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Computer and Information Ethics After

Sept. 11, 2001

Office for Information Management Noon Seminar, held February 13, 2002

Marsha Woodbury, Ph.D.Dept. of Computer ScienceUniversity of IllinoisUrbana-Champaign

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What a difference a day makes

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

•Physiological Needs

• Safety Needs

• Needs of Love, Affection

and Belongingness

•Needs for Esteem

•Needs for Self-Actualization

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Maslow’s PyramidWe dropped a notch

• A need is no longer a motivator when it is satisfied. Needs are motivators when they are not met.

• Right now, in Germany, France, the USA, and many other countries with strong rights traditions, many people are feeling that they are at level two, even if they are not near that level.

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Terrorism

• "The single common denominator is that it is a psychological weapon, intended to erode trust and undermine confidence in our government, its elected officials, institutions or policies…the psychological impact would be enormous, shaking the nation's trust and confidence in its government to its core.” (Cilluffo CSIS, 1998)

• A "photo op" attack is what a terrorist prefers, not the unseen cyber terrorism that we also worry about. The sympathizers who don't train at camps can do major damage online.

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Ethics is the study of rational decision making toward just action

(Doing what we ought to do in situations where we have time to think!)

We may not be as rational

as we once thought we were.

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Journalism Ethics

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Journalism Ethics Recent Issues

• Bodies falling photos• Self-censorship out of "patriotism" (or is it

fear of economic backlash?—Bill Maher)

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Business Ethics Recent Issues

• One word, ENRON—• How safe is encryption?• Profiting off stocks rising and falling after

a disaster• Laying off large numbers of workers while

drawing huge CEO salaries • Selling guns to developing countries

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Computer and Information Ethics

• Big choices right now!

• We have to decide what role we will play in the world after Sept. 11, 2001

• Will our skills be used to end terrorism, merge databases, harass the poor, advance a police state, trace access at libraries, or what?

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Computer Quotes

• A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history--with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.

--Mitch Ratliffe

• A human being is a computer's way of making another computer. Yes, we are their sex organs.

--Solomon Short

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Along with the power to change the world comes the duty to execute that power responsibly. CPSR

The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals. We cause accidents. Nathaniel Borenstein

Risks Digest

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Ethics < > Rules or Laws

Laws

Ethics

Death Penalty?

Marijuana?Encryption?

Taking away human rights

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About Ethics

• The point is to be somewhat logical, to justify our actions following moral principles

• The struggle is the important part—going through the thinking process

• Guidance from Codes of Ethics (particularly on the social consequences of the program that we are writing or the action we are considering)

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Before Sept. 11, 2001

• We weigh our obligations (while sitting near the top of the pyramid)– to society (a hard-sell, anti-any

government)– to our families– to our employer (another hard-sell)– to our clients– to our colleagues– to our students

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After Sept. 11, 2001

• We weigh our obligations (while feeling lower on the pyramid)– to our country (patriotism, need

government for security)– to our families– to our employer– to our clients– to our colleagues– to our students

European Union Statement

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Cell phones

• Before Sept. 12, 2001:

• After Sept. 12, 2001: Calls from WTC, planes crucial, fear makes mobile phones more acceptable

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Key Issues in Computer and Information Ethics before Sept. 11

• Privacy (would not link databases)

• Ownership• Security (hackers always there,

encryption battles, web not always reliable)

• Access (who can see what)• Authenticity

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• Privacy (Biometrics—how far will we go; Will every encrypted message be viewable by government? German concerns.)

• Ownership• Security (the WTC backups showed

responsible use)• Access (Will cell phones work in

emergencies? Web held up after the attacks)

• Authenticity

Key Issues in Computer and Information Ethics after Sept. 11

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What Is Privacy?

• Freedom to make deliberate decisions about revealing personal information

• Minimize unwanted intrusions• Personal space and time to be ourselves

Lately:• Wanting chips embedded after the unident

ified bodies from WTC.• Keyboard sniffing ruled OK

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Ethical Concern Prior to Sept. 11, 2001:Ways to Enable Privacy

in Public Spaces

• Privacy cubicles• Polarizing screens• Timed access -- screen dims• Monitor set in desk so you look down

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After Sept. 11, 2001

• Hijackers used public cyber cafes and libraries to communicate

• Will libraries keep the FBI at arm's length? • Will our past freedom and privacy in such

places be eroded?

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After Sept. 11, 2001

• Linking databases to catch terrorists

• Long history of opposition to National ID cards is melting

• Big Brother?

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Worth remembering—from the ALA

…"freedom is not some arbitrary right that is bestowed upon us because of the virtuous nature of our national character. It is a right we must protect and defend in both times of promise and peril if we are to remain in the future what we are in the present -- a free and honorable people."

--Abraham Lincoln

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Cryptography

• Before Sept. 11, 2001: Cryptography and email were seen as lifelines for oppressed peoples fearing reprisals for open communications.

• After Sept. 11, 2001: Carnivore, back doors, key escrow

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Freedom of Information

After Sept. 11, 2001

• Right now, in Washington D.C., politicians and public servants are withholding all kinds of information because of "National Security"

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Biometrics

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Biometrics Surveillance Cameras

• The former New York police commissioner recommended the installation of 100 biometric surveillance cameras in Times Square to scan the faces of pedestrians and compare them with a database of suspected terrorists.

October 7, 2001 BEING WATCHEDJeffrey Rosen, NY Times Sunday Mag.

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British Experience—the unintended consequence of laws

• … rather than thwarting serious crime, the cameras are being used to enforce social conformity in ways that Americans may prefer to avoid.

October 7, 2001 BEING WATCHEDJeffrey Rosen, NY Times Sunday Mag.

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Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA)Patriot Act

• Allows police to conduct some Internet surveillance without a court order.

• Allows foreign governments to gather information on U.S. citizens and the U.S. can use that information in court.(?)

• Hacking a U.S. government system or breaking into and damaging any Internet-connected computer is a federal crime. (Section 808)

• See breakdown at the ACLU site.

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Star Wars: SDI now NMD

• Maginot Line in Space

• The NMD software system would be the most complex piece of software ever developed.

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NMN—software testing problems

Factors that inspire human trust in software include:

• extensive past experience under actual working conditions

• ultimate safeguarding of critical operations by human operators

• a fully specified, predictable, and stable environment for design, testing, and actual operation.

None of these factors will be present in the final NMD system. William Yurcik

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Censorship on the Web?

• Websites change their content, pull the plug on controversial items.

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Mission:• Make sure that computer

technology is used in socially responsible ways.

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility