| Title | Author | Created | Published | Tags | | ------------------- | ---------- | ------------- | ------------- | ---- | | Midterm Study Guide | Jon Marien | June 18, 2025 | June 18, 2025 | \- | # Study Guide #### Key Concepts: 1. **Cybertechnology's Societal Impact**: Advances in cybertechnology, such as artificial intelligence, internet of things (IoT), and blockchain, are reshaping societal norms, privacy expectations, and legal frameworks. These technologies offer new opportunities for innovation and convenience but also pose challenges related to surveillance, data privacy, and digital ethics. 2. **Cyberethics' Scope**: Cyberethics addresses the ethical dilemmas posed by digital technology's pervasive role in society. It involves critical analysis of how online actions affect privacy, intellectual property rights, digital access, and the digital divide. Cyberethics explores the responsibilities of individuals, organizations, and governments in fostering ethical digital environments. 3. **Applied Ethics in Cyberethics**: This involves applying ethical theories, such as utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics, to practical problems in cybertechnology. It looks at case studies and real-world scenarios to evaluate the moral implications of actions in the digital realm, from data breaches to ethical hacking. 4. **Discussion Stoppers in Ethical Debates**: These are arguments or positions that halt progress in ethical discussions, often by dismissing the complexity of ethical dilemmas or avoiding responsibility. In cyberethics, discussion stoppers might include claims that technology is value-neutral or that ethical considerations are secondary to innovation. 5. **Cultural and Moral Relativism in Cyberethics**: This debate centers on whether ethical principles in cyberspace are universal or culturally determined. It challenges the applicability of traditional ethical norms in a globalized digital world, where cultural norms and legal systems vary widely. 6. **Classical Ethical Theories and Cyberethics**: Applying classical ethical theories to cyberethics involves examining digital dilemmas through the lenses of established moral philosophies. For example, a utilitarian approach might prioritize actions that ensure the greatest good for the greatest number in data privacy, while a deontological perspective would emphasize the inherent rights of individuals to control their personal information. 7. **Privacy versus Cybersecurity**: This concept navigates the tension between individual privacy rights and the need for cybersecurity measures to protect against threats. It involves ethical considerations in balancing personal freedoms with collective security, especially in contexts like surveillance, data collection, and law enforcement access to encrypted data. #### Practice Questions: 1. How do advances in cybertechnology impact societal norms and legal systems? Discuss with examples. 2. Explain the difference between cyberethics and computer ethics. 3. Describe a scenario where a professional in IT must apply their personal code of ethics to resolve a dilemma. 4. Discuss the concept of moral relativism in the context of cybertechnology. Can ethical issues in cybertechnology be considered unique? 5. How would you apply utilitarian ethics to a decision about data privacy in your organization? 6. Identify and explain two discussion stoppers you might encounter in debates about cyberethics. How would you address them? 7. Evaluate the ethical implications of whistleblowing in the IT industry using deontological ethics. #### Answers to Practice Questions: 1. Cybertechnology advances can impact societal norms and legal systems as many advances in technology, like AI or IoT, have reshaped how we live our lives. In many cases, this introduces many new ethical dilemmas. For example, social media has increased the spread of misinformation, while data protection (GDPR, PIPEDA) is evolving to cover cyberbullying or even copyright infringement. 2. Cyberethics is the study of moral, legal, and social issues involving cybertechnology. Whereas with computer ethics, that is the study of ethical issues relating to computing machines/professionals. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. ### Answers to Sample Questions: 1. **Definition of Ethics**: The study of what is morally right and wrong, focusing on moral standards that govern behaviors. 2. **Utilitarian Approach**: This ethical perspective prioritizes actions that maximize happiness or benefit the greatest number of people. In cyberethics, it could guide decisions that aim to produce the most favorable outcomes for society, considering the broader impacts of technology. 3. **Example of an Ethical Issue in Cybercrime Reporting**: Deciding to report a cybercrime incident might involve weighing the potential harm to the company's reputation against the obligation to prevent further crimes. Ethically, one might struggle with the balance between transparency and protecting the company's interests. 4. **4 Discussion Stoppers**: - "Ethics is a personal matter": Argues morality is subjective, hindering objective discussions. - "Cultural differences": Suggests ethical norms vary too much between cultures for universal principles. - "Who am I to judge?": Questions the individual's authority to make moral judgments. - "Disagreement means no resolution": Assumes moral debates cannot reach consensus due to differing opinions. 5. **Importance of Privacy**: Privacy is vital for individual autonomy, allowing people to control their personal information and protect themselves from unauthorized surveillance and data breaches, contributing to personal security and freedom. 6. **Type of Argument**: The statement regarding Windows 10 and Microsoft's stock is an example of a post hoc fallacy, assuming that because one event followed another, the first event caused the second. ## Types of Fallacies - Ad Hominem - attacks the person rather than the argument - Slippery Slope - x could possibly be abused, therefore we should not allow x - Appeal to Authority - x is an authority in field y; x said z; therefore, z. - y may have nothing to do with z! - False Cause - event x preceded event y, to the conclusion that event x is necessarily the cause of event y - Composition - Group -> individual - Division - Individual -> Group - Ambiguity/Equivocation - when one or more terms in an argument are used: - ambiguously; when terms have more than one meaning - equivocal; when terms are used in more than one sense - False Dichotomy/All-or-Nothing/Either-Or - two options may initially seem to be mutually exclusive and collectively exhausted - If you are not with us, you are against us, thus suggesting that no neutral ground is possible in a particular situation. - Similarly, arguing one must choose between privacy or security falsely implies these goals are incompatible, overlooking solutions that could potentially safeguard both. This fallacy simplifies complex issues, restricting the scope of discussion and understanding. - Virtual - x exists in cyberspace - cyberspace is virtual - x (or the effect of x) is not real ## Seven Step - Convert to **standard from,** which is listing **premises** and **conclusions** - Test the argument strength; **valid** or **invalid**? - If the argument is valid, is it also **sound**? Are the **premises** true in the real world? - If it is valid and all the premises are true, then it is sound - If it is valid but one or more of the premises are untrue then the argument is unsound - If the argument is invalid, is it **fallacious** or **inductive**? - If the conclusion would likely be true because the premises are true, then the argument is inductive - If the conclusion would likely not be true, even when the premises are assumed true, the argument is fallacious - Determine whether the premises in your argument are true or false (in the real world) - Test the strength of the argument ## Differences **Morality** refers to the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour, derived from religion. **Ethics** refers to the branch of philosophy that deals with questions about morality, including how moral values should be interpreted. **Privacy** concerns focus on individuals' rights to control their personal information and be free from surveillance and unauthorized data collection **Cybersecurity** focuses on the need to protect systems, networks, and data from cyber attacks, which often requires monitoring and accessing data to identify and prevent threats. ## Arguments **Inductive argument** is a type of reasoning that moves from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories, often used for hypothesis. - likely correct, just sounds wrong, probabilistic **Fallacious Arguments** contain errors in reasoning that make them invalid or misleading, but may still seem plausible. - likely not correct ## Ethics Differences **Sociological**: how tech affects society **Philosophical**: how tech changes society and our moral values, and how we should make rules for tech ethically **Professional**: The right away to act professionally