Transcript The Engineer as a Professional

The Engineer as a
Professional
Privacy
1
Privacy
• After reading the articles please answer the
following questions.
1) Is privacy a concern that engineers have to
consider?
2) In what way do companies such as Google
have a responsibility to the public?
3) What dilemmas might Google engineers
face if pressurised by shareholders to
increase profits?
2
Privacy
• …… is the ability of an individual to
control the flow of information about
themselves and thereby reveal
themselves selectively.
3
Civil Liberties
• Common civil liberties include freedom
of association, freedom of assembly,
freedom of religion, and freedom of
speech, and additionally, the right to
due process, to fair trial, and to privacy.
4
Loss of Data in Britain
• "I do not need address, bank or parent
details in download - are these
removable to make the file smaller?"
asked an NAO official in an e-mail.
• An internal Revenue and Customs email, relating to the request, read: "I
must stress we must make use of data
we hold and not overburden the
business by asking them to run
additional data scans/filters that may
incur a cost to the department."
5
Social Networking
• Analysts have long said that the value
of social networks lies in their ability to
mine user-generated data to deliver
targeted advertising. In October,
Microsoft Corp. shelled out $240-million
(U.S.) for a 1.6-per-cent stake in
Facebook. (Values it at $15 billion)
6
Facebook
• "We may use information about you that we
collect from other sources, including but not
limited to newspapers and Internet sources
such as blogs, instant messaging services
and other users of Facebook, to supplement
your profile.“
• "We may share your information with third
parties, including responsible companies with
which we have a relationship."
7
Privacy
• Yahoo! settled out of court with the
families of two Chinese dissidents who
were jailed after the firm identified them
to Chinese authorities. Both were
sentenced to ten years' imprisonment,
and are still in jail.
• The Economist November 17th 2007
8
Association for Computing
Machinery, Code of Ethics
• 1.7 Respect the privacy of others.
• Computing and communication technology enables the
collection and exchange of personal information on a
scale unprecedented in the history of civilization. Thus
there is increased potential for violating the privacy of
individuals and groups. It is the responsibility of
professionals to maintain the privacy and integrity of data
describing individuals. This includes taking precautions to
ensure the accuracy of data, as well as protecting it from
unauthorized access or accidental disclosure to
inappropriate individuals. Furthermore, procedures must
be established to allow individuals to review their records
and correct inaccuracies.
9
Association for Computing
Machinery, Code of Ethics
• This imperative implies that only the necessary amount of
personal information be collected in a system, that retention and
disposal periods for that information be clearly defined and
enforced, and that personal information gathered for a specific
purpose not be used for other purposes without consent of the
individual(s). These principles apply to electronic
communications, including electronic mail, and prohibit
procedures that capture or monitor electronic user data, including
messages,without the permission of users or bona fide
authorization related to system operation and maintenance. User
data observed during the normal duties of system operation and
maintenance must be treated with strictest confidentiality, except
in cases where it is evidence for the violation of law,
organizational regulations, or this Code. In these cases, the
nature or contents of that information must be disclosed only 10
to
proper authorities.