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ICT Ethics Newsletter
No.3, September 2012 ICT Ethics Newsletter With the summer break in the UK behind us, and revived by the Olympic games and some welcome sunshine, we have our „start of the season‟ Newsletter … If any of our members were involved in delivering the technology behind the games, congratulations to you – a massive challenge that was „alright on the night‟ as they say! Welcome to our new members, our numbers are growing steadily with members in the UK and overseas covering a wide range of sectors, roles, and interest in other SG‟s. We have our first Annual General Meeting coming up at the end of October, so our first tentative steps taken and a programme for our second year to be developed. The AGM is your chance to join our committee and bring your ideas, interests and energy to shape our contribution to BCS, its membership, and its broader impact. More detail on the AGM in this newsletter, as well as details of conferences, our input to BCS consultation, books and articles …so now read on … Penny Duquenoy, Chair. This Newsletter is our way of keeping you informed of what‟s going on in the ICT Ethics arena, and to encourage you to take part – our Linkedin group is there for you to join in discussions and to let us know what‟s on your mind, and our Web page has the Newsletters, events, links to relevant external documents, and a link to the BCS Code of Conduct which is relevant to all members of this group, whether BCS members or not, and sets minimum standards that this group expects of all – so, take a look … BCS Code of Conduct In this Newsletter … AGM –Tuesday 23rd October, evening, BCS London: theme and processes Internet of Things – conference in Brussels BCS response to the UK Parliamentary Joint Committee Draft Communications Data Bill, a summary. Big Data – ethical perspectives BCS Thought Leadership Debate on digital access – role of BCS and report. On IFIP: World Computer Congress 2012, IFIP TC9 Human Choice and Computers conference 2012 th Ethicomp Conference 2013 (deadline for abstracts 8 October, 2012) Reading Your participation ICT Ethics SG Committee Members An early alert and date for your diaries… ICT Ethics AGM - Tuesday 23rd October BCS London First Floor, The Davidson Building, 5 Southampton Street, London, WC2E 7HA Refreshments from 5.30, 6.pm start. All welcome but places limited (booking details nearer the date). Dial-in facilities available for those not able to get to London. Formal business will include presentation of reports, election of Chair, Treasurer and committee members. Invited speakers will give different perspectives on the topic of privacy, its place and challenges for institutional, personal, and ethical responsibilities, detail to be confirmed. Picking up on themes we have covered: You may remember our event “Ethics and the Internet of Things – an Oxymoron?” held last March at BCS London, and summarised in our last newsletter (report available). Those of you who found that interesting might be interested in attending this EU event in Brussels, in November (and might be already booked for it) which has a workshop on “Ethics and the Internet of Things”. The ‘earlybird’ rates are valid until 1st October, 2012 and you can register online at: www.IoTConference.eu Brief details from their website explain: The 4th Annual Internet of Things Europe Shaping Europe's Future Internet Policy - The road to Horizon 2020 12th - 13th November 2012. Management Centre Europe. Brussels. Now in its fourth year, this year's IoT Europe conference will explore the coexistence of real and virtual worlds in everyday life within areas such as energy, health, retail and transport. The event will facilitate debate among stakeholders on how both the public and private sectors need to work together to create an environment conducive to increased innovation, investment and economic growth in line with the Horizon 2020 targets. The event will also explore other emerging key issues including privacy and security, ethics, public vs private investment and international cooperation. Participants will also discuss the current innovations and various resources that are all required for a fully integrated IoT. Consultation response: Draft Communications Data Bill1 The consultation document posed 26 questions to be addressed, under the themes: general (clarity of purpose, convincing case, intrusion into privacy; other countries, alternatives, existing regulations, risk); costs; scope; use of communications data, safeguards; parliamentary oversight; enforcement; technical. A very brief summary on the responses is given below. Under the first theme, general, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT “believes that there are inconsistencies between purpose and proposal”, “does not believe that the case is entirely convincing”, would be “interested to know to what extent the measures undertaken in other countries …compared to what is being proposed”. Under costs, there were two questions: (a) Is the