1. You respond to a job opening for a “director of intelligence systems” in the security division of GovCorp, a large technology corporation. The company’s gross revenues exceed $1Billion per annum, much of it from top secret national security contract work. During the interview you learn that your position would be to coordinate the company’s response to “security threats” as determined by the company’s office of the chief security officer. The CSO, you happen to know, is a former high-ranking Justice Department official who has maintained strong ties to the world of government intelligence and law enforcement. His government employment also included stints in the Secret Service. One requirement of taking the job would be that you sign a non-disclosure agreement pertaining to all work you do for the company.
What considerations, if any, would an ethical engineer have to mull in determining whether the job was one he/she might accept, were it offered? In your answer, examine arguments for and against working for GovCorp. Draw from our readings this term where relevant to making a richer discussion.
2. Examine a sample of 10-15 articles from the corporate press concerning the Edward Snowden/NSA whistle blowing affair. Offer an analysis of the articles in line with Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model and their observations in Manufacturing Consent. Were the stories written in a way that favor elite interests? Were there any discernible ideological elements to the stories whatsoever? Was the coverage fair and pertinent?
2. Examine a sample of 10-15 articles from the corporate press concerning the Edward Snowden/NSA whistle blowing affair. Offer an analysis of the articles in line with Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model and their observations in Manufacturing Consent. Were the stories written in a way that favor elite interests? Were there any discernible ideological elements to the stories whatsoever? Was the coverage fair and pertinent?
3. What does the term “Big Data” refer to? How is it related to Top Secret America? Research scholarly responses to big data as a paradigm, and offer a discussion of the ethical concerns that have arisen from the theorizing of big data. Along the way, try to explain why information is so valuable, and what “information” means in the context of big data. Is there an ethical way to “do” big data? Is big data collection already ethical? Why or why not?
4. Familiarize yourself with the unfolding debate between Glenn Greenwald and detractors of his who contend that his new venture with billionaire Pierre Omidyar amounts to he privatization of government secrets. First summarize the “charges” against Greenwald, and then his response. What ethical issues remain, if any? Does one or another of the respondents in this dispute have superior arguments in their favor? Why or why not?
No comments:
Post a Comment