The fourth stall part 3 summary

A Gift of Fire

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A Gift of Fire Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing Technology

fourth edition

Sara Baase San Diego State University

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Credits and acknowledgements. Excerpt from Mike Godwin speech: at Carnegie Mellon University, November 1994. Copyright © 1994 by Mike Godwin. Reprinted with permission. Excerpt from Jerrold H. Zar’s “Candidate for a Pullet Surprise”: from JOURNAL OF IRREPRODUCIBLE RESULTS, 39, no. 1 (Jan/Feb 1994). Copyright © 1994 Norman Sperling Publishing. Reprinted with permission. Excerpt from “Social and Legal Issues”: From INVITATION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE, 1E by Schneider/Gertsing. Copyright © 1995 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc. Reproduced by permission. www.cengage.com/permissions. Appendix A.1: The Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice. THE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING CODE OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE © 1999 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. and the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. Reprinted by permission. Appendix A.2: The ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. ACM CODE OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT. Copyright © 1999 by the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Reprinted by permission. Adi Kamdar Excerpt: Adi Kamdar, “EFF Denounces Flawed E-Verify Proposal That Would Trample on Worker Privacy,” July 1, 2011, www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/07/eff-denounces-flawede-verify-proposal, viewed July 31, 2011. Reprinted under the terms of the Creative Commons Attributions License. Calvin and Hobbes “today at school . . . ” cartoon © 1993 Watterson. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. All rights reserved. Calvin and Hobbes “what’s all the fuss about computers . . . ” cartoon © 1995 Watterson. Dist. By UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. “Opus” cartoon used with the permission of Berkeley Breathed and the Cartoonist Group. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Baase, Sara. A gift of fire : social, legal, and ethical issues for computing technology / Sara Baase. — 4th ed.

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-13-249267-6 1. Computers—Social aspects. 2. Computers—Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Internet—Social aspects.

4. Internet—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title. QA76.9.C66B3 2013 303.48′34—dc23 2012020988

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 10: 0-13-249267-9 ISBN 13: 978-0-13-249267-6

www.cengage.com/permissions
www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/07/eff-denounces-flawede-verify-proposal
To Keith, always

And to Michelle Nygord Matson (1959–2012)

For her love of life, learning, and adventure For her laughter, wisdom, and determination For her friendship

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Contents

Preface xiii

Prologue 1

1 UNWRAPPING THE GIFT 3

1.1 The Pace of Change 4 1.2 Change and Unexpected Developments 6

1.2.1 Connections: Cellphones, Social Networking, and More 7 1.2.2 E-commerce and Free Stuff 15 1.2.3 Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Sensors, and Motion 17 1.2.4 Tools for Disabled People 21

1.3 Themes 23 1.4 Ethics 26

1.4.1 What Is Ethics, Anyway? 26 1.4.2 A Variety of Ethical Views 28 1.4.3 Some Important Distinctions 36 Exercises 40

2 PRIVACY 47

2.1 Privacy Risks and Principles 48 2.1.1 What Is Privacy? 48 2.1.2 New Technology, New Risks 50 2.1.3 Terminology and Principles for Managing Personal Data 56

2.2 The Fourth Amendment, Expectation of Privacy, and Surveillance Technologies 60 2.2.1 The Fourth Amendment 61 2.2.2 New Technologies, Supreme Court Decisions, and Expectation of

Privacy 63 2.2.3 Search and Seizure of Computers and Phones 66 2.2.4 Video Surveillance and Face Recognition 68

2.3 The Business and Social Sectors 70 2.3.1 Marketing and Personalization 70 2.3.2 Our Social and Personal Activity 75 2.3.3 Location Tracking 79 2.3.4 A Right to Be Forgotten 82

viii Contents

2.4 Government Systems 84 2.4.1 Databases 84 2.4.2 Public Records: Access versus Privacy 90 2.4.3 National ID Systems 91

2.5 Protecting Privacy: Technology, Markets, Rights, and Laws 95 2.5.1 Technology and Markets 95 2.5.2 Rights and Law 100 2.5.3 Privacy Regulations in the European Union 110

2.6 Communications 112 2.6.1 Wiretapping and Email Protection 113 2.6.2 Designing Communications Systems for Interception 115 2.6.3 The NSA and Secret Intelligence Gathering 116 Exercises 119

