EthicsJiasiChen

CS179i:ProjectinComputer Science(Networks)Lectures:Monday3:10-4pminSpieth1307

http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~jiasi/teaching/cs179i_winter16/

Outline

• Ethicaltheories

• Practicalethics

• Actionitems

EthicalTheories

RequirementsofMoralTheories

• Question:isdecisionXethical?

• Requirementsofmoraltheories• Verifiable• Consistent• Provideareasonable accountofwhatisgood

• Assumption:personisautonomousandcapableofrationaldecisions

RejectedMoralTheories

• Divinecommand• Something isrightifitfollowreligiousteachings• Notverifiablebyrationalmeans• Canstillbeuseful,butnotamoraltheorybyourdefinition

• Ethicalegoism• Something isrightifitproducesthemostbenefitforoneself• Notconsistentbetween agents,i.e.,anethicaldecisionbyonepersonmaynotbetherightdecisionforothers

• Ethicalconventionalism• Something isrightifitfollowslocalculturesorlaws• Noobjectivemeaningofethics• Manyexamplesofculturallawsthatmorallyunacceptabletoothers

ThreeMajorApproaches

• Utilitarianism(Mill)• Somethingisrightifthetotalbenefitsoutweighsthetotalcosts• Focusonconsequencesoftheaction

• Duty-based(Kant)• Somethingisrightifitfulfilsyourdutyorethicalprinciples• “Actonlyaccordingtothatmaxim wherebyyoucan,atthesametime,willthatitshouldbecomeauniversallaw.”- Kant

• Focusontheaction/decisionitself

• Virtue-based• Somethingisrightifitisadecisionthatavirtuouspersonwouldmake• Focusonthecharacterofthepersonperforming theaction

What ifcosts andbenefits arenotequallydistributed across people?E.g.,Highway construction: displaced peoplemightnot benefit

What ifyouhavedifferent duties todifferent people?E.g.,Whistleblowing: duty tocompany vsduty tosociety

What should Ido inaspecificsituation?

CaseStudy1:Lying

• Question:Islyingpermissible?

• Utilitarian:dependsontheconsequencesofthelie,some“whitelies”allowed

• Duty:Lyingisalwayswrong

• Virtue:Anhonestpersonwouldnotlie

CaseStudy2:TrolleyProblem

• Scenario• Trainisrunningalongatracktowards5people

• Canflipaswitchtoforcethetraintothe1-persontrack

• Question:Shouldyoufliptheswitch?

• Utilitarianism:Fliptheswitchtosave5livesversus1

Sources: Philippa Foot, “TheProblem ofAbortion and theDoctrine oftheDouble Effect”,OxfordReview,1967http://moralitysrandomwalk.com/explanatory-power-for-puzzles-about-morality-2/

CaseStudy2:TrolleyProblem

• Scenario• Trainisrunningalongatracktowards5people

• Canpusha“fatman”tostoptheoncomingtrain,killinghim

• Question:Shouldyoupushtheman?

• Duty-based:Shouldnotkillpeople

Sources: Philippa Foot, “TheProblem ofAbortion and theDoctrine oftheDouble Effect”,OxfordReview,1967http://moralitysrandomwalk.com/explanatory-power-for-puzzles-about-morality-2/

PracticalEthics

ACMCodeofEthics

• Contributetosocietyandhumanwell-being.• Avoidharmtoothers.• Behonestandtrustworthy.• Befairandtakeactionnottodiscriminate.• Honorpropertyrightsincludingcopyrightsandpatent.• Givepropercreditforintellectualproperty.• Respecttheprivacyofothers.• Honorconfidentiality.

IEEECodeofEthics• toacceptresponsibility inmaking decisions consistent with thesafety, health, andwelfare ofthepublic, and

todisclose promptly factorsthatmightendanger thepublic ortheenvironment;• toavoid realorperceived conflicts ofinterestwhenever possible, and todisclose them toaffectedparties

when they doexist;• tobehonest andrealistic instatingclaims orestimates basedon available data;• torejectbribery inallitsforms;• toimprove theunderstanding of technology; itsappropriate application, andpotential consequences;• tomaintain and improveour technical competence andtoundertake technological tasks forothers only if

qualified bytraining orexperience, orafterfull disclosure ofpertinent limitations;• toseek, accept, andofferhonest criticism oftechnical work, toacknowledge andcorrecterrors, and to

creditproperly thecontributions ofothers;• totreatfairlyallpersons andtonotengagein actsof discrimination based onrace,religion, gender,

disability, age,national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, orgender expression;• toavoid injuring others, theirproperty, reputation, oremployment by falseormalicious action;• toassist colleagues and co-workers intheir professional development and tosupport themin following this

codeofethics.

