinctions:
• Right, wrong, and okay
• Distinguishing wrong and harm
• Separating goals from constraints
• Personal preference and ethics
• Law and ethics

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 Ethics

• Discussion Question
• Can you think of examples of liberties (negative rights)
and claim-rights (positive rights) that are at opposition
to each other?

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