The "Memogate" Affair: A Case Study On Privacy In Computer Networks

Privacy is one of the core issues in any Ethics in Computing course. It is important for system administrators to keep sensitive data private, but suppose they don’t? Then what are the obligations of someone who accidentally gains access to this data? This is the crux of the issue in last year’s “Memogate” case involving the Senate Judiciary Committee. Files on the Judiciary computer system were mistakenly left unprotected. This allowed Manuel Miranda, a staffer in the office of Judiciary Committee Chairman Bill Frist, to view confidential memos written by Democrats on the committee. These documents revealed political maneuvering and some actions that were arguably unethical. Miranda was fired by Frist, but engaged in a spirited defense of his actions in the media. The legalities of this behavior are in dispute, with prosecution being a possibility. This case raises several ethical questions, including, How much of an obligation does one have to avoid viewing the private information of others? Does it depend on whether the administrator knew the documents were unprotected, and did nothing to “fix” it? Can this obligation be outweighed by an obligation to expose (other) unethical activity? To what extent is this action similar to a student viewing someone else’s unprotected computer code and then submitting it as his/her own work? Or suppose the student just viewed it, but did not submit it; would that still be unethical? This case can serve as interesting, current, case study in privacy rights in a computer network.