Legal and ethical perspectives on IT development Legal Liability, Litigation risk, ‘Professional’ standards, and Ethics David Vaile Co-convenor, Cyberspace Law and Policy Community UNSW Faculty of Law http://www.cyberlawcentre.org/it_ethics_and_law/ Outline Strange bedfellows: IT/software dev., law and ethics Legal system Liability, ‘professional’ ethics Software development – immature? ‘It’s the risk, stupid’ IT project mgt. central issue: risk, should drive everything ‘Spiral’ iterative disposable prototype for resolving risks Non-tech risks: human, data, political, regulatory, unknown Early rather than after disaster. But personal info. is not disposable prototype: error! Examples Software, Law and Ethics Strange bedfellows How the law is made, and how it works Differing principles and standards Risks in software development Examples: ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Consumer protection Product liability Professional liability Anti-trust: abuse of monopoly Intellectual property: copyright, patents Spam Privacy, ‘Uberveillance’ Features of the legal system Main divide: Criminal v. the rest (Civil, Admin, etc.) Criminal ◦ Launched by state, trial, conviction or acquittal. Crimes/offences Civil ◦ Sued by other party, damages, restitution. Contracts, roles Sources ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Statutes (‘Laws’, Acts of Parl.) set rules;Cases interpret them Jurisdiction: which laws and courts – Location? Control? Appeals to higher court Precedent is critical in cases: follow higher/past authority Contracts: Making stuff up Obligations: from Statutes and Contracts Everything is arguable (if you lose, $$ costs) ‘Ignorance is no defence’: I click therefore I am Bound What shapes the law? Ongoing struggle between interests Evidence-based policy, Parliamentary process Commercial reality Technical reality Public standards International effects (indirect) Clueless bozos on Facebook ‘Moral panics’? Different standards/questions Liability: ◦ Against the law? Breach, offence, infringe… Litigation (or enforcement) risk: ◦ Will I get caught? (and sued or prosecuted)? ◦ Auditing, evidence, logging, investigation ‘Professional’ standards ◦ Will my peers/industry reject me? Insurable? Ethics ◦ Will my children and friends reject me? Getting away with one may not suffice... What matters? Breaking the law? Getting caught? Losing your job? Losing your reputation? Or just building crap? Liability Enforcement Professional Ethics Self respect Professional Liability Nature of profession? Membership of professional body Registration required to work? Self-regulation Insurance Peer attitudes Reputation True professions discipline rotten apples by expulsion, prevent working Development risk factors Risk-centred methodology 20% coding and engineering – ignore? 80% analysis, communication, revision User-Centred Design & Risk Management Neglected but critical Early vs. late error discovery ‘User sovereignty’: it’s their lives, arms, data Remote effects – consequences are not local Unethical software giants pretending to be cool when they are just treating people as suckers? When development mistakes blow up ‘Too soon old, too late smart’ ??? Too late! Delivery Revision Testing Coding Design User requirements, analysis, communication Feasibility and conception Development quandaries Most (75%?) big software projects FAIL on 4 Project Management variables, ◦ Cost/Risk, Time, Scope, Quality (for user) Many break various standards, but... You could do it accidentally... ... or be asked/tempted to deliberately Your own position Your employer’s position The victim’s position How to navigate IT risk ‘Spiral’ iterative disposable prototype model to resolving risk in high risk proj.? Inc. non-technical risks: human, data, political, regulatory, unknown User requiremts key, feedback every stage Early discovery, before not after disaster Value & reward mistakes, deprecate denial But is Personal Info as disposable as code? ‘Extreme’: part of problem? Facebook/ G ‘Move Fast and Break Things’ (Zuckerberg’s naughty teenager model to exploit ‘dumb **cks’) ‘See what you can get away with’ ‘See if you get caught’/ ‘Ask Forgiveness, Not Permission’ ‘We haven’t been caught [yet]’ Disposable prototyping, not Compliance What works for software does not work for personal or critical information Your secrets are not revocable, disposable Brutal ‘reality therapy’ from the law: Usmanov case: 6 months for FB GF photo ‘Ethical Hacking’ Essence of Cybercrime: ‘Unauthorised’ Criminalisation of hacking, circumvention EH done w Good Intentions But uses methods of malware, crackers Morris Worm 1990s: Jail for bug exposé Personal Information Security is critical Yoof disbelieve contract & consequence? Drive it by transparent risk management The right answer may be: Don’t do it! (See Road to Hell, paved with) Ethical Hacking Example Recent inquiry... Plan for great ethical hack Potential cybercrime, reputation, professional, etc. Solution: Get it out in the open to run the risk management paper prototype; If too dodgy to reveal, discuss: drop it! Privacy ‘Right to be left alone’ Defeat of Australia Card, Privacy Act 1988 Limited rights of data subjects, few cases Restricts what technology can do Requires security Affects everyone But risk awareness is abysmal Facebook brain-washing re: over-sharing 2012 AGs Telecoms Data Retention plan Privacy Hypothetical See hypothetical example Tort/ Negligence Product liability Duty of Care, special relationship Act or omission Causation Forseeability of harm Proximity Consumer Protection Based on consumer/vendor relation Assumes imbalance Statutory Warranties – fit purpose Contractual waiver? Misleading and deceptive conduct Unfair Contracts Can be Strict Liability – State Bank Consumer protection hypothetical See hypothetical example Anti-trust: Abuse of Monopoly Competition policy Monopoly Example: MS v DoJ re Netscape More recent: Google Books, Facebook Login Political involvement: companies seek help Practical significance Anti-trust hypothetical See hypothetical example Intellectual Property Purpose: Copyright Act: form, not substance ◦ No registration ◦ Digital Agenda Patents Act: the idea, not the form Circuit Designs Free Trade Agreement TPM, DRM, criminalisation Copyright Copyright Act: ◦ Exclusive right to control exploitation No registration Actual text, code or implementation Licences with conditions and fees Technological Protection ◦ ‘Digital Rights Management’ tools ◦ DMCA and contracting away user rights Copyright and Public Domain Differences in Australia, US... Fierce battle: (C) maximalist v PD? ‘Public Domain’ Open Source software: GPL, copyleft Open Content ◦ Creative Commons – US, global? ◦ Free for Education - Australian Business models Patents and software Right to deny access Requires registration Expensive to fight Patentable material? E-business patents ◦ Amazon 1-Click web shopping cart Gene sequence patents ◦ Bioinformatics – human genome race Current patent battles Resistance to patentability of software EU Commission recommends, Parl. Rejects CSIRO v. US computer industry – wireless Linux? Why are software patents a danger? ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Locking up pure ideas? Mathematics? Stallman Not just open source Impossible to ascertain if infringing Patent Offices too lax and inexperienced? $$ motive Very expensive Only works if you have a huge portfolio Spam Spam Acts: Australia, USA, California Unsolicited commercial electronic message Single message Address harvesting Penalties Surveillance Workplace privacy bill NSW Spam hypothetical See hypothetical example Questions? Conclusion David Vaile, Co-convener Cyberspace Law and Policy Community Faculty of Law, UNSW http://www.cyberlawcentre.org/it_ethics_and_law/