Ethical issue: data collection and use

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Date:

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A shop's security system records customers' faces, shopping habits and phone locations when it only needs to detect theft. What is the ethical issue?

A Under-collection: not enough data is collected to stop theft

B Over-collection: more data is collected than is needed for security

2. Which approach to staff monitoring is more ethical?

A Secretly logging staff keystrokes and personal browsing

B Telling staff what is monitored and why, and getting their consent

3. An organisation collects customer data for fraud detection, then uses it to target ads without telling customers. Is this ethical?

A No, the data is used in a way people did not expect

B Yes, once data is collected it can be used for any purpose

4. Which statement about consent is correct?

A Consent should be clear and informed, so people know what is collected and why

B Consent is valid when it is hidden in a long policy that no one is told about

5. Which is an example of ethical data collection for a school's network security?

A Logging login times and failed sign-in attempts to spot attacks

B Recording students' private messages and personal web history

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1collect_data(user, scope="all")		AStaff are monitored secretly with no notice or consent. They should be told what is monitored and why.
2monitor(staff, notified=False)		Bcollect_data(user, scope="login_events")
3Ethical collection limits data to what the security purpose needs.		CHidden monitoring: watching staff activity without telling them, which breaches their reasonable expectations.
4Consent means people are told about monitoring and agree to it first.		DThe scope is far wider than fraud checks need. The organisation should collect only the data necessary for that security purpose.
5collect_data(customer, scope="all") # for fraud checks		Eif consent_given(customer): monitor(customer)
6monitor(staff, notify=False) # secret tracking		FOver-collection: gathering far more personal data than the security purpose needs, which raises an ethical issue.

Definitions

Ethical data collection

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

IF consent = _____ THEN stopMonitoring

collect ONLY data that is _________

over ← dataCollected _ dataNeeded

IF actualUse _ expectedUse THEN flagIssue

IF staffConsent = ____ THEN monitorEmail

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A needed ← [loginTime, device]

B FOR EACH item IN needed

C collect(item, photos)

D END FOR

Question 2

A IF staffConsent = FALSE THEN

B startMonitoring(staff)

C ELSE

D DISPLAY "No monitoring"

Question 3

A HIDE privacyNotice

B IF customer.agrees = TRUE THEN

C collectData(customer)

Question 4

A retention ← 90

B age ← daysSinceCollected(log)

C IF age > retention THEN

D keepForever(log)

Question 5

A FOR EACH acct IN workAccounts

B logActivity(personalPhone)

C END FOR

Answer Key

Ethical issue: data collection and use

Section A: Quick Questions

B — Over-collection: more data is collected than is needed for security

B — Telling staff what is monitored and why, and getting their consent

A — No, the data is used in a way people did not expect

A — Consent should be clear and informed, so people know what is collected and why

A — Logging login times and failed sign-in attempts to spot attacks

Section B: Match the Pairs

collect_data(user, scope="all") → Over-collection: gathering far more personal data than the security purpose needs, which raises an ethical issue.

monitor(staff, notified=False) → Hidden monitoring: watching staff activity without telling them, which breaches their reasonable expectations.

Ethical collection limits data to what the security purpose needs. → collect_data(user, scope="login_events")

Consent means people are told about monitoring and agree to it first. → if consent_given(customer): monitor(customer)

collect_data(customer, scope="all") # for fraud checks → The scope is far wider than fraud checks need. The organisation should collect only the data necessary for that security purpose.

monitor(staff, notify=False) # secret tracking → Staff are monitored secretly with no notice or consent. They should be told what is monitored and why.

Section C: Definitions

Ethical data collection — Collecting only the data needed for security and using it as people expect. Over-collection or hidden monitoring of staff or customers, without clear consent, is an ethical issue.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

IF consent = FALSE THEN stopMonitoring

collect ONLY data that is necessary

over ← dataCollected > dataNeeded

IF actualUse ≠ expectedUse THEN flagIssue

IF staffConsent = TRUE THEN monitorEmail

Section E: Spot the Error

C — The loop should only collect the items in the needed list. Also collecting photos is over-collection, which is an ethical issue. The line should be collect(item).

A — The condition is reversed. Monitoring would start when staff have NOT consented. It should be IF staffConsent = TRUE THEN.

A — Customers must be shown the privacy notice before their data is collected. Hiding it means they cannot give informed consent. The line should be DISPLAY privacyNotice.

D — Data that is no longer needed should be deleted once the retention period passes. Keeping it forever is over-collection in time. The line should be delete(log).

B — Staff monitoring should be limited to work accounts. Logging a personal phone goes beyond what is needed and is unethical. The line should be logActivity(acct).