estimated cost of £1.8bn over 10 years realistic? (b) The Home Office suggests the benefits that could be delivered by the enactment of the draft Bill could be worth between £5‐6bn. Is this figure realistic? On both questions, the general comment was that it was difficult to provide answers without knowing any detail of costings used. More detailed answers included reference to previous experience of Government projects and predicted budgets, and costs of meeting compliance requirements (depending on the model of provision used). Scope covered definitions, access by public authorities (i.e. which), feasibility of requirements on ISP‟s based overseas. Responses included: limit on public authorities with access, and difficulty in persuading overseas ISP‟s to participate and “clarification on whether service providers operating under [overseas governments] would be able to legally resist any information requests”. In terms of communications data and its use the response gave boundaries to the circumstances for its use, and questioned the overall retention period of 12 months for the data collected. As far as safeguards were concerned, the Institute believed it important to note that any system is open to abuse, that a warrant system is appropriate (although resource heavy), and that the oversight by designated persons (including the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Information Commissioner) would need to be delegated to staff (given the time and scrutiny needed). Enforcement addressed the penalties suggested for failure to comply and inappropriate requests. The response noted the emphasis on security given in the draft Bill, and expected penalties to be in line with the seriousness of the nature of the data collection. The technical aspects to be addressed were around reliability of data capture, safety, clarity of filtering arrangements, likelihood of circumvention, and consequences of decryption. Responses given included: “There is no current technology available to capture/intercept all communication data exchange between Near Field Communication enabled smartphones which are in close proximity”; “no guarantee of safety can be given”; the filtering arrangements “are not at all clear” and “The Institute would welcome explanation about what the „contract with an approved body‟ means”; “There are various technical means available to those who wish to circumvent these measures” and no view was presented on the consequences of decryption. 1 This SG made a significant contribution to the BCS Response. The full BCS response to the UK Parliamentary Joint Committee Draft Communications Data Bill submitted August 2012, can be found at http://www.bcs.org/content/ConWebDoc/47589 Some interesting discussion (oral evidence 4/09/2012) from Prof. Ross Anderson, Prof. Sadie Creese, Prof. Peter Sommer, and Glyn Wintle available at: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/joint-committees/communications-data/uc040912ev5HC479v.pdf Big Data Talking about Internet of things, and the draft Communications Data Bill, it might be timely to have a look at the ethical issues of „Big Data‟. Some interesting articles are online: “Big data is our generation‟s civil rights issue, and we don‟t know it” by Alistair Croll, August 1, 2012. O'Reilly Radar at: http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/08/big-data-is-our-generations-civil-rights-issue-and-we-dont-know-it.html “Ethical Quandary in the Age of Big Data: Avoid Creepiness” by Renee Boucher Ferguson 7/9/12 (9th July 2012), MIT Sloan Management Review, is worth a look: http://sloanreview.mit.edu/improvisations/2012/07/09/ethical-quandary-in-the-age-of-big-data-avoidcreepiness/ Also a video on Big Data and “creepiness” by Kord Davis (formerly of Cap Gemini), who says “The reality is that Big Data is large enough, and pervasive enough in our lives that it really touches so many parts of our lives today that the ethical implications are just inherent" on YouTube (this is a 1 hour video – so get settled!) A blog on the subject published on August 16, 2012 by Anders Sandberg (University of Oxford) “Asking the right questions: big data and civil rights” can be found at: http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2012/08/asking-the-right-questions-big-data-and-civil-rights/ In our last Newsletter we gave a summary of the BCS Thought Leadership Debate on Digital Inclusion. The full notes from the event are available online at: http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/digital-inclusion-071111.pdf In answer to the question “What role should the BCS, as the lead professional body, play in promoting digital inclusion and minimising digital exclusion?” the following points were made (extract from the full report): • BCS has significant influence over the SFIA skills framework – inclusion, usability and accessibility should become central elements of that framework – such factors should be embedded in software design and delivery; • Accessibility standards should be included in software