Information Ethics A View from the Trenches

1. Information EthicsA View from the Trenches Philosophy Club – Kutztown University March 1, 2012 Oskars J. Rieksts

2. Go Ogle – A Parable The Saga of Ed Dougward Kutztown University

3. The Saga of Ed Dougward • Ed was in a pique that morning on his way to work having just confronted and canned his trusty butler. • He had never been in favor of hiring a butler in the first place, but at his wife’s insistence he had relented. Kutztown University

4. The Saga of Ed Dougward • “Ed, what else are you going to do with all that money?” his wife had insisted. “And all our neighbors have butlers!” • Ever since the Silicon Valley startup had taken off dollars flowed like a Pennsylvania creek following a rainstorm. Kutztown University

5. The Saga of Ed Dougward • As vice president he had certain “entertainment obligations” which fell on his wife, Patty. And so began their storybook life – Ed and Candy and Scooby Doo in Palo Alto, CA. Kutztown University

6. The Saga of Ed Dougward • And then along came Jake and Mandy and vacations in Big Sur and skiing at Big Bear. • Until they began to get calls from telemarketers – touting exotic homeopathic remedies and New Age spiritual retreats. Kutztown University

7. The Saga of Ed Dougward • “Ed, do you think someone knows Jake is HIV-positive and Mandy has mood swings following her abortions?” Patty finally asked. “How could they? We’ve never even told our best friends. And besides, that is protected information.” Kutztown University

8. The Saga of Ed Dougward • These conversations went on for weeks, until one day Patty blurted out, “The butler! He is privy to all our family secrets.” • “Edwards?!” Ed exclaimed. “Never! He is always so reliable and helpful and ‘British proper.’” Kutztown University

9. The Saga of Ed Dougward • “I can’t believe he would be anything but discreet. He knows what great pains we take to keep our private information private.” Kutztown University

10. The Saga of Ed Dougward • But Patty was like a dog with a bone. Once the idea found root in her mind she was not to be dissuaded. And at every opportunity she brought up the subject. • Until finally Ed confronted him. Kutztown University

11. The Saga of Ed Dougward • Edwards was horrified that they would consider such a thing. And bringing himself up to the most proper aristocratic bearing he soon had Ed ashamed for even thinking it. Kutztown University

12. The Saga of Ed Dougward • But Patty, in her uncanny way, espied the telling micro hints and went after him with guns blazing. Until finally he broke down and confessed. He’d been in debt and the offers to sell information had been so lucrative. Kutztown University

13. The Saga of Ed Dougward • And, besides, who would be hurt? • Ed felt sorry for him and was about to forgive. But Patty was like a mama bear protecting her cubs. And soon Edwards was history! Kutztown University

14. The Saga of Ed Dougward • And so, as he pulled into the parking lot at work, as he saw the blinking sign he was struck by the irony of the timing. • The 1st letter “o” was flickering on and off, so the sign seemed to be saying, “Go ogle” over and over again. Kutztown University

15. The Saga of Ed Dougward • Yes, “go ogle” indeed. He felt violated by his butler, by his betrayal of the trust they had put in him. How many now knew his family secrets? And who were they? And where would the information wind up? Kutztown University

16. The Saga of Ed Dougward • Later that evening, he was confronted by the irony again, reading his favorite snarky blogger. • The posting was about the blinking sign. After various musings and ramblings . . Kutztown University

17. The Saga of Ed Dougward • . . the blogger pointed out that, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the 2nd definition of ogle is: • “to look at especially with greedy or interested attention.” Kutztown University

18. The Saga of Ed Dougward • How appropriate, Ed thought. All this time, though they had trusted him implicitly, their butler had been ogling his family for personal gain! Kutztown University

19. Ethics • The field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. • James Fieser, UT @ Martin • Internet Enc. of Philosophy Kutztown University

20. Ethics {Fieser} • Metaethics • investigates where our ethical principles come from, and what they mean. • Normative ethics • arrive at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. Kutztown University

21. Ethics {Fieser} • Applied ethics • involves examining specific controversial issues, such as abortion, infanticide, animal rights, environmental concerns, homosexuality, capital punishment, or nuclear war. Kutztown University

22. C & I Ethics {Bynum} • Computer and Information Ethics • Terrell Bynum, S. Connecticut State University • Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy • ICT • Information and communication technology Kutztown University

