Social Impacts defined as “the effects on people and communities that happen as a result of an action, activity, project, programme or policy.”
- Health
- Gender discrimination
- poverty
- Corruption
- Education
Ethics is defined as “moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity.”
In terms of Computer Science Ethics topics may include
- Hacking
- Data protection and privacy
- Responsibility for failed hardware
In terms of the IB Syllabus much of the emphasis is put on
- Tagging prisoners
- Surveillance
- CCTV
- Improved safety systems
As students need to discuss a topic you need to be able to discuss the pros and cons before arriving at a sensible conclusion
Tagging Prisoners
Pros
- Allows prisoners to be tracked at all times
- Allows less dangerous prisoners the freedom of movement whilst still being monitored
- Reduces numbers of prisoners held in prisons
Cons
Can be hacked which could result in losing tracking details
- Details could be sold to make money
- Loss of freedom in terms of being tracked everywhere they go
Surveillance
Pros
- As everyone is being monitored it could provide a safer society
- If it was a government initiative we would hope it would be used Ethically
- Could be used as evidence in court cases
Cons
- The data collected could be sold off
- Could be used to monitor for the wrong purposes
- People loose their privacy
Improved Safety Systems
A driverless car which should provide improved safety resulted in a fatality.
Who is responsible?
Could this have been avoided by having a human operating the vehicle