standards wherever possible – again BCS has some influence over the setting of industry standards; • Those who procure systems should be encouraged to require accessibility standards to be met – this is analogous to the rapid take-up of ISO9001 once it became common practice for those procuring (e.g. public bodies) to require those standards; • To begin addressing the softer issues, such as “trust”, BCS could provide information on safety and security of systems and act as a centre of trusted information and advice. The group recognised that this is an especially difficult aspect of the problem and that BCS alone could realistically only play a part in the wider societal initiatives that will be required. • BCS should bring interested people together, non-members as well as members [editor’s note: the BCS Inclusion Policy Panel indeed does this]. • BCS should develop a qualification in accessibility and then push for the subject to be included in university computing degree syllabuses. • Other ideas included putting pressure on the public sector to use suitably qualified people by creating incentives and also to publish information to bring home the impact of inadequate government internet services. On IFIP (International Federation of Information Processing) BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT is a member of IFIP. For those of you not familiar with IFIP, it is an international body that links with national IT societies. IFIP is comprised of 13 Technical Committees (TC’s) that cover a broad range of computer/IT related themes. Within each TC are several Working Groups (WG’s) that address different aspects. The groups most relevant to the work of this Specialist Group are WG9.2 “Social Accountabilty” and special interest group “Framework for Ethics” (SIG9.2.2) which are placed within TC9 “ICT and Society” (http://ifiptc9.csir.co.za/). Details from the IFIP home page (www.ifip.org): IFIP: is the leading multinational, apolitical organization in Information & Communications Technologies and Sciences is recognized by United Nations and other world bodies represents IT Societies from 56 countries or regions, covering all 5 continents with a total membership of over half a million links more than 3500 scientists from Academia and Industry, organized in more than 101 Working Groups reporting to 13 Technical Committees sponsors 100 conferences yearly providing unparalleled coverage from theoretical informatics to the relationship between informatics and society including hardware and software technologies, and networked information systems The major conference of IFIP is the World Computer Congress (WCC) – this year sees the 22nd in the series. 22nd IFIP World Computer Congress 24-26 September 2012, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. IT for a better world “Towards an innovative, secure and sustainable information society" Video Interview with the President of IFIP On the home page of the conference site (http://www.wcc-2012.org/) is a link to a video interview (3 minutes) with Leon Strous, President of IFIP. The key message is the impact of ICT on all (including the general public), and key phrases such as “future of society shaped by ICT ... the future of your life ... so that all benefit” underpin the role of the professional in influencing the ‘shape of society’. The video mentions the topics of the conference that in the view of IFIP merit discussion as far as society is concerned: big data, cloud computing, smart cities (possibilities, needs, risks, trust), do we understand what we are creating? Leon Strous, whose background and work is in information security, stresses the importance of including all stakeholders together (policy makers in government, and policy and decision makers in industry, researchers and professionals) as all developments need to be addressed by them. The IFIP World Computer Congress is followed by IFIP Technical Committee 9 (TC9) “ICT and Society” conference series “Human Choice and Computers” 10th IFIP Human Choice and Computers International Conference (HCC10) "ICT Critical Infrastructures and Society" 27-28th September 2012, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. http://ifiptc9.csir.co.za/conference.html ETHICOMP 2013 University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Denmark, 12-14 June 2013 Call for Papers *Last date for submission of extended abstracts (800-1000 words) is 8th October 2012 Introduction Since 1995 the ETHICOMP conference series has provided a forum to discuss the ethical and social issues surrounding Information and Communication Technology. During that time over 900 papers have been presented at 12 conferences by individuals from all parts of the world. But ETHICOMP is more than this – it is an interdisciplinary community dedicated to exploring issues and seeking ways forward. Conferences are enjoyable, stimulating and highly interactive events. Collaborative ventures including co-authorship and funded research have been spawned by this supportive and inclusive network. The