What is Ethics? Ethics is the study of what is means to “do the right thing” Ethical rules are followed in our interactions with other people Ethical theories goal: – Enhance human dignity, peace, happiness

Ethics a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence. (usually used with a singular verb ) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions. Dictionary.com:

The Gift of Fire Prometheus – Titan in Greek mythology – Stole fire from Zeus (No1 Olympian god) and gave it to Mortals – Got punished: Was bound on a rock on mount Kaukasos, An eagle was eating his liver every day Every day liver was re-generated – Saved by Hercules after long time

A Modern Analogy Fire Benefits: – Heat home – Cook food – Generate Electricity Problems: – Catastrophic – 1871 Chicago Fire 100,000 homeless Computer technology Benefits: – Makes tasks quick, accurate – Communication – Information Retrieval Problems – Privacy – Theft – Reliability (Air controller systems)

Example: ATM machines Unemployment Benefit: ATM Computing technology offers new job opportunities Problem: ATMs replaced bank clerks Alienation and Costumer Service Benefit: ATMs can be accessed anytime anywhere Problem: Interaction with machines instead of humans Crime Benefit: ATMs have cameras and protection systems Problem: Stolen debit cards Privacy Benefit: ATM records don’t pose serious privacy problems Problem: ATM databases may get compromised Errors Benefit: ATM errors can easily be detected and corrected Problem: New York Bank debited twice the amount

Some Issues Freedom of Speech – What can we post on internet? – Anonymity (should be allowed or not?) Intellectual Property – Illegal copies of music, movies, software – Open-source software Professional Ethics – Should computer systems have built-in protection against crime? – Software engineering Code of Ethics