CSE 585 HW#4: Ethics 

Written Turnin Due: November 4, 11:59pm, turnin: on Canvas.
Presentations: November 6 (or later) in class.

Choose one of the following topics (issues / questions), or your own computer science ethics problem, get your topic approved by Dr. J via e-mail, and write your thoughts on it in your own words. Explore the issues but explain (i.e., do not be vague / cryptic). You may imagine being asked to advise one of your colleagues at your place of employment on a future date on the issue in question. You are free to consult any published article(s) but you must cite your sources. In terms of length, a page would be a bare minimum; 5 pages is too long.

We will follow-up with a short oral report (<= 5 minutes) and discussion during November 6 and 8. We will allow time for discussion/questions this time, so I expect it to run longer than one class period.

  1. Research: conflict of interest.
  2. Peer review: What are the responsibilities of a reviewer of articles? Of proposals?
  3. Research articles: Who can be an author? Who can be a co-author?
  4. Research articles: What are the responsibilities of the author(s) regarding content (e.g., fabrication of results, cherry-picking observations)?
  5. Plagiarism in research articles: using ideas and information from others without citations.
  6. What to do when boss(es) say one or more of the following: Don't worry about ethics. This is just research. Let's not get into that ethics question. That's a legal issue. I am your supervisor. Let me worry about ethical issues. Your job is to write code. Assume for a moment that you cannot afford to quit your job.
  7. Building and implementing complex algorithms / software that decide people's lives / enable the destruction of people's liberties.
  8. Building and implementing software that analyzes digital traces left by people as they lead their daily lives (e.g., log files, search data, social media usage, etc.).
  9. Building and implementing software that enables unobtrusive analysis of people's behavior in their natural settings (e.g., smart homes).
  10. Designing, creating, and delivering software products with vulnerabilities (e.g., lack of correctness, lack of appropriate documentation).