Professional Computing Ethics - CS302/CS217

Course Topics

• Software Issues: Risks and Liabilities discusses property buyers' rights and producers' responsibility and accountability in computer software, including risks and liabilities associated with software and risk assessment.

Computer Crimes

• Surveys the history and examples of computer crimes, their types, costs to society, and strategies of detection and prevention.

Cyberbullying

• Discusses the growing threat and effects of repeated deliberate harm or harassment to other people by using electronic technology.

New Frontiers for Computer Ethics

• Examines the new frontiers of ethics in artificial intelligence, virtualization technologies, virtual realities, spaces, and the implications of our participation in cyberspace and the Internet.

Ethics and Ethical Analysis

• Builds upon the philosophical framework and analysis tools for ethics, discussing moral theories and problems in ethical relativism.

Ethics and the Professions

• Examines the changing nature of the professions and how they cope with the impact of technology on their fields, and develops an ethical framework for decision-making based on community values and the law.

Anonymity, Security, Privacy, and Civil Liberties

• Surveys traditional ethical issues of privacy, security, and anonymity, and analyzes how these issues are affected by computer technology.

Intellectual Property Rights and Computer Technology

• Discusses the foundations of intellectual property rights and how computer technology has influenced and changed traditional issues of property rights.

Social Context of Computing

• Considers the three main social issues in computing, namely, the digital divide, workplace issues such as employee monitoring, and health risks.

Overall Aims of the Course

• Exposes students to ethical dilemmas posed by technological trends, examines how computers have affected society, and studies various ethical standards and creeds.
• Helps students evaluate case studies from an ethical perspective, conduct literature surveys and reviews, and critically evaluate writings related to ethics and technology.
• Enables students to understand professional ethics and responsibilities of a computer scientist, and think critically about the ethical implications of their work.

Explore ethical dilemmas in the field of computing and how technology impacts society. Study different ethical standards and codes of conduct provided by organizations. Taught by Dr. Sherif Zahran at Cairo University.