CHAPTER 9: PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND RESPONSIBILITIES BY: MATT JENNINGS SHANE CRAKER KYLER RHOADES

ROAD MAP What are Professional Ethics? Ethic Guidelines Case Study #1( Therac-25 ) Case Study #2( Designing Systems with Targeted Ads )

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS What are Professional Ethics? Spectrum of Professional Ethics: Medical Legal Accounting Computer Others.. Help a professional choose what to do Situational Computer Ethics Any impact computers have on the world and how it operates Can anyone give an example of an ethical decision they made while using a computer or the Internet?

CAUSE AND EFFECT Honesty is a fundamental ethical value Decisions based on information we have Deceit in information Falsifying information Consequences Known Unknown First step is to realize a dilemma is ethical principles, theories and guidelines

BEING A PROFESSIONAL Systems can affect a large number of people Most people do not understand what happens behind the curtains Unable to judge the quality or safety of the software Customers rely on: Knowledge Expertise Honesty Responsibilities Privacy/security of data Safety, reliability, usability Knowledge of relevant laws Competence

PROFESSIONAL CODE OF ETHICS Company Codes In companies, codes/guidelines remind people of the consequences their actions may cause Provides valuable guidance Especially new employees What is the right thing to for my company? Based on ACM and IEEE Computer Society Emphasize fundamental values of honesty and fairness

IMPORTANT GUIDELINES Understand what success means. What is the goal of the system or software? Software developers have to look beyond completing the project or simply coding Understand the system’s role in a wide context Include users in the design and testing stages. Know what is important to users or clients in a program Communicating efficiently with client and users of a system Usability

IMPORTANT GUIDELINES Do a thorough and careful job when planning and scheduling a project and when writing bids Client and system developer will sit down and discuss how long it will take to complete the project Allocate sufficient time/budget to prevent corner cutting Design for real users Everyone makes mistakes Clear interfaces Include error checking

IMPORTANT GUIDELINES Don’t assume existing software is safe or correct Verify pre-existing software’s suitability for the project Safety, usability, reliability Be open and honest about capabilities, safety, and limitations of software Taking responsibility for damaging or injuring others Especially important for expert systems Explain limitations and uncertainties to the client

IMPORTANT GUIDELINES Require a convincing case for safety How much risk is acceptable? Especially important in the medical field Pay attention to defaults Most people don’t adjust a program’s settings Due to apathy, unawareness, or not understanding Especially when security and privacy is involved Develop communications skills Be able to explain complex systems to someone who may not be educated in Computer Science Maintain interest with the client

GUIDELINES Can anyone think of any other guidelines one should follow when developing a system? Any questions?

THERAC-25 Case Study

THERAC-25 THErapeutic RAdiation Computer A computerized radiation therapy machine Massively overdosed patients at least six times between June 1985 and January 1987 Each overdose was several times the normal therapeutic dose and resulted in the patient's severe injury or even death.

THERAC-25 The predecessor of the Therac-25, (Therac-20), employed independent protective circuits and hardware interlocks to protect against overdose. The Therac-25 relied more heavily on software interlocks and had reused software from older models. These models had hardware interlocks that masked their software defects.

THERAC-25

Overdoses, although they sometimes involved operator error, occurred primarily because of errors in the Therac-25's software and because the manufacturer did not follow proper software engineering practices. Overconfidence in the ability of software

THERAC-25 When the manufacturer started receiving accident reports, it, unable to reproduce the accidents, assumed hardware faults The manufacturer implemented minor fixes, and then declared that the machine's safety had improved greatly

THERAC-25 What contributed to these overdoses? Poor software design Overconfidence in the software's abilities Unreasonably low risk assessments Poor manufacturer response to complaints

THERAC-25 Who are the stakeholders? Manufacturing company (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)) Medical institute Patients What are their rights? Positive Rights Negative Rights

Designing Systems with Targeted Ads Case Study

Process Scan and social media to select ads Keywords Text Analysis system reduces risks Explained in Privacy Policy or Terms of Use

Problems Storage of Data What? Where? How? Data about Ads? Store Keywords? Security Risks Leaks Theft Government Demands

“Informed Consent” Thorough in all details Nobody reads policy agreements Legality is not Morality

Yahoo Lawsuit Violated privacy laws by scanning s Intercepted inbound and outbound messages Including non-Yahoo addresses

Targets non-Yahoo users Cited California's Invasion of Privacy Act Users did not consent to policy agreements

Gmail sued over similar grounds Argues targeted ads better serve Gmail customers “[Gmail] scans and processes all messages using fully automated systems in order to do useful and innovative stuff like filter spam, detect viruses and malware, show Relevant ads, and develop and deliver new features.”

Analysis Negative Rights – Public – Not be monitored Public – Protected from security risks Yahoo – Generate income Positive Rights - Yahoo – Provide services Yahoo – Maintain security on stored data Yahoo – Provide targeted advertisement to firms Public – Follow the terms of the Terms of Use agreement.

Discussion

SOURCES _i3ntro.html yahoo-sued-for-intercepting- -to-tar.html#axzz2Doy4IjlK A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing and the Internet