Computer Ethics in the Computer Science Curriculum - Courses and Textbooks in “Para” Computer Ethics - The Research Center on Computing & Society

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Terrell Ward Bynum

Courses and Textbooks in “Para” Computer Ethics

CSAC/CSAB intentionally made their accreditation criteria rather general, in order to make it possible to fulfill them in a variety of ways. One way to do so would be to require an entire college course – one that is worth between one and three college credits. The course could be offered by the Computer Science Department, or the Philosophy Department, or the Sociology Department, or any other appropriate academic entity on campus. The main resources needed would be a faculty member with appropriate skills and knowledge, plus a good textbook or other quality curriculum materials. There are several books currently available, both at the “para” and the “theoretical” levels; and both types of course are being taught on campuses across the country. Either type would satisfy national accreditation requirements.

Curriculum materials for courses in “para” computer ethics are readily available. A combination of recent magazine and newspaper articles from the neighborhood newsstand, for example, can be supplemented with items from professional journals, government reports and conference proceedings. As long as the instructor has knowledge and skills from “para” computer ethics, such curriculum materials can provide a sound basis for a stimulating and very current “para” course.

A number of “para” computer ethics textbooks now seem poised to hit the bookstores. One new “para” text is Parker, Swope and Baker’s Ethical Conflicts in Information and Computer Science, Technology and Business (QED Information Sciences 1990). This book is the result of an NSF funded project headed by Donn Parker at SRI International. It includes 54 scenarios that raise or illustrate computing and values questions. A panel of 34 people, including computer professionals, business people, philosophers and lawyers, read and discussed the scenarios, then voted on whether the behavior under consideration was ethical or not. The voting results and highlights of the panel’s opinions are included in the book. (An Appendix collects together various “position papers” clarifying or defending opinions of some of the panelists.)

The panel was not a scientifically selected sample, nor was the project intended to be a formal scientific study. Panelists were “selected on the basis of their known interests in ethics in the computer field” (Parker, et al., 1990, p.9); and they were to “suggest general principles concerning ethical and unethical practices in the computer field,” then ultimately “suggest more explicit ethical principles for computer users.” (p.8) The “general principles” applied to each scenario are stated at the end of the discussion of that scenario. The “more explicit ethical principles” are stated in Chapter VII, “Summary of Ethical Issues.”

As a work in “para” computer ethics, Parker, Swope and Baker’s Ethical Conflicts succeeds in raising the reader’s consciousness about computer ethics issues, providing realistic cases to think about, and suggesting some general ethical ideas or rules that could begin to sort out cases and suggest some conclusions. However this book does not provide theoretical tools for analysis. Those who are looking for a scholarly treatise or scientific study to serve as a text in “theoretical” computer ethics will find the book inadequate. To use it in a “theoretical” course, one must supplement it with theoretical materials.

Another recent “para” computer ethics text is Forester and Morrison’s Computer Ethics: Cautionary Tales and Ethical Dilemmas in Computing (MIT Press, 1990). As a work of “para” computer ethics, Forester and Morrison’s book has several virtues, but also a serious defect. The virtues make it attractive as a high school or undergraduate text. But the defect could turn it into a nuisance – perhaps even a danger – to student users, to their schools, to the community at large.

The authors gather together a large number of cases illustrating “problems created for society by computers.” Relying heavily upon Peter Neumann’s contributions to Software Engineering Notes (“Risks to the Public in Computer Systems”), and also upon magazine and newspaper reports, Forester and Morrison present case after case of computer crimes, software theft, hacking, viruses, invasions of privacy, computer malfunctions, and computer-caused problems in the workplace. Their descriptions often have the “gee-whiz” flavor of sensational newspaper reports. This makes the book entertaining, even for students who normally find reading to be painful. This is a virtue for a work in “para” computer ethics.

There is, however, a very important problem with the book – a problem that can be traced to Chapter 4 on hacking. At the very least, a textbook should do no harm. I am concerned that Forester and Morrison’s book may not pass this basic test. Although the authors do try to give both sides of the argument about hacking, the following kinds of passages seem to stand out:

After all, when one íbreaks’ into a system, nothing has been broken at all – hence there is no obvious intent to cause harm. When a file has been copied or selectively viewed, then what has been stolen? The information is, after all, still there. And if one happens to try out a few programs while browsing through a system, is this almost analogous to seeing someone’s bicycle, riding it for a few meters and then putting it back? Again, what harm has been caused, what crime has been committed? In the eyes of many hackers, only in the most trivial sense could this be considered as unlawful use. (p.60)

One finds in Chapter 4 reference to people who engage in such “cracking” as “modern-day Robin Hoods.”

Given that more and more information about individuals is now being stored on computers, often without our knowledge or consent, is it not reassuring that some citizens are able to penetrate these databases to find out what is going on? Thus it could be argued that hackers represent one way in which we can help avoid the creation of a more centralized, even totalitarian government. (p.49)

Hackers are compared with newspaper reporters defending freedom of the press or freedom of information; and an argument is presented that, “in a fair and open society,” hacking that destroys nothing and steals nothing should be tolerated – indeed, that prevention of such hacking would be similar to racial, ethnic or religious repression. (p.50)

Chapter 4 also includes: (1) descriptions of equipment needed for hacking, (2) specific information on how to break into other people’s computer systems, and (3) references to comprehensive how-to-do-it hackers’ guidebooks.

For the above-described reasons, I worry that this book (despite the authors’ efforts to give both sides of the story) may actually encourage students to break into other people’s computer systems – and such students will hack self-righteously, believing that they are defending some noble cause! But just a little thought about “harmless” hacking reveals the tremendous damage that it can do: Is it okay to break into someone’s computer and read private papers, unpublished manuscripts, love letters? Is it ethical to hack into the computer systems of doctors, lawyers, banks, accountants, hospitals, psychiatrists and read the private files of patients, clients and customers? Is this behavior noble? Does one have a right to do it? Clearly it is unethical, as the following two hypothetical scenarios illustrate:

A burglar picks the lock (without breaking anything) of your medical doctor’s office. He enters the office, opens various filing cabinets and reads private medical records about you and other patients. He alters no data in the files.

A hacker breaks into your doctor’s computer system. Without changing anything or causing the system to crash, he opens various files on the hard disk and reads private medical records about you and other patients.

To me, it seems clear that these two actions are ethically equivalent. In both cases, there has been an egregious violation of the right to privacy. The right to privacy has not been repealed just because computers were invented! Surely private records should remain private whether they are in a filing cabinet or on a disk. After all, privacy is not a little thing to be sacrificed to a hacker’s curiosity. It is a basic human right; and without it, our lives would be much worse. Yet students who read Forester and Morrison’s Computer Ethics may come to consider hacking into private files to be noble!

For all these reasons, I am concerned that this book, if widely adopted as a text, might lead to a new wave of student hacking. School computers would probably be the first targets, then computers at other locations via networks. And the students, if caught, could be expelled from school or arrested!

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