An Ethics Argument
As the world of technology grows and expands deeper into our everyday and personal lives, the question is always raised how far do we allow it to go. This is a matter of ethics and beliefs that at one point or another every person has to establishes for themselves. Almost everyone has used a credit card or debit card this in and of itself is a form a ethical decision, it may seem small but you are allowing banks and companies access to your money through a system with your personal information being "flung" from one to the other. Another decision you may have made would be if you ordered something online and you gave out your information, this is widely excepted in society but some people don't believe it is right to give out that kind of information online; so they opt out of buying online which is there choice. These kind of transactions have mountains of security but as we all may know some one slips up or a very smart and less ethically inclined person finds a way in and takes what was once secure.
There are many new ethical problems that need to be thought about due to the rapid growth of information technology. With the human genome being cracked in 2000 a revised version in 2003 and more revisions to come medicine has been growing leaps and bounds. You as a consumer can go out and get your genetic structure mapped, but now that you have it mapped what will you or others do with it? At this point in time it's more of a novelty, in the future it could be used for personalized health care or it could fall into the wrong hands. How dangerous will our genetic material be to others than doctors? Could these advances lead to an age of eugenics? Perhaps we will have to wait and see how it plays out but if society could see the good of the advances and not corrupt it in some way then these advances will be a monumental success in modern medicine that could lead to longer and healthier lives.
As we rely more on technology it always seems to have a downside, what if this? What if that? With one of our newer medical technologies it has come to the public attention that a pacemaker can be hacked and deliver a 830 volt shock to the person. Barnaby Jack of the security vendor IOActive demonstrated this by
There seems to be different ethical arguments, do we continue to research and do we use what we already have? I say use what we have, again to mention the security and the insurance and fail safes for identity theft and stolen credit card numbers. I don't view these advances as having one fatal flaw but rather I see the people and resources behind the flaw, the flaw is inevitable and so we rally behind it ready at any moment; all for the sake of a little convenience.
Very interesting. I would have never thought a pacemaker could be hacked. Security against all hacking seems to never quite stop it from happening. It really makes a person feel like they are at the mercy of anyone who so chooses to hack your information. I think the best choice is just to try and keep your information as safe as possible by using common sense when using any private info in a public medium.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. This really brings to light how serious hacking is and can be. I definitely agree with Seth that protecting your personal information is crucial and of great interest to all individual. Great job.
ReplyDeleteNice post, I agree with your comment about how a lot of our technological products don't have flaws within themselves, but it's the people that get their hands on them being the flaw (in most cases). That was shocking to hear that somebody's pacemaker could be hacked and deliver that much of a shock. With increased technology I think there will be greater security systems in place, but we as the users of these products need to responsible as we use them as well and not take advantage of others. Thanks for sharing, have a nice day.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I had no idea that pacemakers could be hacked, and by hacking it you can shock someone! How horrible is that? I really like the point you make though. We can make so many advances in technology and create awesome gadgets and what not but as long as there are horrible people out there to ruin them for everyone, it can be hard to have faith in them. Hopefully we can create something that creates maximum security for our information so we can still have the convenience of using this technology. Great job overall.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. I am not familiar with this topic. I do know however people who have been hacked and lost information. I believe that trying to hide your information can help protect from being hacked. I really enjoyed this article a lot.
ReplyDeleteI think this is going to be a big issue really soon. The public is slowly becoming familiar enough with computers that very important information is open to thieves. Thanks for the information.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely one of the biggest concerns in today's age, personal information that can be easily accessed from just about anyone. It's a scary thought that someone could take it without you even knowing. This is a very good topic to discuss and I am glad you made this post.
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