2013

The Ethics of Facial Recognition Software

"OMG, you guys, it's Burpy Snorkleface!" your friend exclaims (at least that鈥檚 what it sounds like). We've all been there: Someone鈥檚 excited about a famous-person sighting or the latest morsel of celebrity gossip 鈥� and you have no idea who it is.

Is Big Business the Biggest Threat to Consumer Privacy?

The public generally blames obscure, faceless and nameless online hackers for breaching online accounts and distributing personal data. However, these small-time criminals are barely making a dent in the unauthorized access and dissemination of personal consumer information. The biggest threat to consumer privacy is not rogue hackers and seedy, scam artists, but legitimate companies on the Dow Jones, NASDAQ, and Standard & Poor鈥檚 indices.

Pricing, Fairness and Digital Data

The Internet has been praised as being 鈥淭he Great Equalizer,鈥� for leveling the playing field by providing a platform for the free exchange of information, and for being a global marketplace without borders that provides consumers with unprecedented levels of choices. However, in the eyes of some retailers, it appears that all consumers are not created equal.

Geolocation Tracking: Your Cell Phone Footprint is Bigger Than You Think

Recent revelations by Edward Snowden have turned an international spotlight on the U.S. government鈥檚 cell phone surveillance capabilities. However, this issue was gaining steam long before the 29-year-old IT contractor鈥檚 allegations of overstepped boundaries. Ethical questions regarding cell phone surveillance by the government, marketers, and even other mobile phone owners 鈥� especially geographic location tracking 鈥� have been hotly debated for several years.

Oh No. I’m on Google!

Have you ever Googled yourself?

You should. You might find some interesting information.

The New Job Requirement: The Ethics of Monitoring Your Employees' Social Media

The advent of social media is rapidly changing the way we live and relate to each other and those changes have crept into the relationship between the employer and the employees. The tweets, Facebook posts, and other social media that people publish to or share with the public can expose employers to backlash from the public and sour the relationship between the employer and employee. Even the cook at Burger King can by posting a photo of himself standing on exposed lettuce that garners national attention and thus causing a major headache for the corporate. What might have been intended as just a prank, became a nightmare for the store and its employees, as the store鈥檚 location made national headlines likely deterring customers and costing the company potential dollars and jobs. Behavior like this cannot be tolerated, but are there any ethical limits for ethically minded businesses? Ethically conscious businesses want to allow employees to properly and cordially express themselves, but the employee鈥檚 right to self-expression does not surpass the business鈥檚 right to be free of employee鈥檚 reckless social media behavior that can irreparably damage the business, brand or bottom line.

Cyberloafing, BYOD, and the ethics of using technology devices at work

Employer policies regarding personal use of employer-owned phones and computers aren鈥檛 all flexible enough to apply to employee-owned phones and other Internet-connected devices. Usage of employee-owned devices at work raises ethical issues, regardless of employer policies.

Petraeus and E-Government Ethics

鈥淚n the past, a spymaster might have placed a flowerpot with a red flag on his balcony or drawn a mark on page 20 of his mistress鈥檚 newspaper鈥� wrote Nicole Perlroth in a . 鈥淚nstead, Mr. Petraeus used Gmail. And he got caught.鈥�

Catfish, Te'o and Deception

Fakery, misrepresentation, pretending to be someone you are not. It鈥檚 a phenomenon as old as recorded history.

Mug Shots

I have never been arrested. Because of that, there are no police mug shots of me in existence. That is a very good thing, because if I ever had been arrested, it's a safe bet the photo taken at the time of my incarceration would be featured on at least one of the many mug shot galleries that litter the internet, and my鈥攎ost likely鈥� disheveled and disoriented portrait would be a permanent fixture in this ever-growing online photo album of shame.

When CEOs Tweet

When the CEO of a publicly traded company posts a message on Facebook, Twitter or any social media network, it could be an illegal act, or also incur a civil lawsuit.

