Readings

The readings for Tuesday, February 23 are:

Cloud Computing

• The Era of Cloud Computing

  • Computing Goes to the Cloud. So Does Crime.

  • Security Needs Evolve as Computing Leaves the Office

  • Even Early Adopters See Major Flaws in the Cloud

• A view of Cloud Computing

• Computing in the Cloud

• The Ethics of Cloud Computing

Online Advertising

• How Companies Learn Your Secrets

• The Convenience-Surveillance Tradeoff

  • Data Doppelgangers and the Uncanny Valley of Personalization

  • How Much Is Your Data Worth? Mmm, Somewhere Between Half a Cent and $1,200

  • The Internet's Original Sin

  • What Does It Really Matter If Companies Are Tracking Us Online?

• The scary side of big data

• Facebook users unwittingly revealing intimate secrets, study finds

  • More privacy headaches for Facebook: gay users outed to advertisers

  • Facebook Knew I Was Gay Before My Family Did

Food for Thought

• Is Advertising Morally Justifiable? The Importance of Protecting Our Attention

  Not specific to online advertising, but perhaps something interesting to think about.

• 6 links that will show you what Google knows about you

  Check out what Google thinks about you.

Questions

Please write a response to one of the following questions:

1. From the readings and in your experience, what ethical concerns (if any) do you have with Cloud Computing? What exactly is Cloud Computing? Considering the Internet meme that "There is no cloud. It's just someone else's computer":

   • As developer, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the Cloud? Describe any experiences you've had in using the Cloud as a development platform, what led you to use it, and if you plan on using it in the future.

   • As a consumer, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the Cloud? Describe what sort of Cloud services you use on a regular basis. What trade-off are you making in utilizing these platforms?

2. From the readings and in your experience, what ethical concerns (if any) do you have with online advertising? How is it performed and what methods are utilized to aggregate and analyze information? Considering the Internet meme that If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold:

   • What protections should companies provide over user data? Who owns that data and who controls it? Should companies be able to sell that data to third parties? Should they share the information with the government when requested?

   • Do you find online advertising too invasive or tolerable? Do you use things like NoScript or Adblock? Why or why not? Is it ethical to use these tools?

Feedback

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the course, please provide your feedback at the end of your response.