Integrating Computer Ethics into the Computer Science Curriculum**
Keith Miller
CS 1 introduces sorting, and that theme is continued in CS 2. Sorting is required for the most efficient searching techniques.
This case study is fictional, adapted from a collection of ethical case studies involving computers (Parker, 1981).
A computer programmer was in charge of a police database system which included access to local and national arrest records. The programmer had a friend in the personnel department of a local corporation, and the friend often did background investigations of potential employees. Job applicants signed release forms authorizing their employer to do background investigations. As a personal favor, the programmer gave copies of arrest records to the friend in the personnel department. Since police arrest blotters are in the public domain, the friends saw no ethical problems in providing complete records of an individual more conveniently. The programmer did not request permission to perform this service, since it was regularly performed for courts, attorneys, law enforcement organizations, and banks.
As discussed in conjunction with CS 1, computers make information available cheaply and quickly. As students begin to understand how they can facilitate access to this information, the question about who will use this access becomes important. Computer professionals often have increased access to important and potentially damaging personal information, and they will make decisions about how that information is or is not disseminated and protected. Some discussion questions about the police department programmer follow:
Was the security employee justified in seeking the arrest records? Was it ethical for the clerk to supply them? Does a corporation have the right to examine police records of potential employees? Do private citizens have the right to examine their own police records? Should individuals and organizations both have convenient access to these records? If so, who should pay for this access? Most of the people routinely given access to the records were associated with the legal system, but banks were also given access. Why do you think banks were given access? If banks were the only organizations given access, do you think this was appropriate?
Go to: CS 3: Introduction to Computer Systems
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