3 FREEDOM OF SPEECH 133

3.1 Communications Paradigms 134 3.1.1 Regulating Communications Media 134 3.1.2 Free Speech Principles 137

3.2 Controlling Speech 139 3.2.1 Offensive Speech: What Is It? What Is Illegal? 139 3.2.2 Censorship Laws and Alternatives 141 3.2.3 Child Pornography and Sexting 146 3.2.4 Spam 148 3.2.5 Challenging Old Regulatory Structures and Special Interests 152

3.3 Posting, Selling, and Leaking Sensitive Material 153 3.4 Anonymity 159 3.5 The Global Net: Censorship and Political Freedom 163

3.5.1 Tools for Communication, Tools for Oppression 163 3.5.2 Aiding Foreign Censors and Repressive Regimes 165 3.5.3 Shutting Down Communications in Free Countries 168

3.6 Net Neutrality Regulations or the Market? 169 Exercises 171

4 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 179

4.1 Principles, Laws, and Cases 180 4.1.1 What Is Intellectual Property? 180 4.1.2 Challenges of New Technologies 182 4.1.3 A Bit of History 185 4.1.4 The Fair Use Doctrine 186 4.1.5 Ethical Arguments About Copying 187 4.1.6 Significant Legal Cases 190

Contents ix

4.2 Responses to Copyright Infringement 196 4.2.1 Defensive and Aggressive Responses From the Content Industries 196 4.2.2 The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Anticircumvention 201 4.2.3 The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Safe Harbor 204 4.2.4 Evolving Business Models 206

4.3 Search Engines and Online Libraries 208 4.4 Free Software 211

4.4.1 What Is Free Software? 211 4.4.2 Should All Software Be Free? 213

4.5 Patents for Inventions in Software 214 4.5.1 Patent Decisions, Confusion, and Consequences 215 4.5.2 To Patent or Not? 218 Exercises 220

5 CRIME 229

5.1 Introduction 230 5.2 Hacking 230

5.2.1 What is “Hacking”? 230 5.2.2 Hacktivism, or Political Hacking 236 5.2.3 Hackers as Security Researchers 237 5.2.4 Hacking as Foreign Policy 239 5.2.5 Security 241 5.2.6 The Law: Catching and Punishing Hackers 245

5.3 Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud 250 5.3.1 Stealing Identities 251 5.3.2 Responses to Identity Theft 253 5.3.3 Biometrics 257

5.4 Whose Laws Rule the Web? 258 5.4.1 When Digital Actions Cross Borders 258 5.4.2 Libel, Speech, and Commercial Law 262 5.4.3 Culture, Law, and Ethics 265 5.4.4 Potential Solutions 266 Exercises 267

6 WORK 275

6.1 Changes, Fears, and Questions 276 6.2 Impacts on Employment 277

6.2.1 Job Destruction and Creation 277 6.2.2 Changing Skills and Skill Levels 282 6.2.3 Telecommuting 284 6.2.4 A Global Workforce 287

x Contents

6.3 Employee Communication and Monitoring 293 6.3.1 Learning About Job Applicants 293 6.3.2 Risks and Rules for Work and Personal Communications 296 Exercises 304

7 EVALUATING AND CONTROLLING TECHNOLOGY 311

7.1 Evaluating Information 312 7.1.1 The Need for Responsible Judgment 312 7.1.2 Computer Models 321

7.2 The “Digital Divide” 329 7.2.1 Trends in Computer Access 329 7.2.2 The Global Divide and the Next Billion Users 331

7.3 Neo-Luddite Views of Computers, Technology, and Quality of Life 332 7.3.1 Criticisms of Computing Technologies 333 7.3.2 Views of Economics, Nature, and Human Needs 336

7.4 Making Decisions About Technology 342 7.4.1 Questions 343 7.4.2 The Difficulty of Prediction 344 7.4.3 Intelligent Machines and Superintelligent Humans—Or the End of the

Human Race? 347 7.4.4 A Few Observations 350 Exercises 350

8 ERRORS, FAILURES, AND RISKS 361

8.1 Failures and Errors in Computer Systems 362 8.1.1 An Overview 362 8.1.2 Problems for Individuals 364 8.1.3 System Failures 367 8.1.4 What Goes Wrong? 375

