Ethical Codes
Ethical Codes
The increasing dependences on computers for critical infrastructure essentials for the functioning of a society and its economy has given rise to host of ethical, social, and legal issues. As software engineers, it is a bounden duty to design and build software intended for use by a set of individuals for a specified set of purpose, which initiate many issues about consumer’s privacy. Following is the exploration from three constituents.
First, websites collect consumer’s private information. Social networks play a vital role in the life of Internet users, and more than a half billion people post vast amounts of information about themselves to share with online friends and colleagues. As more and more people join social networking sites, questions are beginning to surface about the safety of user’s information. A new study has found that the practices of many popular social networking sites typically make that personal information available to companies that track Web users’ browsing habits and allow them to link anonymous browsing habits to specific people. Like most commercial websites, online social networks use third-party tracking sites to learn about the browsing habits of their visitors. Cookies are maintained by a Web browser and contain information that enable tracking sites to build profiles of the websites visited by a user. Each time the user visits a new website, the tracking site can review those cookies and serve up advertisements that might appeal to the user. For example, if the user frequently visits food sites, user might see an advertisement for a new cookbook. With the leakage of this type personal information, there is a significant risk of having one’s identity linked to an inaccurate or misleading browsing profile. Browsing profiles record the websites has been accessed by a particular computer, neither who was using the computer at the time nor why particular sites were chosen. This will lead to a serious problem
The increasing dependences on computers for critical infrastructure essentials for the functioning of a society and its economy has given rise to host of ethical, social, and legal issues. As software engineers, it is a bounden duty to design and build software intended for use by a set of individuals for a specified set of purpose, which initiate many issues about consumer’s privacy. Following is the exploration from three constituents.
First, websites collect consumer’s private information. Social networks play a vital role in the life of Internet users, and more than a half billion people post vast amounts of information about themselves to share with online friends and colleagues. As more and more people join social networking sites, questions are beginning to surface about the safety of user’s information. A new study has found that the practices of many popular social networking sites typically make that personal information available to companies that track Web users’ browsing habits and allow them to link anonymous browsing habits to specific people. Like most commercial websites, online social networks use third-party tracking sites to learn about the browsing habits of their visitors. Cookies are maintained by a Web browser and contain information that enable tracking sites to build profiles of the websites visited by a user. Each time the user visits a new website, the tracking site can review those cookies and serve up advertisements that might appeal to the user. For example, if the user frequently visits food sites, user might see an advertisement for a new cookbook. With the leakage of this type personal information, there is a significant risk of having one’s identity linked to an inaccurate or misleading browsing profile. Browsing profiles record the websites has been accessed by a particular computer, neither who was using the computer at the time nor why particular sites were chosen. This will lead to a serious problem
References: Winner, L. 1990. Engineering ethics and political imagination. Pp. 53-64 in Broad and Narrow Interpretations of Philosophy of Technology: Philosophy and Technology 7, edited by P. Durbin. Boston: Kluwer.