Paper 2: Privacy and Ethics
Due: March 14, 2008
Comp 317/417,
Dordal
Ellen has always been good with figuring out all those extra gadget
features most of us ignore. Among family, friends, and coworkers, she's
the one who gets asked to program the TiVo, fix the phone, or explain
what the IT guy would have said if he'd had time. Ellen is low-key and
nonthreatening; people find her easy to trust and are happy to let her
set things up for them. Recently, Ellen has found out some new ways she
can use the information she has to track people's location.
At work, Ellen's boss has put her in charge of her department's
company-provided cell phones, and Ellen has discovered that if she goes
to the provider's website she can find realtime records of each call.
She was puzzled by one undocumented field of the record, but after a
google search she discovered that it represented the GPS coordinates of
the location of call origination; all she has to do is paste into
googlemaps, insert a comma, and there's the spot. Most of the times
she's tried this, everything checks out appropriately. Once, though,
someone called in claiming to be at a site visit when they were
actually at Wrigley Field, and her boss's location was a surprise to
Ellen sufficiently often that she decided she better not check on her
any more.
Ellen's kids (one in high school, one just starting college) use CTA
cards to get around, and Ellen knows that every trip is logged at
chicago-card.com within a couple days. She's debating whether to ask
the younger one about a 2:00 am Red Line trip last weekend.
Ellen's friend Barb was over showing off her new car the previous
month, and Ellen set up the OnStar system for her. As Barb bragged that
she got the fanciest version, Ellen noticed that apparently it was a
version intended for fleet owners. Ellen can now track Barb's car over
the Internet whenever the ignition is on. Ellen has noted with some
smugness that despite Barb's allegedly glamorous life, her car seems to
be spending every weekend night at home in its garage.
Finally, Ellen's father is getting forgetful. A year ago Ellen bought
him a Health Watch unit, that allows him to summon help. Through its
integrated GPS facility, which her father isn't really aware of, it
also allows Ellen to check on his location and find him if he leaves
the house.
Discuss the ethical implications of all these, from both deontological
and utilitarian perspectives. Address how Ellen should act. Can she
properly make use of any of the location information? Can she share it
with anyone else? Should she tell the other parties that tracking them
is even possible? Should she tell her boss about the potential to keep
tabs on everyone at work? If so, should she leak the information to her
coworkers? Should she suggest to her boss or to Barb that access codes
be changed? Or should she just keep silent, and just stop using the
information?