SDC Computer Ethics Assignment
(5% of Capstone I grade)
Assignment
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Assignment – students select topic in computer ethics and write a one page paper. Presentations and an
assessment exam that follows a week later in SDC II (next semester) will assess student comprehension.
Due – post your paper on your individual SDC I website and send softcopy to cwt@uark.edu by May 3
Topic category – select a topic related to one of the program outcomes below. See examples below. The
idea is to specialize a topic to the computing area – e.g., whistle blowing means in the computing area.
Paper (80%, .doc) – 1-page, single-spaced, topic title, your name/course/semester, headings, 3 or more
references, 3 questions. No plagiarism (copying words or ideas not your own w/o proper attribution)
Questions (20%, append to paper) – each paper will include 3 exam questions that you make up: short
answer, multiple choice or T/F – include answers. Questions should be thoughtfully constructed. Someone
who reads your paper or hears your presentation should be able to answer the questions but answers should
not be obvious to someone unfamiliar with the topic.
Grading: 90-80-70-60-below => A-B-C-D-F
Note: student papers will be available to other students so aim for high quality.
CS/CE Program Outcomes, Subcategories, & Topic Examples (not comprehensive)
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Ethical responsibilities esp. Computer Ethics
o Professional responsibilities
 Codes of Ethics from ACM and IEEE – covered in SDC
 Obligations of a professional
 Whistle blowing
 Discrimination, harassment
 Dependence on computers
 Conflict of Interest – identify and resolve, avoid appearance
o Privacy
 Invasion of Privac, PII, identity theft
 Privacy legislation in Europe vs US
 RFID privacy issues, e.g., tracking, chipping (embedded in human)s, in passports
 Cookies, spyware
 Privacy assurance mechanisms
 P3P
 Spam filters
 Data spills
 Anonymity
 Discovery (legal procedure)
 Plagarism Detection Software
 Confidentiality, Integrity, Data quality
o Risks and liabilities of computer-based systems
 Safety
 Therac-25 case
 Computer Addiction Awareness
 Reliability
 Software disasters, risk management
 Environmental concerns
 Recycling computers and parts
o Civil liberties
 Free speech, Censorship
 Role of the Internet in different countries
 Hate speech
 Limiting online speech on campus
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 Communications Decency Act
 Encryption controversy
 Big Brother
 Video surveillance
 Corporations monitoring employee email and web usage
 Need to know => need to share
Intellectual property
 Software, music, … piracy
 Patent process including provisional patents, infringement
 Patenting business methods
 Copyright and Freedom of Expression
 Fair use
 Digital rights management
 The David LaMacchia Case
 Use of personally owned software on company computers
Ethical issues in AI, DBMS, Software Engineering, …
 Introductory programming
 Freedom of speech
 Exploring Computer Security
 Networking
 Networked world
 Web browsers and security issues
 Viruses, worms
 Distance learning
 Netiquette
 Software Engineering
 Software maintainability
 Designing safety critical system
 Ethical implications of inaccurate simulations
 Operating systems
 Introduction to Hacking and Cracking
 Operating system security through design
 Human Computer Interfaces
 Ethics in Ergonomics
 Helping People With Disabilities to Use Their Computers
 Database Management
 Data Mining and Statistical Inference
 Artificial Intelligence
 Turing test
Application areas
 Daily life
 Medical information systems
 Electronic government including Voting
 Information warfare
Resources – many more are available at the library or online
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Books on Computer Ethics
o R. Spinello, Cyberethics: Morality and Law in Cyberspace, Jones and Bartlett, 2006
o G. Stamatellos, Computer Ethics: A Global Perspective, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2007
o Search on Amazon for “computer ethics”
o K. Himma, Internet Security: Hacking, Counterhacking, and Society, Jones and Bartlett
Publishers, 2007
Websites on Computer Ethics – search online for “computer ethics”
o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_ethics
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http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-computer/
http://www.onlineethics.org/topics/comethics.html
http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/6095/readings-crime.html#cases
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4464216
http://ethics.sandiego.edu/Applied/Computing/index.asp
http://www.comphist.org/computing_history/new_page_5.htm
http://compserv.uark.edu/policies/
http://www.sigcse.org/cc2001/SP.html
http://www.apa.udel.edu/apa/archive/newsletters/v97n2/computers/tavani.asp
http://homepage.mac.com/planclos/ethics/index.html
http://www.aaai.org/AITopics/html/ethics.html
http://cyberethics.cbi.msstate.edu/biblio/
http://cyberethics.cbi.msstate.edu/
http://www.rivier.edu/faculty/htavani/biblio.htm
http://www.cpsr.org/
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=644928
http://www.acm.org/constitution/code.html
http://www.emr.org/linksUCE.html
http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs201/
http://computingcases.org/
http://www2.okbu.edu/business/faculty/chanchey/ethicsurls.htm
http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/ProfessionalEthics.html
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