School of Engineering and Applied Science Department of Computer Science CSci 1030 -- Technology and Society http://www.seas.gwu.edu/~mfeldman/csci1030/summer13 Prof. Michael B. Feldman, course instructor mfeldman@gwu.edu

Individual Deliverable: Ethics Scenario Evaluation

(1000-2000-word paper, 8 point contribution to your grade, Word document submitted via Blackboard Assignments menu by Thursday, 7/18, 11:59 PM EDT)

Please use this standard file naming rule: Suppose your name is Jane Smith: call your file smith-jane-ethics.doc.

Purpose: An important purpose of this course is enable you to develop analysis skills to make decisions on ethical issues that may arise related to computer systems that you develop and implement in the future. An effective way to do that is to analyze hypothetical situations or scenarios that present ethical dilemma based upon several criteria. Now that you've had a class discussion on ethics scenarios, you'll do one on your own.

Assignment: In this assignment you choose one of the four scenarios below, to evaluate in four parts:

1. First provide a brief description of the scenario in your own words. State who all the stakeholders are and list all of the alternative actions that could have been taken (250-500 words).
2. Analyze the scenario from your own set of personal values (250-500 words). What is your metaphysical, epistemological and axiological view of the world as related to the notes from the second lecture on ethical frameworks? Answer the question "how do you think?" rather than "what do you think?" State your reactions to the actions/decisions of the people in the scenario based upon your worldview. (You will not be graded upon your values, but upon how well you can state them as they relate to the scenario.)
3. Analyze the scenario using the Code of Ethics of a professional society stating the specific principles from the code that apply to the scenario and what the right course of actions are based upon that code (250-500 words). If your own field has a professional ethics code, you can use it, but please provide a web link so I can see that code too.
   
4. Finally, you will compare and contrast the conclusions made in part 2 and part 3 (250-500 words). Did your worldview differ with the professional code and how? Or was it similar and how? (It will help you to complete this part if you state which worldview you think the code is based upon.)

Assessment of your paper: Your paper will be graded based upon how well you can support your arguments with carefully stated reasons derived from the philosophical frameworks and the codes of ethics that were presented in class and in the Baase textbook. You are expected to use correct English grammar and spelling. You will be penalized for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, depending upon the severity and frequency of the errors.

Choose one of the following four scenarios to analyze:

Scenario 1 -- Conflicts of Interest?

Jim Adams, executive director of Housing Horizons, a nonprofit housing agency that had built and now managed 15 apartment complexes for low and moderate income residences in the area, was preparing for the organization’s bi-monthly board meeting.  He was uncertain how to handle two of his board members and their requests.  One, a local business owner, had asked Jim for the chance to bid on the electrical contract for the next complex to be built by Housing Horizons.  The other, a local church leader, had heard about the first’s interest, and urged Jack to press for a policy that no member of the board could have a business relationship of any kind with the organization. 

As Jim thought through the dilemma, he realized that the other major electrical contractor in town had not survived the housing bust and was now out of business.  There were smaller firms but he was not sure any of them had done a project as large as this.  Secondly, he realized the husband of one of the other board members owned a large office supply store where Housing Horizons bought all of its supplies, and the son of yet another was an executive with the maintenance company that serviced Housing Horizons’ properties. 

Where should Housing Horizons draw the line in contracting with board members and their families? (adapted from a scenario at Santa Clara University, http://www.scu.edu/ethics/)

Scenario 2 -- Privacy:

A software engineer has started her own consulting business. She has been so successful that she now has 10 people working for her and a number of excellent clients. Their consulting work included advising on how to put together networks, how to design database management systems, and how to provide network security. Presently she is designing a database system for the personnel office of a medium-sized company. She has involved the client in the design process, informing the CEO, the director of IT, and the director of personnel about the progress of the system. It is now time to make decisions about the kind and extent of the security to build in to the system. She has described several options to the client. Because the system is going to cost more than they planned, the client has decided to opt for a less secure system. The software engineer believes that the data they will be storing is extremely sensitive personnel information, such as performance evaluations, salary data, medical records for insurance filings, and so on. With weak security, it may be possible for company employees to gain access to this data as well as for hackers to break into it. She feels strongly that the system should be much more secure. She tries to explain the risks, but the CEO and his staff all agree that the less expensive, less secure solution will be fine. What should she do? (From Communications of the ACM, February, 1993)

Scenario 3 -- Intellectual Property:

A programmer, working on a sophisticated data mining package, is trying to write an algorithm to do intelligent searches across multiple databases. Programmers in this company are encouraged to write about their work and publish their algorithms in professional journals. After months of tedious programming, the programmer finds himself stuck on one part of the problem. You, the division manager, not realizing the complexity of the problem, want the job completed within the next few days. The programmer remembers that a co-worker had written an article about a similar problem and given him the source code from an earlier version of a commercial software package developed by another company. On looking at those programs, he sees two areas of code that could be incorporated into his program. He incorporates the segments of code from the co-worker's article and from the commercial package into the program, but does not tell anyone or mention it in the documentation. The program works perfectly and is delivered a day ahead of schedule. You receive an anonymous tip about his actions from someone outside your company. What should you do?

Scenario 4 -- Competition:

You are in a head-to-head battle with your arch competitor, Evil Enterprises. One of your co-workers approaches you. He has recently joined your company after having worked for a second competitor for several years. He suggests, "I made notes on all of Evil's bids when I could get the data. They use some clear cost standards. Would you like me to bring my notes to the office tomorrow and let you look through them?" How do you respond? (From Santa Clara University, http://www.scu.edu/ethics)

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