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CS 1590: Social Implications of Computing Technology (Spring 2013)
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| Professor |
Dr. Diane Litman |
| TA |
Joe Pleso |
| When & Where | Tuesday and Thursdays 11:00-12:15, SENSQ 5313 |
| Office Hours | Litman: After class (SENSQ 5105) or by appointment (SENSQ 5105 or LRDC 741) Pleso: 8:30-9:30pm M, 7:30-9:30pm W, or by appointment (SENSQ 5412) |
| Description | This course is intended to expose students to issues regarding the
social and ethical implications of computing technology. It is also
intended to help students apply critical thinking skills for the
complex technology-related issues that modern society is faced
with. Students will learn to: 1) understand the impact (both positive
and negative) of computing technologies on society; 2) analyze the
ethical questions and issues in public policies that the impact
generated; and 3) apply critical thinking skills to these complex
issues in the form of reading, writing, argumentation, and oral presentations.
Prerequisites: CS 004 or CS 007 or CS 0401 Textbook: A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing and the Internet (4th Edition). Sara Baase, Prentice Hall, 2012. |
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Class
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Topic
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Readings and Resources
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Assignments |
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| Chapter 1: Unwrapping the Gift | ||||
| Tu 1/08 | Course Overview and Administration (pdf)
Pace of Change; Change and Unexpected Developments |
Ch 1.1-1.2
Pitt tool for disabled people (related to GoF p. 22-23) |
Due 1/10 10:00AM: Choose your class discussion topic (CourseWeb blog comment)
Due 1/10 10:00AM: Sign up for SWoRD (create an anonymous name) and register for this course (using the password emailed to your Pitt account) Due 1/10+1, 14+1, 16+1 11:59PM: SWoRD practice exercise (1/15/2013: Deadlines were changed, see your email)
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| Th 1/10 Tu 1/15 |
Themes; Ethics | Ch 1.3-1.4
Distinguishing wrong and harm (related to GOF p. 37, Section 5.2) Smartphone Pace of Change [2013] Privacy vs. Public Safety [2013]
Aaron Swartz [2013]:
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Due 1/14 11:59PM: Commentary (CourseWeb discussion board forum thread)
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| Chapter 2: Privacy | ||||
| Th 1/17 Tu 1/22 |
Privacy Risks and Principles | Ch 2.1
Privacy Generations Video [2010] PA Tax Amnesty Big-Brother Ad [2010] What They Know [Wall Street Journal] Smartphone Pace of Change: Implications [2013] Optional: Is Facebook increasing loneliness? (see end of 1/15 podcast) |
Quiz (1/17): Chapter 1
Due 1/21 11:59 PM: Current Events (CourseWeb discussion board forum thread)
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| Th 1/24 | The Fourth Amendment etc. |
Ch 2.2
Book Review of our text Recent 4th Amendment Case [2012]
Facebook
Graph Search [2013]: |
Group Activity (1/24): Detecting emotion on smartphones Due 1/28 11:59 PM: Commentary (now available as CourseWeb discussion board forum) | |
| Tu 1/29 | The Business and Social Sectors | Ch 2.3
1/28 was Data Privacy Day! Privacy Visor Confuses Face Recognition Camera [2013] EyeSee Mannequins [2012] |
Assigned: Formal Writing Assignment 1. Discuss the role of Big Data in helping the Obama campaign Get Out The Vote. Use the ideas from Chapter 2 as a framework to discuss associated privacy implications. Here are two articles to get you thinking about relevant issues: See SWoRD for details regarding the grading rubrics. More paper details can be found here. Due dates:
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| Th 1/31 | Government Systems | Ch 2.4 | Due 2/4 11:59 PM: Current Events (now available as CourseWeb discussion board forum) Quiz (1/31): Chapters 2.1-2.3 |
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| Tu 2/5 | Protecting Privacy | Ch 2.5
Twitter hacked [2013] Catfishing [2013] Pitt SSN as ID Policy [2008, 2011] The Privacy Illusion [Dilbert, 2012 (from discussion board post, thanks!)] |
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| Th 2/7 | continued | continued
Facebook and Privacy [2013] Cryptography [2012] |
P2D1 reminder
Group Activity: Protecting Privacy: Encryption Due 2/11 11:59 PM: Commentary (now available as CourseWeb discussion board forum) |
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| Tu 2/12 | Communications | Ch 2.6
Defense Contractor Stalking at Scale: Tracking people using social media; Why we should worry [2013] |
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| Chapter 3: Freedom of Speech | ||||
| Tu 2/12 | Communication Paradigms | Ch 3.1 | ||
| Th 2/14 | Controlling Speech | Ch. 3.2
Free Speech Week [October 2013] CPPA/COPA/CIPA, Filters and Filtering (American Library Assocation) |
P2D1 reminder Quiz: Chapters 2.4-2.6, 3.1 Due 2/18 11:59 PM: Current Events (now available as CourseWeb discussion board forum) |
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| Tu 2/19 | Posting, Selling, and Leaking Sensitive Material | Ch 3.3
More from prior section: Snapchat: "You can't build a business off sexting," [2013] CIPA and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Google family safety center And even prior to that: |
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| Th 2/21 | Guest Speaker |
