Social and Ethical Issues

• Social context of computing
  • Social implications of computing
  • Social implications of networked communication
  • Growth of, control of, and access to the Internet
  • Gender-related issues
  • International issues
  • Identity theft
• Methods and tools of analysis
  • Making and evaluating ethical arguments
  • Identifying and evaluating ethical choices
  • Understanding the social context of design
  • Identifying assumptions and values
• Professional and ethical responsibilities
  • Community values
  • Laws by which we live
  • The nature of professionalism
  • Various forms of professional credentialing and the advantages and disadvantages
  • The role of the professional in public policy
  • Maintaining awareness of consequences
  • Ethical dissent
  • Whistle-blowing
  • Codes of ethics, conduct, and practice (IEEE, ACM, SE, AITP, and so forth)
• Risks and liabilities of computer-based systems (THESE CONCEPTS ARE UNDER OTHER TABS--DO NOT BELONG HERE)
  • Authentication
  • Encryption; Certificates, Public Key
  • Capability User Authorization
  • Audit Logs
  • Access Logs
  • Backup
  • Viruses, Worms
  • Transaction Management, Rollback
  • Intrusion Detection
  • Privacy Protection
  • Security Standards Organizations
  • Security Assurance Service Organizations
  • Uses, misuses, and limits of computer technology
  • Historical examples of software risks (such as the Therac-25 case)
  • Implications of software complexity
  • Risk assessment and management
  • Feasibility assessment
  • Risk management principles
  • Contingency planning
• Intellectual property
  • Protection of intellectual property
  • Forms of intellectual property
    • Copyrights
    • Patents
    • Trade secrets
  • Means for protecting and penalties for violating forms of intellectual property
  • Foundations of intellectual property
  • Piracy
  • Transnational issues concerning intellectual property
  • Digital Millenium copyright Act (DMCA)
  • Software sales and licensing
  • Software agency
  • Rulings which protect software
  • International, legal and regulatory
• Privacy and civil liberties
  • Ethical and legal basis for privacy protection
  • Privacy implications of massive database systems
  • Technological strategies for privacy protection
  • Freedom of expression in cyberspace
  • International and intercultural implications
  • Email
  • Employee Monitoring
  • Those about whom information is maintained
    • Employee Information
    • Customer Information
  • Medical Information
• Computer crime
  • Examples of computer crime
  • "Cracking" ("hacking") and its effects
  • Crime prevention strategies
  • System use policies & monitoring
  • Risks & liabilities of computer-based systems
  • Software Fraud
• Economic issues in computing
  • Monopolies and their economic implications
  • Effect of skilled labor supply and demand on the quality of computing products
  • Pricing strategies in the computing domain
  • Differences in access to computing resources and the possible effects thereof