PracticalIssuesforEngineers

• Publicsafetyandwelfare• Riskandinformedconsent• Conflictofinterest• Dataintegrity• Whistleblowing• Choiceofajob(e.g.,workforadefensecontractor,oilcompany)• Plagiarism• Tradesecretsandindustrialespionage• Giftgivingandbribes

CaseStudy3:EdwardSnowden

• Scenario• SnowdenworkedfortheCIA,contractorfortheNSA• In2013,releasedthousandsofdocumentsdetailingsurveillanceprogramsofAmericans

• CurrentlylivinginRussiaundertemporaryasylum

• Question:shouldEdwardSnowdenhaverevealedNationalSecurityAgency(NSA)classifieddocuments?

• Implicationstocloudindustry• Google,Cisco,AT&Tlostbusinessduetosuspectedinvolvement• Estimated$35billionlosstocloudindustryinUSA

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden

CaseStudy3:EdwardSnowden

• Utilitarianism• LossinrevenuetoUScompanies• Increaseinrevenueforforeigncompanies• Newresearchandinvestmentinsecureemail,cellphones,networkprotocols

• Duty-based• Dutytoemployer?• Dutytosociety?

• Virtue-based• Loyalty?• Honesty?

CaseStudy4:Adblocking

• Scenario• Youhavedevelopedcoolad-blockingsoftwareallowsyoutowatchYouTubeonyourphonewithadsandwiththescreenoff

• Question: Shouldyouusethisapp?

• Utilitarianism• Increasedusersatisfaction• Decreasedenergyconsumption• Decreasedrevenueforcontentprovider

• Duty-based• Righttogooduserexperience• Dutytosupport livelihoodofcontent creators

Example:MichaelLaCour

• Scenario• Graduatestudent inpolitical science atUCLA• In2014,published aScience article statingthatpeople’s long-termviewsongaymarriagecouldbechangedbyasinglecontact

• Stanfordprofessornoticed irregularities inLaCour’s datacollectionmethods

• Results• Science paperrescinded bysecondauthor(seniorprofessoratColumbia)• PrincetonUniversityrescinded professorship joboffer

Source: http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/05/how-a-grad-student-uncovered-a-huge-fraud.html

ActionItems

YourNewTask

• Thinkaboutyourdesignprojectandpossibleimplications

• Choosetwoormoreimplications• Ethical, legal,security,social,professional

• Writeanessay• 1500wordstotal• DueMon.Feb.15,2016at3:10pm• Worth5%ofgrade

ExampleEssay

• Project:designcompressionalgorithmthatallowsyoutoaddapasswordrequirementtounzipafile

• Ethical• TwocompanieswanttobuytherightstouseyourcompressionalgorithminanMP3player.CompanyAwillmanufacturethedevicesinCalifornia,andtheywillpayyou$20,000.CompanyBwillmanufacturethedevicesinSriLanka,andtheywillpayyou$25,000.Whichcompanydoyouselltherightsto?

• Legal• Yourealizeyournewcompressionalgorithmthatmightbeworthmillionsofdollars.Doestheuniversityortheinstructordeserveashareoftheroyalties?Doyourteammatesdeserveanyoftheroyalties?

PossibleEssayTopics• Security

• Whatifthistechnologyisusedforillegalactivities?• Youhavesoldyourcompanyforbillionsofdollars,butdiscoverabuginyourcodethatprovidesabackdoor.

Howcanyouprotectyourselfagainstlawsuits?

• Media• Shouldcontentprovidersbeallowedtosponsorcellularvideo/musicdata,whichwillpotentiallyencourage

moreuserstouseyourapp?• Howmuchshouldyoupayartiststostreamtheirmusiconline?• Peopleendupusingyourvideo/VRtechnologytowatchillegalcontent.Shouldyousetupablacklist?How

shouldyoudrawthelinebetweenacceptableandunacceptablecontent?Shouldcontentprovidersbeallowedtopaytobeonthewhitelistorremovedfromtheblacklist?

• Social/Location• Acompanyofferstoinvestalargesuminyourstartup,inreturnfortheanonymizeduserlocationlogs.Your

userswerenotawarethattheirdatacouldbegiventothird-parties.Shouldyouaccepttheoffer?

NextClass:OralProgressUpdate

• Eachgroupwillgivea5-minuteoralpresentation• Brieflyoutlineprojectidea,withonerepresentativefigure• ListMilestone0targetsfromproposal• Showwhichmilestonesarecompleted

• Ifnotcompleted,explainwhy(e.g.,designdecisionbecauseofxxx,technicaldifficultiesbecauseofyyy)

• Listandexplainremainingmilestones• Eachgroupmembermustspeak• Submitacopyofyourslides(~5slides)• One-pagewrittensummaryofyourpresentation(similartotranscript)

Sources

• Herkert, J,Social,Ethical,andPolicy ImplicationsofEngineering:Selected Readings,Wiley-IEEEPress,2000

• “Introductiontoethics”,BBC,http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/