overall theme for the ETHICOMP 2013 is “The possibilities of ethical ICT”. The aim is to explore from a range of perspectives the complex and often interrelated ethical and social issues surrounding pervasive ICT. In order to do this there are two broad themes for the conference: PROCESS Process concerns the activities of ICT professionals when undertaking research, development and service/product delivery. Four areas will be explored under this theme: Education and Training: e.g. e-learning; learning for life; digital tutors; robot learning; the nature and content of ethically sensitive ICT education and training Design: e.g. value driven; participative Governance: e.g. internet; closed networks; clouds Conduct: e.g. professionals, users PRODUCT Product concerns the outcome of professional ICT endeavor and the potential impact of these products on people, society and the environment. Application Areas and Impacts: e.g. social space; work place; environmental impacts and safeguards; health Emerging Technologies: e.g. robotics; nano technology; welfare technology, artificial companions Embedded ethical values Technological Integrity Papers covering one or several of these perspectives are called for from business, government, computer science, information systems, law, media, anthropology, psychology, sociology and philosophy. Interdisciplinary papers and those from new researchers and practitioners are encouraged. A paper might take a conceptual, applied, practical or historical focus. Case studies and reports on lessons learned in practice are welcomed. *How to submit Papers written in English and not published nor submitted elsewhere will be accepted on the basis of an extended abstract of between 800 and 1000 words after a careful review by Programme Committee members. For complete details on submission rules and notification of acceptance dates, full paper dates etc., go to: http://www.sdu.dk/en/Om_SDU/Institutter_centre/Ifki/ethicomp2013/Call_for_papers READING Mobilizing Knowledge in the UK Public Sector: Current Issues and Discourse (pages 232-249) Pullinger, D 2011 in Morais da Costa, Goncalo Jorge . "Ethical Issues and Social Dilemmas in Knowledge Management: Organizational Innovation." 1-358 (2011), doi: 10.4018/978-1-61520873-9 This chapter is about the issues of knowledge management and knowledge sharing particularly applied the organisational culture in its mission to create public value. Not only is corporate knowledge important to government, but citizens can also contribute knowledge. How citizens and government share knowledge is explored. Finally, “Citizens are also concerned about the use made by the state of personal data and knowledge about them; this forms the third strand. The issues that arise are mapped as ethical tensions onto Nonaka’s SECI model, providing both a framework for exploring ethics and for examining the space for organizational innovation. Extract above from the abstract to the chapter, available at: http://www.igi-global.com/chapter/mobilizing-knowledge-public-sector/48236 -----------------------------eHealth: Legal, ethical and governance challenges Carlisle George, Diane Whitehouse, Penny Duquenoy (eds.) Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2013. (398 pages) ISBN 978-3-642-22473-7 ISBN 978-3-642-22474 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-22474-4 “This publication identifies and discusses important challenges affecting eHealth in the EU and North America in the three areas of law, ethics and governance. It makes meaningful contributions to the eHealth discourse by suggesting solutions and making recommendations for good practice and potential ways forward. Legal challenges discussed include issues related to electronic medical records, telemedicine, the Internet and pharmaceutical drugs, healthcare information systems and medical liability. Ethical challenges focus on telehealth and service delivery in the home, Web 2.0 and the Internet, patient perceptions and ethical frameworks. Governance challenges focus on IT governance in healthcare, governance and decision-making in acute care hospitals, and different models of eHealth governance. The publication provides useful support materials and readings for persons active in developing current understandings of the legal, ethical and governance challenges involved in the eHealth context.” ------------------------------------Both of the above fall into the academic book price range (£100 +). Those of you with access to University libraries or institutions that subscribe to these publishers will have free access. Both volumes are available from sources other than the publisher (e.g. Amazon) IF YOU HAVE ITEMS OF INTEREST, RESEARCH, READING SUGGESTIONS, OR SOMETHING ELSE FOR THIS NEWSLETTER CONTACT US … Your participation in this Specialist Group We are investigating the possibilities of recording the events we hold so that all our members have the opportunity to ‘catch up’. We encourage you to take part in the group by hosting events (workshops/meetings/web