This textbook presents an overview of the critically important ethical and legal issues that arise in the computing field and provides a professional perspective from software engineering. The author gained exposure to these aspects of computing while working as a software engineer at Motorola in Ireland, where he coordinated the patent programme and worked with several software suppliers.
Topics and features:
- Presents a broad overview of ethics and the law
- Includes key learning topics, summaries, and review questions in each chapter, together with a useful glossary
- Discusses the professional responsibility of computer professionals
- Explores ethics in various civilisations and religious traditions
- Discusses ethical software engineering and ethical outsourcing
- Considers what is fair and ethical in data science
- Describes ethical challenges that arise in social media and the AI field
- Reviews intellectual property including patents, copyright and trademarks
This practical and easy-to-follow textbook/reference is ideal for computer science students seeking to understand legal and ethical aspects of computing. The text also serves as a concise self-study primer for software engineers and software managers.