Assessment Brief
Task 1 Study skills assignment- 3 pages submitted online
We have provided you with some one-sided arguments (positions) which we would like you to analyse. The issues are ethical, and you may have come across them before. We know that there is a greater emphasis on ethics at master’s level and you may, in another module, be asked to write a full essay on a subject like the ones below. For that reason, we are not asking for you to write the complete essay. We will be assessing you on the criteria below.
The aim of the study skills in this module it is to ensure that you have the following tools to help you develop critical writing skills.
- This assignment is to check that you have applied critical thinking skills.
- We want you to demonstrate that you have good searching skills and can find evidence for and against a given topic.
- We want you to demonstrate that you can plan and use your evidence to build your argument and critique the argument.
- We want you to demonstrate that you can write in well-constructed paragraphs that contain topic sentences.
- And we want you to demonstrate the correct use of citations in the body of the text and the correct formatting of the reference list.
The list of suggested topics covers a range of ethical issues that are pertinent to different areas of computer science. We would like you to choose one of those positions below to discuss. You will need to develop arguments in support of the position as well as the opposing arguments.
Position 1: Debate the use of mass surveillance technology by governments.
Develop arguments to debate the detailed electronic surveillance of populations. Governments claim that they should be allowed to do this to make the country safe and to target ever dwindling tax revenues on important resources for society. Governments claim that any data that is collected would be safe and that only trusted parties would ever be able to access it. Issues include the difference between mass surveillance and targeted surveillance, different technologies and ethical or legal protection, amongst others.
Position 2—Debate the use of crypto-currencies
Develop arguments for and against the use of crypto currencies. The considerations here are establishing frictionless financial transactions, anonymity, and the ability to transcend international boundaries along with many other issues. You may wish to consider any spin-off advantages to the underlying technology.
Position 3 – Debate the auction of patient medical records.
Develop arguments around the release of medical records. Consider the likely benefits and drawbacks to the public and other stakeholders. Also consider what mechanisms for data protection should be explored or stipulated by the NHS prior to the release of the records.
Position 4 – Debate the use of throttling or blocking by Internet Service Providers with respect to Net Neutrality laws.
Develop arguments for and against the internet being controlled on behalf of internet services providers. They claim that they need to do this to ensure optimum network speeds in the face of ever-increasing video traffic and to ensure a high quality of service for their customers. The ISPs often say they would charge a premium to content providers such as Netflix to eliminate waits/buffering of video and placing a higher priority on such traffic across their networks. Consider revenue for internet service providers and quality of service for customers along with drawbacks for small content providers