8.2 Case Study: The Therac-25 377 8.2.1 Therac-25 Radiation Overdoses 377 8.2.2 Software and Design Problems 378 8.2.3 Why So Many Incidents? 380 8.2.4 Observations and Perspective 382

8.3 Increasing Reliability and Safety 383 8.3.1 Professional Techniques 383 8.3.2 Trust the Human or the Computer System? 388 8.3.3 Law, Regulation, and Markets 389

8.4 Dependence, Risk, and Progress 392 8.4.1 Are We Too Dependent on Computers? 392 8.4.2 Risk and Progress 393 Exercises 395

Contents xi

9 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 403

9.1 What Is “Professional Ethics”? 404 9.2 Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals 405

9.2.1 Special Aspects of Professional Ethics 405 9.2.2 Professional Codes of Ethics 406 9.2.3 Guidelines and Professional Responsibilities 407

9.3 Scenarios 410 9.3.1 Introduction and Methodology 410 9.3.2 Protecting Personal Data 412 9.3.3 Designing an Email System With Targeted Ads 414 9.3.4 Webcams in School Laptops1 415 9.3.5 Publishing Security Vulnerabilities 416 9.3.6 Specifications 417 9.3.7 Schedule Pressures 418 9.3.8 Software License Violation 421 9.3.9 Going Public 422 9.3.10 Release of Personal Information 423 9.3.11 Conflict of Interest 424 9.3.12 Kickbacks and Disclosure 426 9.3.13 A Test Plan 427 9.3.14 Artificial Intelligence and Sentencing Criminals 427 9.3.15 A Gracious Host 430 Exercises 430

Epilogue 437

A THE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING CODE AND THE ACM CODE 439

A.1 Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice 439 A.2 ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct 447

Index 455

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Preface

This book has two intended audiences: students preparing for careers in computer science (and related fields) and students in other fields who want to learn about issues that arise from computing technology, the Internet, and other aspects of cyberspace. The book has no technical prerequisites. Instructors can use it at various levels, in both introductory and advanced courses about computing or technology.

Scope of This Book

Many universities offer courses with titles such as “Ethical Issues in Computing” or “Computers and Society.” Some focus primarily on professional ethics for computer professionals. Others address a wide range of social issues. The bulky subtitle and the table of contents of this book indicate its scope. I also include historical background to put some of today’s issues in context and perspective. I believe it is important for students (in computer and information technology majors and in other majors) to see and understand the implications and impacts of the technology. Students will face a wide variety of issues in this book as members of a complex technological society, in both their professional and personal lives.

The last chapter focuses on ethical issues for computer professionals. The basic ethical principles are not different from ethical principles in other professions or other aspects of life: honesty, responsibility, and fairness. However, within any one profession, special kinds of problems arise. Thus, we discuss professional ethical guidelines and case scenarios specific to computing professions. I include two of the main codes of ethics and professional practices for computer professionals in an Appendix. I placed the professional ethics chapter last because I believe students will find it more interesting and useful after they have as background the incidents, issues, and controversies in the earlier chapters.

Each of the chapters in this book could easily be expanded to a whole book. I had to leave out many interesting topics and examples. In some cases, I mention an issue, example, or position with little or no discussion. I hope some of these will spark further reading and debate.

Changes for the Fourth Edition

For this fourth edition, I updated the whole book, removed outdated material, added many new topics and examples, and reorganized several topics. New material appears throughout. I mention here some major changes, completely new sections and topics, and some that I extensively revised.

xiv Preface

. This edition has approximately 85 new exercises.

. In Chapter 1, I added a section on kill switches for smartphone apps, tablets, and so on, i.e., the ability of companies to remotely delete apps and other items from a user’s device (in Section 1.2.1).

. All parts of Section 1.2 have new material, including, for example, uses of smart- phone data and social network data for social research.

. I added a brief section on social contracts and John Rawls’ views on justice and fairness (in Section 1.4.2).

