During a recent talk to computer science students and faculty at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Fla., I closed with thoughts about ethics for people who create software. The inclusion of "backdoors" into a Web browser, the capability to track people who use cellphones, and the use of facial-recognition programs raise ethical issues. How much intrusion should consumers put up with, and what are the ethical responsibilities of the people who create these applications?
During the question-and-answer session, several people asked me how much intrusion I will put up with. I answered, "Not much." I refuse to show a photo ID when I make an in-person credit card purchase, I have no Facebook page, I rarely use "affinity" cards in stores, and my driver's license uses an ID number instead of my Social Security number. My family and I take other privacy measures, too.
In some situations, though, we cannot try to protect our privacy until we know someone has violated it. Suppose you slip and fall on spilled liquid in a grocery store and must sue the store chain to recover damages. Because you use an affinity card to get discounts, the store knows how much beer and wine you purchase, and threatens to reveal the quantities and dates at trial. Perhaps then the jury will think you had too much to drink and lost your balance. You thought your records of purchases remained private, and the store never told you otherwise.
I have heard stories about insurance companies investigating food purchases to determine the type of diet an applicant follows and whether that diet includes a lot of fatty or high-calorie food. So you might get denied life insurance because your grocery purchases reveal an "unhealthy" lifestyle. The software doesn't know you buy two dozen donuts each Saturday for your kid's soccer team.
The process of gathering information about you and then using it for a purpose unknown to you raises ethical issues for the people who create such systems. Thus, programmers and software designers must revisit the ethics of their profession and consider them carefully.
The credit card companies charge merchants 3 to 4 percent to process card payments, so I suppose some of that income goes into a reserve to pay claims of fraud. By the way it's a good idea to call your credit card company and let them know about any trips you plan to take when you'll visit outside the USA or travel for more than a week. That way they know your charges are legitimate when they see a restaurant or hotel bill come through from a location on your itinerary. Some banks let customers handle this sort of notification online.
Interesting points, Jon. The logical conclusion is that fraud is not a large enough problem to warrant security measures. It's rare that anyone asks me to present ID when I use my VISA card. Usually it's an unsophisticated mom and pop shop. I don't know who they think they're protecting? If the charge goes through, they get paid. I owned a magazine for a decade. We sold subs and ancillary products, taking credit cards over the phone and through mail. Obviously, ID was out of the question.
Jon: I have to admit that I've been one of those people who readily showed my picture ID because I thought that was the right and safe thing to do. Having read your column and the follow-up comments here, I won't do it anymore.
"I doubt Franklin, Galvani, and Volta expected their efforts to store electricity to be turned into a device like a Taser. It's impossible to anticipate how one's efforts will be misused in the future."
Not so sure about Franklin. He was known for getting all his guests to hold hands in a circle and and then inserting a Leyden jar (charged capacitor) into the circle circuit to shock everyone at once. He also got a few tickles from the key-kite-lightining experiments. Not so sure about Galvani--he used to shock dead frogs with a bi-metallic battery. And don't forget Edison and all those animal and human electrocutions to show that DC was supposedly safer than AC.
Good thing we engineers don't have a reputation as cruel sadists.
The company also has a list of privacy principles, software principles and design principles. While the ideas expressed are fine, I do think Google walks a squiggly line when it comes to privacy.
Perhaps privacy isn't what it used to be. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg once quipped that nobody cares about privacy any longer. Interesting comment.
I think I verified that, Jon. I mentioned that prudence dictates what is spread around, but the IP still goes into the brain. I mentioned not only laws, but rules too.
Hi, ChasChas. So then if a company gives me a tour of its plant and I see something on a new design on a lab bench it's OK to take the information I have seen and use it? Honorable people have a set of ethics that tells them although the information is visible, it's not theirs and they cannot exploit it.
Any information we can glean through our senses while not breaking any laws or rules is fair game to anyone. Prudence tells us what to spread around and what not to spread around.
So again, it's not the software, it's the people. Sound familiar? It's not the gun, it's the people. It's not the car, it's the driver. etc.
We just need to work out that balance again - between benefits verses rights/privacy as in all things. What we get will not be perfect.
Not stupid at all. In fact, the VISA and MasterCard merchant agreements clearly state a merchant MAY NOT ask for a photo ID. Repeated requests for photo IDs usually come at the behest of an ignorant store manager and could cause VISA or MC to cancel their agreement. Never provide more personal information than necessary. I'm always surprised that so many people do not know their rights to privacy and display a photo ID whenever someone asks.
I once asked a spokesperson at a charge-card company why they don't use a fingerprint scanner to authenticate credit-card purchases. He told me it would cost more to install the scanners, buy or create software, and gather fingerprint data that it would save them. Thus it cost less to have reserves for fraudulent purchases than to secure against them.
"I refuse to show a photo ID when I make an in-person credit card purchase,"
This is just being stupid by orneriness. I wish they all asked for ID. I'd rather show a photo ID and have a clerk really look at it than the cursory glance at the signature space they usually perform. I don't sign the cards, a protection I take in case my physical cards are stolen. However, store clerks usually don't even notice even when they make the motions of looking at the signature.
At the point of purchase, the store clerk has your credit card number which ties into all kinds of other data anyway. And they are seeing your face...hopefully, if the card is not stolen. For me, the privacy ship has sailed as soon as the purchase is made, and I'd rather have my facial appearance or some other biometric used for security from theft.
The Machinist Calc Pro computes speeds and feed rates for milling, turning, and drilling: cutting speed, spindle speed, feed rate (inches/minute), cutting feed, etc.
During a recent meeting with engineering-school faculty and alumni, Contributing Technical Editor Jon Titus talked about whether colleges should educate generalists or specialists. What do you think?
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