Louis Kroeck, Attorney at ACLU (ppt) |
P2D1 and P2D2 reminder Activity: Reflection Due 2/25 11:59 PM: Commentary (now available as CourseWeb discussion board forum) |
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| Tu 2/26 | Anonymity; The Global Net; Net Neutrality Regulations or the Market? |
Ch 3.4-3.6 | ||
| Th 2/28 | Guest Speaker |
David N. DeJong, University Privacy
and Security Officer
Protecting Children from Abuse (policy Dr. DeJong helped develop) |
P2D2 reminder
Activity: Reflection Due 3/4 11:59 PM: Current Events (now available as CourseWeb discussion board forum) |
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| Chapter 4: Intellectual Property | ||||
| Tu 3/5 | Principles, Laws, and Cases | Ch 4.1 | Quiz: Chapter 3
Assigned: Formal Writing Assignment 2. Read the articles by Esther Dyson and Lance Rose from Wired (listed on p. 225). Write an essay telling which author's views about the future of IP in the "digital age" have proved more accurate based on events (from the text as well as from your own research) in the years since they wrote the article. See SWoRD for further details. Due dates:
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| Th 3/7 | Responses to Copyright Infringment | Ch 4.2 | Due 3/18 11:59 PM: Commentary (now available as CourseWeb discussion board forum) | |
| Spring Break | ||||
| Tu 3/19 | Search Engines and Online Libraries Free Software |
Ch 4.3-4.4
Copyright comic India campus controversy [3/17/13] Supreme Court and file-sharing [3/18/13] |
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| Th 3/21 | Guest Speaker | George H. Pike, Pitt Law School, Intellectual Property and Fair Use Seminar | Due 3/25 11:59 PM: Current Events (now available as CourseWeb discussion board forum) | |
| Chapter 5: Crime | ||||
| Tu 3/26 | Patents for Inventions in Software
Hacking |
Chs. 4.5, 5.1-5.2
Harvard (and Pitt) Email Privacy [3/21/13] Supreme Court on Copyright [3/19/13] Pitt safety guidelines [3/21/13] |
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| Th 3/28 | Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud |
Ch 5.3
Local Privacy Case [3/27/13] Positive Hacking [3/27/2013] |
Quiz: Chapter 4
P3D1 reminder Due 4/1 11:59 PM: Commentary (now available as CourseWeb discussion board forum) |
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| Tu 4/2 | Whose Laws Rule the Web |
Ch 5.4
Government Cyberattacks [4/2/2013] Patents and developing countries [4/2/2013] |
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| Chapter 6: Work | ||||
| Th 4/4 | Changes, Fears, and Questions Impacts on Employment |
Chs. 6.1-6.2 | P3D2 reminder (note next week's deadline is cancelled) Quiz: Chapter 5 Assigned: Final Term Paper
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| Tu 4/9 | Employee Communication and Monitoring |
Ch. 6.3
Open Access Phishing [4/7/2013] Google in EU trouble [4/9/2013] Teacher monitoring of students [4/8/2013] |
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| Chapter 7: Evaluating and Controlling Technology | ||||
| Th 4/11 | Evaluating Information Digital Divide |
Ch. 7.1-7.2 | Quiz: Chapter 6
Due 4/15 11:59 PM: Current Events (now available as CourseWeb discussion board forum) |
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| Tu 4/16 | Neo-Luddite Views
Making Decisions |
Ch. 7.3-7.4 | ||
| Chapter 8: Errors, Failures, and Risk | ||||
| Th 4/18 | Overview |
Ch. 8.1
AA glitch [4/16/13] |
Quiz: Chapter 7 | |
| "Final Exam" | ||||
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We 4/24
4-5:50pm |
Presentations (5 minutes per paper) of Final Papers | All students | Due: Email presentations to dlitman@pitt.edu (by midnight night before)
Submit papers (SWoRD p4) |
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Assessment: Students will be assessed based on weekly informal writing assignments, weekly quizzes or group activities, several formal writing assignments (as authors, revisers, and peer consultants), and classroom discussions (as regular participants and discussion leaders). The shorter formal writing assignments will build foundational skills needed for the final term paper. The course is designed to meet the W-Course requirement for undergraduates. Grade basis:
Absences and Late Assignments: If an absence is unavoidable, you are responsible for obtaining any information announced during the missed class. In case of extraordinary circumstances (hospitalization, family emergency) you should contact me as soon as possible so that we may arrange an extension for assignments prior to the due date; documentation of the emergency is required. Commentaries cannot be accepted late. The formal writing assignments can be accepted up to 1 day late, with a penalty of 10%. There are NO makeup possibilities.
Academic Integrity: In addition to the University Policies, the following are specific to CS1590. Unless explicitely noted, you must do your assignments without undue help from other people. Do not present material from resources such as the Web, books, papers, and other people as your own. If even part of a sentence is not in your own words, explicitly quote it and provide a formal citation. In addition, protect yourselves from being copied by only storing your files in private directories, and by retrieving all printouts promptly. Copying or paraphrasing someone's work, or permitting your own work to be copied or paraphrased, even in part, is not allowed and will result in an automatic grade of 0 for the assignment and a report to the appropriate University authority.