New topics in Chapter 2 include

. smartphones and their apps collecting personal data without permission (in Section 2.1.2)

. Fourth Amendment issues about tracking a person’s location via cellphone, track- ing cars with GPS devices, and search of cellphones (in Sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3)

. applications of face recognition (several places in the chapter)

. privacy implications of some social networking applications and social network company policies

. a right to be forgotten (Section 2.3.4)

Chapter 3 includes new sections on

. sexting (Section 3.2.3)

. ethics of leaking sensitive information (in Section 3.3)

. shutting down cellphone service or access to social media during riots or protests (Section 3.5.3)

The chapter also has

. use of social media by freedom movements and countermeasures by governments

. more on Western countries selling surveillance systems to dictators.

Chapter 4 includes

. discussion of plagiarism

. expanded sections on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Sections 4.2.2 and 4.2.3)

. an expanded section on patents for software (Section 4.5)

Chapter 5 has new sections on

. hacking by governments to attack others (Section 5.2.4)

Preface xv

. expansion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to cover actions it was not intended to cover (in Section 5.2.6)

Chapter 6 has new sections on

. how content of social media can affect getting hired and fired

. use of social media and personal devices at work

Chapter 7 has expanded sections on

. the “wisdom of the crowd”

. ways the Internet can narrow or restrict the points of view people see (in Section 7.1.1)

Chapter 8 has

. an introduction to high reliability organizations (in Section 8.3.1).

Chapter 9 contains

. two new scenarios.

This is an extremely fast-changing field. Clearly, some issues and examples in this book are so current that details will change before or soon after publication. I don’t consider this to be a serious problem. Specific events are illustrations of the underlying issues and arguments. I encourage students to bring in current news reports about relevant issues to discuss in class. Finding so many ties between the course and current events adds to their interest in the class.

Controversies

This book presents controversies and alternative points of view: privacy vs. access to information, privacy vs. law enforcement, freedom of speech vs. control of content on the Net, pros and cons of offshoring jobs, market-based vs. regulatory solutions, and so on. Often the discussion in the book necessarily includes political, economic, social, and philosophical issues. I encourage students to explore the arguments on all sides and to be able to explain why they reject the ones they reject before they take a position. I believe this approach prepares them to tackle new controversies. They can figure out the consequences of various proposals, generate arguments for each side, and evaluate them. I encourage students to think in principles, rather than case by case, or at least to recognize similar principles in different cases, even if they choose to take different positions on them.

My Point of View

Any writer on subjects such as those in this book has some personal opinions, positions, or biases. I believe strongly in the principles in the Bill of Rights. I also have a generally

xvi Preface

positive view of technology. Don Norman, a psychologist and technology enthusiast who writes on humanizing technology, observed that most people who have written books about technology “are opposed to it and write about how horrible it is.”� I am not one of those people. I think that technology, in general, has been a major factor in bringing physical well-being, liberty, and opportunity to hundreds of millions of people. That does not mean technology is without problems. Most of this book focuses on problems. We must recognize and study them so that we can reduce the negative effects and increase the positive ones.

For many topics, this book takes a problem-solving approach. I usually begin with a description of what is happening in a particular area, often including a little history. Next comes a discussion of why there are concerns and what the new problems are. Finally, I give some commentary or perspective and some current and potential solutions to the problems. Some people view problems and negative side effects of new technologies as indications of inherent badness in the technology. I see them as part of a natural process of change and development. We will see many examples of human ingenuity, some that create problems and some that solve them. Often solutions come from improved or new applications of technology.

At a workshop on Ethical and Professional Issues in Computing sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Keith Miller, one of the speakers, gave the following outline for discussing ethical issues (which he credited to a nun who had been one of his teachers years ago): “What? So what? Now what?” It struck me that this describes how I organized many sections of this book.

An early reviewer of this book objected to one of the quotations I include at the beginnings of many sections. He thought it was untrue. So perhaps I should make it clear that I agree with many of the quotations—but not with all of them. I chose some to be provocative and to remind students of the variety of opinions on some of the issues.

I am a computer scientist, not an attorney. I summarize the main points of many laws and legal cases and discuss arguments about them, but I do not give a comprehensive legal analysis. Many ordinary terms have specific meanings in laws, and often a difference of one word can change the impact of a provision of a law or of a court decision. Laws have exceptions and special cases. Any reader who needs precise information about how a law applies in a particular case should consult an attorney or read the full text of laws, court decisions, and legal analysis.