The Ethics of Scanlation

Digital piracy affects almost all forms of media, from books to film to music. Digital piracy has a particularly long and complicated relationship, though, with an art form that is less familiar to mainstream audiences 鈥� manga.

Who’s Behind That Tweet?

One of the most common complaints I hear about America 鈥� from print, radio and television pundits on both ends of the political spectrum 鈥� is that we now live in a society ruled by .That is really only half true, however, because most people, excluding those who make a living creating controversy, are only concerned with being politically correct, or even civil, when their reputations, careers or finances are at risk.

Is fact checking dead?

It鈥檚 Jan. 8, 2011, and the fictional journalists in Aaron Sorkin鈥檚 HBO drama series 鈥淭he Newsroom鈥� are reporting a real-life event. U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others have just been shot in the parking lot of an Arizona grocery store.

We Are What We Click

In W. Somerset Maugham鈥檚 coming-of-age novel, Of Human Bondage, Philip, the young protagonist, is in conversation with Mildred, a young artist with whom he鈥檚 fallen in love. They speak briefly of a suicide that has affected the heartbroken Philip. Mildred, breezy as she is, says, 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a funny lot, suicides. [鈥 Thing I鈥檝e always noticed, people don鈥檛 commit suicide for love, as you鈥檇 expect, that鈥檚 just a fancy of novelists; they commit suicide because they haven鈥檛 got any money.鈥�

Do Cloud Ethics Exist?

Cloud computing has been widely beneficial for sharing information and creating globally interconnected networks. It allows companies and consumers to access software and information that is stored remotely on a server, saving businesses the expense of having to install the software on every computer for every employee. While cloud computing has revolutionized the way in which global corporations operate, it has also jeopardized consumers鈥� digital privacy.

Do Not Track

Advertisers may be watching our every move on the Internet. And privacy advocates want it to stop.

Whatever we seek, buy, sell or click online is diligently tracked and used to accumulate huge databases reflecting our preferences, pastimes and proclivities for everything from books to clothing, to our general spending levels and specific buying habits.

Pro-Ana and Social Media

British actress Kate Beckinsale once said, 鈥淚 believe anorexia is the form of breakdown most readily accessible to young girls.鈥� Indeed, it is during the teenage years that females are most emotionally vulnerable, and at risk for developing an eating disorder. In the Western world, we are continuously bombarded with not-so-subtle ideas that one of the staple requirements for being seen as sexy and desirable is being thin. In modern America, slimness connotes ethereal qualities like delicacy and grace. But when the media showcases supermodels with gaunt, undernourished bodies, the aesthetic takes a dark turn.

Bradley Manning and the Ethics of Secrecy

February 23, 2013 marked the 1000th day of Pfc. Bradley Manning鈥檚 incarceration. In May 2010, Manning was arrested for passing classified information to Wikileaks, a nonprofit organization that has gained notoriety for exposing a multitude of secrets from various governments and regimes. The materials Manning sent to Wikileaks included videos of the 2007 Baghdad airstrike and the 2009 airstrike in Granai, Afghanistan, 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables, and 500,000 army reports, often referred to as the Iraq War Logs and the Afghan War Logs, respectively. The video of the Baghdad airstrike later was later condensed, edited and released by Wikileaks, in an effort to expose what both Manning and Wikileaks operatives saw as crimes against humanity. On February 28, Manning to 10 of the 22 charges against him, including 鈥渕isuse of classified material.鈥� Among the charges, one of the most inauspicious is 鈥渁iding the enemy,鈥� which could mean life in prison for Manning. Notably, he did not plead guilty to that charge. Manning also read from a 35-page statement, which claimed that he intended to spark domestic debate regarding military action in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was the first time Manning openly admitted to releasing the documents.

Alexander Hamilton wouldn’t shy away from a fake Twitter account - so why should you?

