Assignment1_EthicalAnalysis
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School
New Jersey Institute Of Technology *
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Course
350
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
4
Uploaded by ElderLionPerson397
1.
Identify the Moral Agent
The moral agent is ideally the individual or group of individuals who, in a particular situation, are
supposed to decide whether a certain course of actions should be embarked upon. They are to discern right from wrong. Furthermore, they are held accountable for their decisions.
The moral agent here is the Director of the NSA since the decision to implement the plan rests with him.
2.
What of value is at stake?
Even though it may seem like only the privacy of the clients who use the bugged routers is at stake, there is more to it. The trust that the citizens have in their government and the integrity of NSA as a defense organization are at stake too. 3.
Who/what are the stakeholders?
The stakeholders here are the manufacturers and the clients of the routers that are being implanted with the firmware. The decision that the moral agent makes, ethical or not, affects the stakeholders.
4.
Possible course of action
Ultimately, the Director of the NSA – the moral agent here – is left with two options to choose from. The Director can decide to proceed with the plan and employ a network of people who intercept the shipment of routers and install a backdoor firmware before it reaches the clients, allowing the NSA to monitor corporation/civilian activities on the Internet.
Another course of action that the Director could consider is the one on the contrary of the previous, which would lead the NSA to not implement the plan.
5.
Consequences with each course of action
Assuming that the firmware installation and surveillance plan is implemented:
A rather intended consequence would be tracking down terrorists and preventing attacks that would threaten the national security.
An unintended positive consequence of the same might be detecting other illegal activities like human trafficking, drug smuggling, etcetera.
A huge unintended perverse consequence would be a public disclosure of the operation.
Not only would this divert the malicious hacking mobs towards invading/bugging the NSA but also expose the violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. This would degrade the integrity of the security and intelligence forces of the government as well as create a barrier of mistrust between the civilians and the government.
Since the bug implant was carried out without having the manufacturer acknowledged, another unintended consequence of implementing the plan would entail the company finding out about the operation and suing the NSA for meddling with their product without their permission. Considering that the Director of the NSA decides to abort the operation:
An ostensible intended consequence of not implementing the said plan would be the observance of the privacy of the civilians, as dictated by the Constitution.
An unintended positive consequence would be saving the users from the embarrassment and agitation that might occur if they realize that their online activities is being monitored without their knowledge.
An unintended unforeseen consequence would be an unanticipated terrorist attack. Thus, the national security is somehow compromised.
6.
Compliance with Kantianism
If such a surveillance propaganda is universalized, then it would very likely not be sustainable since it would include monitoring the defense and intelligence agencies themselves, given that Kantianism does not offer exceptions. Universalizing the invasion of privacy does not quite hold in the long run.
The manufacturer of the routers is being used solely as a means to an end since their products are being bugged without their consent.
Thus, the decision to implement the plan does not comply with Kantianism.
7.
Compliance with Act Utilitarianism
One of the many factors to consider when implementing this plan is the intensity of efforts that are to be put into the operation. Intercepting almost every shipment of internet routers and implanting firmware only to further monitor the activities of the users meticulously, calls for a lot of work, time, capital, and resources. And this still does not guarantee the reduction of the certainty of terrorist attacks to null. Also, in case the agency finds solid evidence on something that might poses a threat to say national economy and not national security (money laundering, smuggling of goods, etcetera) then deciding whether or not to act on it becomes another moral/ethical dilemma.
Thus, this course of action does not comply with Act Utilitarianism.
8.
Compliance with Rule Utilitarianism
The primary purpose of carrying out this plan is to prevent any possible terrorist attacks and enhance national security. In accordance with rule utilitarianism, an overall adoption would consequentially result in the greatest net increase in happiness. There is almost no direct consequence of the same that might harm the users in anyway.
Hence, the decision to implement the plan complies with Rule Utilitarianism.
9.
Compliance with Social Contract Theory
In order to analyze this situation using social contract theory, one would ask oneself whether the rights to this information are equal. Here the surveillance of the citizens’ information, and their activity on the internet is tracked without their permission is unfair. Moreover, if this plan is treated as a social contract, then it should give everyone equal burden to achieve common good, if the intelligence agencies themselves do not abide by it then it makes the law unjust.
Thus, the social contract would be applicable if everyone – regardless of their racial, social, and economic status - cooperates for the common good.
10.
Compliance with Virtue theory
Primarily, the Virtue Ethics theory should not be used in the context of a government policy/law since emotions play an important role in the principle of virtue ethics as well as does not have a framework for holding people accountable for their bad/evil actions.
However, if one were to analyze this scenario using virtue ethics theory then an idolized virtuous
person might recommend employing honest and diligent people on the taskforce to ensure that no misuse of the monitored data incurs. Hence, the implementation of this plan would be approved by virtue ethics.
11.
Clauses in ACM Code of Ethics and SECE
The plan violates certain clauses of the Software Engineering Code of Ethics:
2.05 Respect confidentiality:
The manufacturing company of the routers are abiding by this code and maintaining the confidentiality of the clients, but the NSA plans to monitor the clients’ activities and hence violate this code of ethics.
2.07 Report issues of social concern:
Since the alleged sole purpose behind constantly surveying
the electronic presence of the users is to prevent terrorist attacks then in order to maintain the confidentiality of the plan itself, many social problems would be not responded to.
3.12 Develop software and documents that respect privacy of those affected by software:
This code is very clearly being violated since neither the manufacturer nor the client is aware of the presence of the firmware that is installed by the NSA.
The clauses from the ACM Code of Ethics that apply to this scenario are:
1.3 Be honest and trustworthy:
Even though the purpose of the backdoors is to enhance national security, the NSA is exploiting the available resources and invading people’s privacy. Thus, despite of the attempts being supposedly well-intended, if the public is made aware of the
plan, then a serious issue of mistrust would uprise within the civilians towards the government itself. It is very important that the governing forces are upfront with the citizens.
1.7 Respect the privacy of others:
The information that is being collected here by the NSA is not meant to be brought up to the knowledge of the users even though the information pertains to them. Hence implementing the plan would violate clause 1.7 of the ACM code of ethics.
2.3 Know and respect existing laws pertaining to professional work: Ideally, the law enforcement agencies would go after anyone who is illegally tracking other individuals’ personal data. However, the NSA itself would not respect this law when it conducts unwarranted surveillance on millions of citizens who use the bugged routers.
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12.
What would you do? Why?
If I were put in an authoritative position in this scenario, I would not proceed with the plan. Setting up surveillance on every citizen and monitoring their online presence is the first step towards turning into a totalitarian state. Privacy, in a free country like the United States of America is just as important as free speech, thought, and opinion. While the governing forces of the country are obligated to serve and protect the community, the authorization to hack into a civilian’s private space is not granted to them, unless there are legally pressing reasons to do so. The right of the people to their personal security and privacy is dictated by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Ostensibly so, there are exceptions to it most of which pertain to a state of emergency. However, any steps that are being taken by the government or any of its branches as a means of prevention must be in accordance with the Constitution and interest of the civilians.
From a technical perspective, the spying firmware might raise the risk of having invaders – other
than the intended NSA agents – use the backdoor and extract information which would in turn defeat the purpose of strengthening the national security. Hence, as mentioned before, from a personal standpoint I would refrain from installing such firmware into the routers.