Class Activities

The course I designed in the Computer Science Department at San Diego State Uni- versity requires a book report, a term paper, and an oral presentation by each student. Students do several presentations, debates, and mock trials in class. The students are very

� Quoted in Jeannette DeWyze, “When You Don’t Know How to Turn On Your Radio, Don Norman Is On Your Side,” The San Diego Reader , Dec. 1, 1994, p. 1.

Preface xvii

enthusiastic about these activities. I include several in the Exercises sections, marked as Class Discussion Exercises. Although I selected some exercises for this category, I find that many others in the General Exercises sections are also good for lively class discussions.

It has been an extraordinary pleasure to teach this course. At the beginning of each semester, some students expect boredom or sermons. By the end, most say they have found it eye-opening and important. They’ve seen and appreciated new arguments, and they understand more about the risks of computer technology and their own responsibilities. Many students send me news reports about issues in the course long after the semester is over, sometimes after they have graduated and are working in the field.

Additional Sources

The notes at the ends of the chapters include sources for specific information in the text and, occasionally, additional information and comment. I usually put one endnote at or near the end of a paragraph with sources for the whole paragraph. In a few places the endnote for a section is on the section heading. (We have checked all the Web addresses, but files move, and inevitably some will not work. Usually a search on the author and a phrase from the title of a document will locate it.) The lists of references at the ends of the chapters include some references that I used, some that I think are particularly useful or interesting for various reasons, and some that you might not find elsewhere. I have made no attempt to be complete.

An italic page number in the index indicates the page on which the index entry is defined or explained. The text often refers to agencies, organizations, and laws by acronyms. If you look up the acronym in the index, you will find its expansion.

My website for this book (www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/giftfire) contains updates on topics in the book and other resources. Pearson Education maintains a website (www .pearsonhighered.com/baase) with supplements for instructors, including PowerPoint slides and a testbank. For access to instructor material, please contact your Pearson Education sales representative or visit the site, where you will find instructions.

Feedback

This book contains a large amount of information on a large variety of subjects. I have tried to be as accurate as possible, but, inevitably, there will be errors. I appreciate corrections. Please send them to me at GiftOfFire@sdsu.edu.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to many people who provided assistance for this edition: Susan Brown (Florida Atlantic University) for advice about citations; Charles Christopher for regularly sending me legal articles perfectly targeted to topics I am writing about; Mike Gallivan (Georgia State University) for checking the Web addresses in endnotes; Julie Johnson (Vanderbilt University) for research assistance, an exercise, and the scenario and analysis in Section 9.3.4; Patricia A. Joseph (Slippery Rock University) for research assistance and

www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/giftfire
www.pearsonhighered.com/baase
www.pearsonhighered.com/baase
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an exercise; Ellen Kraft (Richard Stockton College) for assisting with research and the revision of Section 7.2; Jean Martinez for lively conversations about privacy, security, and social media; Michelle Matson for conversations about several topics in the book; Jack Revelle for bringing kill switches to my attention and sending me excellent articles; Carol Sanders for reading and improving Chapter 2, finding useful sources, and for many conversations about privacy, security, and social media; Marek A. Suchenek (California State University, Dominguez Hills) for research on software patent history and for email conversations about ethics, intellectual property, and human progress; Sue Smith, Char Glacy, and Michaeleen Trimarchi for their observations about how researchers use the Web; and my birding buddies, who got me out looking at birds once a week instead of at a screen.

I thank the following people for reviewing the third edition at the beginning of this project and providing suggestions for the new edition: Ric Heishman (George Mason University); Starr Suzanne Hiltz (New Jersey Institute of Technology); Jim K. Huggins (Kettering University); Patricia A. Joseph (Slippery Rock University); Tamara Maddox (George Mason University); Robert McIllhenny (California State University, Northridge); Evelyn Lulis (DePaul University); and Marek A. Suchenek (California State University, Dominguez Hills).

This edition includes some material from earlier editions. Thus again, I thank all the people I listed in the prefaces of those editions.

I appreciate the efforts of the staff at Pearson Education who worked on this book: my editor Tracy Johnson, associate editor Carole Snyder, production project manager Kayla Smith-Tarbox, the marketing department, and the people behind the scenes who handle the many tasks that must be done to produce a book. I thank the production team: Paul Anagnostopoulos, Richard Camp, Ted Laux, Jacqui Scarlott, and Priscilla Stevens.