In early February, Facebook that 76 million of their accounts were found to be fake last year. Just over 7 percent of Facebook accounts were duplicates or not held by real people, the company affirmed in a regulatory filing. And there鈥檚 a similar scenario with Twitter: over 27 percent of the top 10 Twitter accounts鈥� followers are fake, according to , a social media management platform for businesses. Status People recently released a 鈥�,鈥� which allows any Twitter user to find out how many of their followers are counterfeit. Though Facebook and Twitter are some of the social media sites most affected by the of unauthentic profiles, other social networks, including YouTube and LinkedIn, are by no means immune.

Is Mommy Ethical?

I click 鈥減ost鈥� on my latest blog entry and a pang of regret hits instantly. I wonder if perhaps I shared too much about my daughter in that post. I click 鈥渆dit鈥� and begin to pare down the details. After all, some aspects of our lives together are too private, too precious for public consumption. Moments later, as I am scanning Facebook, I click on a link that leads me to a blog post containing a photo of a red-faced, screaming child, accompanied by a mother鈥檚 rant about her 鈥渢oddler from hell.鈥� I flash forward to what this child might think if he or she were to come across this blog post in ten or twenty years. My focus immediately turns inward. What will my daughter think of what I鈥檝e shared about her life on the Internet? Even though the things I鈥檝e written about her are flattering, is it my right to share anything about her online? Or am I participating in an ethical breach that will impact both of us in the future? I close my browser, filled with more questions than answers.

The Ethics of Digital Dating

The Internet makes it easy to find love but hard to leave it behind. In less than a minute, I can search thousands of OkCupid members鈥� profiles for the word 鈥渇eminist,鈥� click on a cute one (let鈥檚 call him Progressive84), stumble on his Twitter account with the same username, and read his 140-character thoughts all the way back to 2010. And if dating Progressive84 doesn鈥檛 work out, I can torture myself -- with a glass of wine in me on a lonely Sunday night -- with his cute new LinkedIn picture (hmm, he looks good without facial hair) and the inside jokes on his Facebook wall with some girl I鈥檝e never met (but already resent). It鈥檚 enough to make a seemingly sane person shake her fist at the sky and thunder theatrically, 鈥淒AMN YOU, INTERNET!鈥�

Is Free Speech Free Everywhere?

The Internet has opened wide the doors of communication. It has revolutionized the way people access information, interact with others and disseminate knowledge. However, some governments go to great lengths to censor the type of information that its citizens can access. And some attempt to silence those who choose to openly criticize the government and its political leaders. In this light, freedom of expression and the right to access all parts of the Internet becomes an issue of digital ethics.

Neuromarketing - Is Big Brother in Your Head?

In the 1950s, marketing consultant and huckster James Vicary introduced the world to the idea that words, sounds and images hidden in advertising could compel people to buy. Two decades later he鈥檇 admitted that his research was a hoax, but the idea of subliminal messages still struck fear into the hearts of consumers. More than 200 scientific studies have been conducted that show there鈥檚 no evidence that subliminal ads motivate consumers, but now there鈥檚 a new monster in the closet: neuromarketing.

Eating, Ethics and Food Reviews

鈥淭his place is so disgusting. The waitress hated me. I forgot the name of the sandwich I had, but it was really good.鈥�

The Ethics of Fashion Photo Manipulation

When my wife worked at a women's magazine, there was an issue where the publisher wanted a Gillian Anderson cover. So the staff went looking for pictures of Gillian Anderson. Unfortunately, they couldn't find any pictures that were exactly what the publisher wanted. So they improvised. The staff took a photo of Anderson's body and added to it someone else鈥檚 more substantial cleavage.

How Do We Work Towards the Ethical Evolution of Technology?

In wondering what we've achieved over the past century of technological progress, Philip K. Dick puts it best: Do androids dream of electric sheep? That phrase was the title of his 1968 book that later inspired Ridley Scott's iconic future-noir, Blade Runner. But Dick was asking it of the age where modern computing was just then breaching the horizon of popular consciousness. And the question itself, which packed all of contemporaneity's irony, gloom and anxiety into a six-word phrase, is perhaps now more pertinent than Dick ever imagined.

