The Engineer as a Professional

1. The Engineer as a Professional Privacy

2. Privacy • After reading the articles please answer the following questions. 1) Is privacy a concern that engineers have to consider? 2) In what way do companies such as Google have a responsibility to the public? 3) What dilemmas might Google engineers face if pressurised by shareholders to increase profits?

3. Privacy • …… is the ability of an individual to control the flow of information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively.

4. Civil Liberties • Common civil liberties include freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, and additionally, the right to due process, to fair trial, and to privacy.

5. Loss of Data in Britain • "I do not need address, bank or parent details in download - are these removable to make the file smaller?" asked an NAO official in an e-mail. • An internal Revenue and Customs e-mail, relating to the request, read: "I must stress we must make use of data we hold and not overburden the business by asking them to run additional data scans/filters that may incur a cost to the department."

6. Social Networking • Analysts have long said that the value of social networks lies in their ability to mine user-generated data to deliver targeted advertising. In October, Microsoft Corp. shelled out $240-million (U.S.) for a 1.6-per-cent stake in Facebook. (Values it at $15 billion)

7. Facebook • "We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile.“ • "We may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship."

8. Privacy • Yahoo! settled out of court with the families of two Chinese dissidents who were jailed after the firm identified them to Chinese authorities. Both were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, and are still in jail. • The Economist November 17th 2007

9. Association for Computing Machinery, Code of Ethics • 1.7 Respect the privacy of others. • Computing and communication technology enables the collection and exchange of personal information on a scale unprecedented in the history of civilization. Thus there is increased potential for violating the privacy of individuals and groups. It is the responsibility of professionals to maintain the privacy and integrity of data describing individuals. This includes taking precautions to ensure the accuracy of data, as well as protecting it from unauthorized access or accidental disclosure to inappropriate individuals. Furthermore, procedures must be established to allow individuals to review their records and correct inaccuracies.

10. Association for Computing Machinery, Code of Ethics • This imperative implies that only the necessary amount of personal information be collected in a system, that retention and disposal periods for that information be clearly defined and enforced, and that personal information gathered for a specific purpose not be used for other purposes without consent of the individual(s). These principles apply to electronic communications, including electronic mail, and prohibit procedures that capture or monitor electronic user data, including messages,without the permission of users or bona fide authorization related to system operation and maintenance. User data observed during the normal duties of system operation and maintenance must be treated with strictest confidentiality, except in cases where it is evidence for the violation of law, organizational regulations, or this Code. In these cases, the nature or contents of that information must be disclosed only to proper authorities.