Last but most, I thank Keith Mayers, for assisting with research, managing my software, reading all the chapters, being patient, running errands, finding other things to do while I worked (building a guitar!), and being my sweetheart.

Prologue

Prometheus, according to Greek myth, brought us the gift of fire. It is an awesome gift. It gives us the power to heat our homes, cook our food, and run the machines that make our lives more comfortable, healthy, and enjoyable. It is also awesomely destructive, both by accident and by arson. The Chicago fire in 1871 left 100,000 people homeless. In 1990, the oil fields of Kuwait were intentionally set ablaze. Since the beginning of the 21st century, wildfires in the United States have destroyed millions of acres and thousands of homes. In spite of the risks, in spite of these disasters, few of us would choose to return the gift of fire and live without it. We have learned, gradually, how to use it productively, how to use it safely, and how to respond more effectively to disasters, be they natural, accidental, or intentional.

Computer technology is the most significant new technology since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. It is awesome technology, with the power to make routine tasks quick, easy, and accurate, to save lives, and to create large amounts of new wealth. It helps us explore space, communicate easily and cheaply, find information, create entertainment, and do thousands of other tasks. As with fire, this power creates powerful problems: potential loss of privacy, multimillion-dollar thefts, and breakdowns of large, complex systems (such as air traffic control systems, communications networks, and banking systems) on which we have come to depend. In this book, we describe some of the remarkable benefits of computer and communication technologies, some of the problems associated with them, and some of the means for reducing the problems and coping with their effects.

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1 Unwrapping the Gift

1.1 The Pace of Change

1.2 Change and Unexpected Developments

1.3 Themes

1.4 Ethics

Exercises

4 Chapter 1 Unwrapping the Gift

1.1 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

In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on a two-and-a-half-year voyage to explore what is now the western United States. Many more years passed before their journals were published. Later explorers did not know that Lewis and Clark had been there before them. Stephen Ambrose points out in his book about the Lewis and Clark expedition, Undaunted Courage, that information, people, and goods moved no faster than a horse—and this limitation had not changed in thousands of years.2 In 1997, millions of people went to the World Wide Web to watch a robot cart called Sojourner roll across the surface of Mars. We chat with people thousands of miles away, and instantly view Web pages from around the world. We can tweet from airplanes flying more than 500 miles per hour.

Telephones, automobiles, airplanes, radio, household electrical appliances, and many other marvels we take for granted were invented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They led to profound changes in how we work and play, how we get information, how we communicate, and how we organize our family lives. Our entry into space was one of the most dramatic feats of technology in the 20th century. Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, launched in 1957. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969. We still do not have personal spacecraft, vacation trips to the moon, or a large amount of commercial or research activity in space. Space tourism for the very rich is in an early stage. The moon landing has had little direct effect on our daily lives. But computer systems in cars can now apply the brakes if a pedestrian is in the car’s path. Some cars park themselves, and experimental cars drive themselves on city streets. Computer programs beat human experts at chess and Jeopardy!, and our smartphones answer our questions. Surgeons perform surgery with robotic instruments miles from the patient. Roughly five billion people use cellphones; U.S. texters send more than a trillion texts in a year; Facebook has more than 800 million members; Twitter users tweet hundreds of thousands of times a day; and these numbers will be out of date when you read them. A day without using an appliance or device containing a microchip is as rare as a day without turning on an electric light.

The first electronic computers were built in the 1940s. Scientists at Bell Laboratories invented the transistor—a basic component of microprocessors—in 1947. The first hard- disk drive, made by IBM in 1956, weighed more than a ton and stored only five megabytes of data, less than the amount of space we use for one photo. Now, we can walk around

1.1 The Pace of Change 5

with 150 hours of video in a pocket. A disk with a terabyte (one thousand gigabytes, or one trillion bytes) of storage—enough for 250 hours of high definition video—is inexpensive. There are hundreds of billions of gigabytes of information on the Internet. The 1991 space shuttle had a 1-megahertz� computer onboard. Ten years later, some luxury automobiles had 100-megahertz computers. Speeds of several gigahertz are now common. When I started my career as a computer science professor, personal computers had not yet been invented. Computers were large machines in air-conditioned rooms; we typed computer programs onto punched cards. If we wanted to do research, we went to a library, where the library catalog filled racks of trays containing 3 × 5 index cards. Social-networking sites were neighborhood pizza places and bars. The point is not that I am old; it is the speed and magnitude of the changes. The way you use computer systems and mobile devices, personally and professionally, will change substantially in two years, in five, and in ten, and almost unrecognizably over the course of your career. The ubiquity of computers, the rapid pace of change, and their myriad applications and impacts on daily life characterize the last few decades of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st.

