Social and Ethical Implications and Issues
Social and Ethical Implications and Issues tests how computing affects people and institutions: privacy, intellectual property, access, sustainability, and professional conduct. Questions ask you to apply principles to realistic dilemmas.
Core rules
- Privacy includes control over personal data. PII identifies a person directly or indirectly. Data minimization collects only what is needed; consent and purpose limitation restrict secondary use.
- GDPR governs personal data in the EU and has extraterritorial reach; COPPA restricts collecting data from children under 13 in the US. Cookies and tracking technologies raise notice and choice issues.
- Copyright protects original expression automatically when fixed in a medium. Trademarks protect brand identifiers; patents protect inventions; trade secrets protect confidential business information.
- Fair use is a legal defense with four factors: purpose and character of use, nature of the work, amount used, and effect on the market. It is not a blanket permission.
- Public domain works have no copyright; open-source licenses grant reuse under conditions; Creative Commons licenses specify attribution and other terms.
- The digital divide is unequal access to devices, connectivity, and skills. Net neutrality concerns equal treatment of internet traffic. Acceptable use policies set organizational rules.
- Sustainability includes energy use and e-waste; green computing reduces consumption and improper disposal.
- AI systems can reproduce bias from data or design. Professional codes emphasize honesty, confidentiality, competence, and avoiding harm.
Worked example
An instructor copies an entire textbook chapter into a course packet. Apply fair use: nonprofit education favors the purpose; the chapter is factual, which can favor use; using the whole chapter weighs against; and substituting for a purchased textbook harms the market. The balance likely weighs against fair use. Reasoning: no single factor decides; the market effect and amount used are strong here. The safer path is a library license or permission.
Traps
- Assuming anything on the public web is public domain.
- Treating fair use as automatic permission.
- Confusing copyright, trademark, and patent.
- Believing copyright requires registration to exist.
- Applying GDPR only to EU-based companies, ignoring its reach.