discussions/ etc.) and setting up discussions (Linked-in and the Members discussion area). So far the format of three speakers with presentations and a panel session following has worked well, in the time we have available (around 2 hours). If you would like to host an event, or can suggest topics of interest (with some idea of speakers) we would be happy to hear from you. If you don’t have experience, don’t worry, we can help. If you can offer a location but need a topic and speakers, I am sure we can help there too … Most of all we would like this group to reflect your interests in ICT ethics, as well as us sharing our news with you. If you have something you think is of interest to our SG, or have something to contribute to our Newsletter, please contact one of the Committee members, or Penny/Denise (email below). If you would like to host something, or have an idea for something you think is of interest please let us know. Region/Branch events: please contact us if you would like us to contribute to your local BCS group in some way. Penny Duquenoy; Denise Oram Ways to participate: Join our LinkedIn Group at: BCS ICT Ethics SG LinkedIn And BCS more broadly … BCS Policy Hub ICT Ethics SG Committee Currently seeking input on a number of draft BCS position statements. Chair: Penny Duquenoy Secretary/Treasurer: Denise Oram Peter Buchanan Bernd Carsten Stahl Jennifer Dean Ian Fish Marina Jirotka Ian Thornton-Bryar BCS ICT Ethics Committee Members – some short bios Penny Duquenoy is a Principal Lecturer and researcher at Middlesex University, London, teaching professionalism and ethics to engineering and information science students. Recent funded research projects investigate how to consider and address ethical and social impacts of ICT during the project design and development stage (current and future technologies)*. A longstanding member of IFIP (International Association of Information Professionals) with Working Group 9.2 on Social Accountability, and Chair of IFIP Special Interest Group 9.2.2 “Framework for Ethics”, she is also a member of the BCS Ethics Group. *ISIS project (EPSRC/ESRC) and EGAIS (Ethical governance of emerging technologies) Peter Buchanan runs an independency consultancy www.thinkgov.co.uk focussed on using IT to enable the public sector, in strategy, innovation or procurement. He is also a founding Director of www.savingfrompoverty.org.uk, a Community Interest Company that has developed and continues to campaign for a weekly budgeting service for vulnerable consumers. Within the BCS Peter is Vice Chair of the Membership Board, Chair of its Policy Committee, Vice Chair of the Shropshire Branch and Vice Chair of the Ethics Group. Bernd Carsten Stahl is Professor of Critical Research in Technology and Director the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. His interests cover philosophical issues arising from the intersections of business, technology, and information. This includes the ethics of ICT and critical approaches to information systems. From 2009 to 2011 he served as coordinator of the EU FP7 research project on "Ethical Issues of Emerging ICT Applications" ETICA and from 2012 to 2015 he serves as coordinator of the EU FP7 research project “Civil Society Organisations in Designing Research Governance“ (CONSIDER) Ian Thornton-Bryar, DipM, DMS, FIMC, FBCS, CMC, CITP, a Prince2™ and MSP™ Practitioner and a Lead TickIT (ISO 9000) Assessor was eventually a multi-nationally practised Programme/Transformation Director or Manager, based on 40 years industry experience. His project/programme budgets have ranged up to $220m/£301m, operational budgets to $2.5bn. During the last 15-20 years he gained wide-ranging project/programme disaster recovery expertise. Many of those incipient disasters stemmed from questionable ethics by one or more of the parties. For about 5 years he was membership secretary of the Association for Professional Computer Consultants, a body which believed that IT Consultants should not have conflicts of interest. He also acted as an Expert Witness in 14 IT contract disputes, which experience strongly reinforced his belief in the need for more rigorous ethics in IT professionals. He now mentors around 4 BCS PPM members. Denise is secretary for the BCS Ethics SG, a member of the BCS Ethics Group, and an examiner for BCS Professional issues. She is currently Senior Lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Glyndwr University and is a member of both the university’s Ethics and Research Ethics Committee. Her research interests cover systems failure, social responsibility and professional and ethical dimensions of emerging trends in IT, and Technology and Society. She is interested in creating awareness of the wider implications that new digital technologies have on both education and society. She is especially interested in exploring frameworks for ethical decision-making in the process of creation and development of new technologies to address sustainability to develop new standards in order to support this change.