It is not just the technology that changes so fast. Social impacts and controversies morph constantly. With PCs and floppy disks came computer viruses and the beginnings of a huge challenge to the concept of copyright. With email came spam. With increased storage and speed came databases with details about our personal and financial lives. With the Web, browsers, and search engines came easy access by children to pornography, more threats to privacy, and more challenges to copyright. Online commerce brought bargains to consumers, opportunities to entrepreneurs, and identity theft and scams. Cellphones have had so many impacts that we discuss them in more detail later in this chapter and in Chapter 2. With hindsight, it might seem odd that people worried so much about antisocial, anticommunity effects of computers and the early Internet. Now, with the popularity of social networking, texting, and sharing video, photos, and information, the Net is a very social place. In 2008, “experts” worried the Internet would collapse within two years because of the demands of online video. It did not. Privacy threats of concern several years ago seem minor compared to new ones. People worried about how intimidating computers and the Internet were; now toddlers operate apps on tablets and phones. Concerns about technology “haves” and “have-nots” (the “digital divide”) waned as Internet access and cellphones spread throughout the United States and around the world, shrinking the digital divide far faster than long-standing global divides in, say, education and access to fresh water.

Discussions of social issues related to computers often focus on problems, and indeed, throughout this book we examine problems created or intensified by computer technolo- gies. Recognizing the benefits is important too. It is necessary for forming a reasonable, balanced view of the impact and value of the technology. Analyzing and evaluating the

� This is a measure of processing speed. One megahertz is 1 million cycles per second; 1 gigahertz is 1 billion cycles per second. “Hertz” is named for the 19th-century physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz.

6 Chapter 1 Unwrapping the Gift

impact of new technologies can be difficult. Some of the changes are obvious. Some are more subtle. Even when benefits are obvious, the costs and side effects might not be, and vice versa. Both the technological advances brought about by computer technology and the extraordinary pace of development have dramatic, sometimes unsettling, im- pacts on people’s lives. To some, this is frightening and disruptive. They see the changes as dehumanizing, reducing the quality of life, or as threats to the status quo and their well- being. Others see challenging and exciting opportunities. To them, the development of the technology is a thrilling and inspiring example of human progress.

When we speak of computers in this book, we include mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, desktop computers and mainframes, embedded chips that control machines (from sewing machines to oil refineries), entertainment systems (such as video recorders and game machines), and the “Net,” or “cyberspace.” Cyberspace is built of computers (e.g., Web servers), communication devices (wired and wireless), and storage media, but its real meaning is the vast web of communications and information that includes the Internet and more.

In the next section, we look at some phenomena, often unplanned and spontaneous, that computer and communication technology made possible. They have deeply changed how we interact with other people, what we can accomplish, and how others can intrude into our relationships and activities. In the rest of the chapter, we introduce themes that show up often, and we present an introduction to some ethical theories that can help guide our thinking about controversies throughout the rest of the book. The next seven chapters look at ethical, social, and legal issues primarily from the perspective of any person who lives and works in a modern computerized society and is interested in the impact of the technology. The final chapter takes the perspective of someone who works as a computer professional who designs or programs computer systems or as a professional in any area who must make decisions and/or set policy about the use of computer systems. It explores the ethical responsibilities of the professional. The Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice and the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, in Appendix A, provide guidelines for professionals.

1.2 Change and Unexpected Developments

No one would design a bridge or a large building today without using computers, but the Brooklyn Bridge, built more than 130 years ago—long before computers, is both a work of art and a marvelous feat of engineering. The builders of the Statue of Liberty, the Pyramids, the Roman aqueducts, magnificent cathedrals, and countless other complex structures did not wait for computers. People communicated by letters and telephone before text messages, email, and Twitter. People socialized in person before social-networking sites. Yet we can identify several phenomena resulting from computer

1.2 Change and Unexpected Developments 7

and communication technology that are far different from what preceded them (in degree, if not entirely in kind), several areas where the impacts are dramatic, and many that were unanticipated. In this section, we consider a brief sampling of such phenomena. Some are quite recent. Some are routine parts of our lives now. The point is to remind us that a generation ago they did not exist. They illustrate the amazingly varied uses people find for new tools and technologies.