I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did by Lori Andrews

Lori Andrews' book "I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy" (2012) fits nicely on the bookshelf between Daniel Solove鈥檚 "The Future of Reputation" and Viktor Mayer-Schonberger鈥檚 "Delete."

We Are Anonymous by Parmy Olson

Parmy Olson鈥檚 fascinating book "We Are Anonymous" will prompt readers to concoct impossible-to-remember passwords and to disguise their online identities as it takes them on an excursion through the muddy cyber land of hackers. In their attempts to take on governments and ridicule the gullible, they take few prisoners. Members of the loosely organized collective Anonymous have been 鈥渃redited鈥� with a plethora of cyber attacks, including one on Paypal that cost the company millions of dollars.

The Circle by Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers鈥� new novel, 鈥淭he Circle,鈥� follows 20-something Mae Holland through her first days as a new hire to her increasingly public role at 鈥渢he most influential company in the world.鈥� By the time Mae steps foot on the company鈥檚 400-acre campus鈥攃omplete with pristine glass and steel offices, picnic areas, tennis and bocce courts, dorms, parties, a day center and health clinic鈥攖he Circle is already well known and admired for having transformed the web by combining social media profiles, payment systems, passwords, email accounts, user names and preferences into one unified system. As described in the novel, the Circle 鈥減ut all of it, all of every user鈥檚 needs and tools, into one pot and invented TruYou鈥攐ne account, one identity, one password, one payment system, per person鈥ne button for the rest of your life online.鈥�

Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy by Robert McChesney

The book under review offers persuasive political economic analysis of the Internet, and its complex (and ongoing) inter-relationship with capitalism and democracy in the United States. Placing his work under the rubric of political economy, McChesney charts a detailed analysis of the alliances and interplay between private/public institutions, policy and legislative debates, government, and media conglomerates that have shaped the evolving Internet architecture. In fact, McChesney鈥檚 main task in the book is to show the workings of the complex relationship of the Internet to actually existing capitalism, and how this relationship has far-reaching consequences for democracy.

Who's a Journalist?

You can't practice medicine or the law without a license. If you set up shop as a phony doctor or lawyer and the authorities catch you, a prison term and a substantial monetary fine may be imposed upon you.

PyCon and the ethics of harassment in the tech industry

The tech industry鈥檚 dark, misogynist underbelly has made lately, revealing just how scary a place it can be for women, and how social media can be a tool used to share experiences of injustice and abuse. From serious allegations of rape to critiques of seemingly harmless jokes said to a friend, women are using relatively new outlets to expose harassment. However, they're inevitably subjected to a wave of dismissal, criticism, victim-blaming and even death threats, being called whiners and much worse. Where do digital ethics come in? Is using social media this way unnecessarily and publicly shaming someone?

Filtering free speech in public libraries

My son just celebrated his first birthday. I guarantee that before he is 10, he will see some very disturbing things online, no matter how closely his mother and I watch him, and no matter how many filters and blocks we apply to his Internet access. He's already a very inquisitive child with a willful mind of his own, and I can only imagine some of the dark roads of the information superhighway he is going to roar down. It's a scary thought, and as parents, I only hope that my wife and I can be smart about protecting him as much as possible, while also preparing him for some of the truly twisted things he is bound to see.

Cyber-shills and the problem with authenticity

We are a culture hooked on the idea of authenticity. This is nothing new, but the Internet has altered the way we measure and define authenticity. But an obsession with equating crowd approval with dependability impacts the way we choose where to shop, what brands to favor, and any host of other consumer decisions.

The Black Market of E-Waste

My mom鈥檚 old Compaq has been sitting on a desk alongside her new Mac for several months now. I promised to clear her files and get rid of it as soon as I found a local recycler. It was the same process I went through last year when I replaced my five-year-old Sony VAIO, a computer that seemed archaic at the time. We鈥檙e just two of the many people who accumulate electronics and purchase new ones every time something goes wrong or it鈥檚鈥渁bout time鈥� to upgrade.

