Social Issues in IoT / Smart Devices
Social Issues in IoT / Smart Devices
Submit on Piazza in social_issues folder
Goals
- Identify an area of society being impacted by technology, particular around smart devices and the Internet of Things
- Examine the implications and nuances of the issue
Overview
The high-tech and smart device industry impacts the world and lives of the public in large and small ways. As developers and technologists, we have a social, civic, and ethical responsibility to thoughtfully and respectfully engage with each other about these issues.
Students will work in pairs and sign up for a time slot throughout the semester (meaning due dates will be different for each team). Students will identify a societal impact that is caused by technology related to smart devices or the Internet of Things, and then they will facilitate a discussion on Piazza. This assignment will be weighted the same as a programming assignment. Topics might includes The topic and discussion should connect to smart devices / the Internet of Things.
Example of Potential Issues / Topics
- Health Wearables: Ensuring Fairness, Preventing Discrimination, and Promoting Equity in an Emerging Internet-of-Things Environment
- Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported
- Amazon’s doorbell camera Ring is working with police – and controlling what they say
- The Internet of Things Needs a Code of Ethics
- Apple contractors ‘regularly hear confidential details’ on Siri recordings
- How a fish tank helped hack a casino
- Health equity of wearables
- Privacy smart speaker recording
- Consent to data collection from smart devices
- Security vulnerability of hacking for smart home devices
Requirements
- Find an article from a reputable mainstream or tech news source
- Summarize the story and key issues in your own words
- Write at least three questions for discussion
- Questions should not be simple yes / no questions, but should be open-ended and lead to conversations
- For some tips to writing questions, see https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/resources/teaching/student-teacher-communication/designing-effective-discussion-questions
Sample Submission
- Here is an example of Piazza submission
Deliverables
- Create a Piazza post with the article summary and questions to facilitate discussion. Post must clearly indicate the names of team members.
- Include the post in the
social_issuesfolder
Extra credit
- Individual students (not team) can earn extra credit for thoughtful comments on each other's posts
Grading
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| Summary | |
| Reputable source | 3 |
| Concise summary of relevant issues | 8 |
| Three Questions | 3 |
| Extra credit for comment on OTHER groups' articles | +0.25 (up to 5) |
| Total | 20 |