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

1.2.1 Connections: Cellphones, Social Networking, and More

The Web, social networking, cellphones, and other electronic devices keep us connected to other people and to information all day, virtually everywhere. We look at a few connectivity applications, focusing on fast changes and unanticipated uses and side effects (good and bad). The discussion suggests issues we study throughout the book.

Cellphones

In the 1990s, relatively few people had cellphones. Business people and sales people who often worked outside their office carried them. High-tech workers and gadget enthusiasts liked them. Others bought the phones so they could make emergency calls if their cars broke down. We were used to being out of touch when away from home or office. We planned ahead and arranged our activities so that we did not need a phone when one was not available. Within a short time, however, cell service improved and prices dropped. Cellphone makers and service providers developed new features and services, adding cameras, video, Web connections, and location detection. Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, and phones got “smart.” People quickly developed hundreds of thousands of applications and embraced the term app. Consumers downloaded 10 billion apps from Apple’s App Store. Within very few years, people all over the world used phones, rather than PCs or laptops, as their connection to the Internet. Millions, then hundreds of millions, then billions of people started carrying mobile phones. In 2011, there were approximately five billion cellphone subscriptions worldwide—an astoundingly fast spread of a new technology. Writers describe the dramatic changes with observations such as, “A Masai warrior with a smartphone and Google has access to more information than the President did 15 years ago” and “More folks have access to a cellphone than to a toilet.”4

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Cellphones became a common tool for conversations, messaging, taking pictures, downloading music, checking email, playing games, banking, managing investments, finding a restaurant, tracking friends, watching videos. Smartphones serve as electronic wallets and identification cards at store terminals or security checkpoints. Phones monitor security cameras at home or control home appliances from a distance. Professional people use smartphone apps for a myriad of business tasks. Smartphones with motion detectors remind obese teenagers to get moving. An app analyzes blood glucose levels for diabetics and reminds them when to exercise, take medication, or eat something. Military personnel on the front lines can use specialized apps to download satellite surveillance video and maps. More unanticipated uses include location tracking, sexting, life-saving medical apps, and malicious data-stealing apps. People use cellphones to organize flash mobs for street dances and pillow fights—or for attacking pedestrians and looting stores. Terrorists use cellphones to set off bombs. Apps designed for poor countries inform people when water is available and help perform medical imaging.

These examples suggest the number and variety of unanticipated applications of this one, relatively new “connection” device. The examples also suggest problems. We discuss privacy invasion by data theft and location tracking in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, we consider whether phone service should be shut down during riots. Is the security of smartphones sufficient for banking and electronic wallets? (What if you lose your phone?) Do people realize that when they synch their phone with other devices, their files become vulnerable at the level of the weakest security?

As a side effect of cellphone use and the sophistication of smartphones, researchers are learning an enormous amount about our behavior. Laws protect the privacy of the content of our conversations, but smartphones log calls and messages and contain devices that detect location, motion, direction, light levels, and other phones nearby. Most owners carry their phones all day. Researchers analyze this trove of sensor data. (Yes, much of it can be stored.) Analysis of the data generates valuable information about traffic congestion, commuting patterns, and the spread of disease. In an example of the latter, by studying movement and communication patterns of MIT students, researchers could detect who had the flu, sometimes before the students knew it themselves. Researchers also can determine which people influence the decisions of others. Advertisers and politicians crave such information. Perhaps the eeriest result is that reseachers who analyzed time and location data from millions of calls said that, with enough data, a mathematical model could predict where someone would be at a particular future time with more than 90% accuracy. Who will have access to that information?5

Rudeness is an issue with cellphones. People use them in inappropriate places, dis- turbing others. The fact that so many people carry small cameras everywhere (mostly in phones, but also hidden in other small objects such as pens�) affects our privacy in public

� At least one company sells a working pen that records high-resolution video.