America Wages A New Kind of War

America is waging a new kind of war on battlefields at home and abroad: Cyber war.

Drone Warfare: Remote Control Killing

It's cheap, neat and efficient 鈥� but not entirely 鈥� and it saves U.S. lives while taking the lives of our enemies: drone warfare.

Chefs vs. Cell Phones

You鈥檙e on vacation, and you鈥檝e just made it to that restaurant that you鈥檝e heard so much about. You鈥檝e anxiously awaited the well-known dish. It arrives, and all of your senses are enticed. The aroma is intoxicating, and it looks too good to eat. But before you dig in, do you pull out your phone and snap a quick picture of it? Do you change your status on Facebook or Twitter to something like, 鈥淐an鈥檛 wait to dig in to this! #delicious鈥�?

Social Media Rules for Teachers

Teachers in our society are in an odd position. On the one hand, they are, in theory, being paid to convey information. On the other hand, teachers are not really trusted to speak freely. The classroom materials they use are often . Their exams, quizzes, lesson plans and curriculum are . And through restrictive rules on participation in social media, even teachers鈥� private discussions and actions outside of the classroom, on their own time, have become subject to oversight and control.

The Morality of the NSA’s PRISM Program

Edward Snowden, current fugitive and former government intelligence employee, gave the press classified information about a surveillance program known as PRISM. Snowden鈥檚 motivations, justifications, credulity and credentials are all being heavily scrutinized, and his global game of Carmen San Di-leaker has turned him into a high-profile man, his ethics picked apart.

RIP Trolling

There are good reasons for turning on the comment feature of a website: It鈥檚 a place for users to engage with content. It promotes discussion and feedback. The comments are sometimes good for a laugh. And they indicate that people are actually visiting a website. But the merits are overshadowed when trolls enter these modern-day public spheres.

The Ethics of Facial Recognition Software

Take this job … and post it.

On September 28, 2013, Marina Shifrin posted a on YouTube called 鈥淎n Interpretive Dance For My Boss Set To Kanye West's Gone.鈥� The video opens with a close-up of Shifrin鈥檚 face and a caption: 鈥淚t鈥檚 4:30 am and I am at work.鈥� It ends with the words 鈥淚 QUIT鈥� superimposed over Shifrin dancing in front of a row of empty cubicles. Then she walks to the door, turns off the lights and the screen goes black: 鈥淚鈥檓 gone.鈥�

Deceptive Entertainment: The Ethics of Video Manipulation in the Online Arena

In his 1896 book "In the South Seas", Robert Louis Stevenson famously concluded that, 鈥淭he picture of an event (on the old melodramatic principle that 鈥榯he camera cannot lie, Joseph,鈥�) would appear strong proof of its occurrence.鈥� I wonder what Mr. Stevenson would make of the dancing or the pronouncements of the E*TRADE stock-selling wunderkind.

Surveillance on Aisle 3

You鈥檙e grocery shopping as usual when one of the shelves starts talking to you. 鈥淲ould you like to try our new fudge-center Chips Ahoy cookies?鈥� it says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e very popular with women in their late 20s like yourself.

Ethics of Revenge Porn

While she was attending Lamar University in Texas, Meeghan Falls sent countless nude photographs to her boyfriend. Two months after their two-year relationship ended, Falls found out that her ex-boyfriend had posted many of the images, along with identifying information, on the Internet. "My stomach dropped," Falls . "I started shaking. I started crying immediately. I felt like the whole world had seen me naked."

Ethical Binds in a Digital World

In this new digital age, information travels fast. The only limitations are the speed at which reporters and whistle-blowers can type and send their respective correspondence, and the speed at which we read them, often with a certain impotent rage. And ours is a culture where misinformation travels with the same vivaciousness. So how do we decide what鈥檚 important? With a torrent of unsettling scandals and discrediting news items now forefront in the national consciousness, how do we begin to make sense of what is happening in this country? Maybe the answer rests somewhere in the noise, somewhere in between the lines.