Computer Ethics, Spring 2017


Comm 010, 4:15-6:45 Thursdays
Class 5

Week 5 Readings

Feb 16
Start reading chapter 2, on privacy.

News

Can it be illegal for you to read the law? (Unless you pay for it.) www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/02/08/can-you-hold-copyright-in-federal-law. Note that the author of this post is David "if seven million people are stealing, they're not stealing" Post.

Bill Binney, second-most famous NSA whistleblower, on NSA spying: repubblica.it/esteri/2017/02/11/news/usa_nsa_bill_binney_integrale_eng-158062766/. Published in Italy; too hot for the US press?

Can you be made to unlock your smartphone at border crossings? washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/02/13/can-federal-agents-detain-citizens-at-border-checkpoints-until-they-disclose-their-smartphone-passcodes

Police are stocking up on cellphone-spying tools: citylab.com/crime/2017/02/cellphone-spy-tools-have-flooded-local-police-departments/512543.

A slightly over-the-top story entitled The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine. As used by the Trump campaign in 2016; the idea is that the campaign could target voters on the issues tailored not just to their concerns, but also to their personality. The Obama campaign in 2008 established detailed maps of voter interests and issues, though, as well.

Browser fingerprinting has moved to web-based machine fingerprinting. That is, you can be identified as an individual even if you use multiple browsers: arstechnica.com/security/2017/02/now-sites-can-fingerprint-you-online-even-when-you-use-multiple-browsers.


For your first paper (all of them actually, but especially the first), I strongly recommend not submitting in .pdf format. I cannot easily add comments to pdf files, which means you get less feedback.

If you want your papers encrypted when I return them, let me know. You'll need to install GPG, and send me your public key. I'll use that to encrypt your paper before returning it.

A key is created with gpg --gen-key. It may take some time. You'll be asked to enter your email address as your identifier.
To export your own public key, use gpg --export your_email_addr. Add the -a option for easier manageability as text. You'll need to send this public key to me.


Privacy