23. C & I Ethics {Bynum} • “Computer and information ethics”, in the broadest sense of this phrase, can be understood as that branch of applied ethics which studies and analyzes such social and ethical impacts of ICT. Kutztown University

24. C & I Ethics {Bynum} • Founder • Norbert Weiner • Cybernetics • The Human Use of Human Beings • God and Golem Kutztown University

25. Weiner • Great principles of justice • The Principle of Freedom • Liberty of each human being to develop in his freedom the full measure of the human possibilities embodied in him. Kutztown University

26. Weiner • The Principle of Equality • The equality by which what is just for A and B remains just when the positions of A and B are interchanged. Kutztown University

27. Weiner • The Principle of Benevolence • a good will between man and man that knows no limits short of those of humanity itself. Kutztown University

28. Weiner • The Principle of Minimum Infringement of Freedom • What compulsion the very existence of the community and the state may demand must be exercised in such a way as to produce no unnecessary infringement of freedom Kutztown University

29. C & I Ethics {Bynum} • Walter Maner @ ODU • Medical ethics course • addition of computers generated wholly new ethics problems • concluded that there should be a new branch of applied ethics • “computer ethics” Kutztown University

30. C & I Ethics {Bynum} • Deborah Johnson • @ Rensselaer • Book – Computer Ethics • new versions of standard moral problems and dilemmas Kutztown University

31. Johnson • computers pose new versions of standard moral problems and moral dilemmas, exacerbating the old problems, and forcing us to apply ordinary moral norms in uncharted realms. • old ethical problems “given a new twist” by computer technology. Kutztown University

32. C & I Ethics {Bynum} • James Moor • why computing technology raises so many ethical questions compared to other kinds of technology. • revolutionary power of computer technology was that computers are “logically malleable” Kutztown University

33. Moor • Logically malleable • Can be shaped and molded to do any activity that can be characterized in terms . . connecting logical operations • Logic applies everywhere • Potential applications of computer technology limitless Kutztown University

34. Moor • Possible for people to do a vast number of things that they were not able to do before. • Since no one could do them before, the question never arose as to whether one ought to do them. Kutztown University

35. Moor • No laws or standards of good practice or specific ethical rules were established to govern them. • policy vacuums • conceptual muddles • conceptual vacuum. Kutztown University

36. Enter Google • The success of Google, to a great extent, was their ability to do things no one had done before. Kutztown University

37. Scott Cleland • Search & Destroy: Why You Can’t Trust Google Inc. Kutztown University

38. Moor • Although a problem in computer ethics may seem clear initially, a little reflection reveals a conceptual muddle. What is needed in such cases is an analysis that provides a coherent conceptual framework within which to formulate a policy for action. Kutztown University

39. Moor • (1) Identify a policy vacuum generated by computing technology. • (2) Eliminate any conceptual muddles. Kutztown University

40. Moor • (3) Use the core values and the ethical resources of just consequentialism to revise existing – but inadequate – policies, or else to create new policies that justly eliminate the vacuum and resolve the original ethical issue. Kutztown University

41. Moor • If the blindfold of justice is applied to computing policies, some regarded as • unjust by all rational, impartial people • just by all rational, impartial people, • some will be in dispute. Kutztown University

42. Moor • We first require that all computing policies pass the impartiality test. • Clearly, our computing policies should not be among those that every rational, impartial person would regard as unjust. Kutztown University

43. C & I Ethics {Bynum} Donald Gotterbarn • computer ethics should be seen as a professional ethics devoted to the development and advancement of standards of good practice and codes of conduct for computing professionals. Kutztown University

44. Gotterbarn • Professional ethics • values that guide the day-to-day activities of computing professionals. • anyone involved in the design and development of computer artifacts. Kutztown University

45. Gotterbarn • The ethical decisions made during the development of these artifacts have a direct relationship to many of the issues discussed under the broader concept of computer ethics. Kutztown University

46. C & I Ethics {Bynum} • Luciano Floridi • Information ethics • treats everything that exists as “informational” objects or processes” Kutztown University

47. Information Ethics • Yes – need broader than • computer • Communication • Need consider • Information in all its forms • What is & what is not an ethical use of information Kutztown University

48. Information Ethics • Already have bits & pieces • Concepts of • Protected information • Privileged communication • Sealed records • Disposal of records Kutztown University

49. Information Ethics • MIA • Over-arching principles Kutztown University

50. The Schmidt Dichotomy • What happens when you have • Conceptual vacuums • Conceptual muddles • A policy vacuum Kutztown University