1. What is implied consent? When, if ever, is implied consent morally
acceptable? When is it necessary to obtain explicit consent? Give some
examples--they don't have to deal with the body and sex, as these examples do,
but they should *not* be associated with computers.
Implied consent means a person not really giving their consent to anything, but their actions or thoughts may say otherwise. Implied consent is morally acceptable when a person believes that the action of another person could be dangerous. Ex. In Missouri, Tyler McNeely was pulled over for drunk driving and the police officer that pulled him over and made the driver take a blood test without his consent. It was necessary for the officer to make McNeely take the test because of the way he was driving, or his speech sounded impaired.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implied_consent
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2011/06/missouri_supreme_court_duis_warrant_blood.php
2. How does the
problem of implied vs. explicit consent apply to computers, and specifically, to
ethical hacking? When would an ethical hacker need to make use of this concept?
When it becomes ethical hacking, an ethical hacker needs to know the laws/policies of the company she/he works for at the time to ensure that its legal. If you don't, you might get fired from the job and possibly face legal action from the company. Make sure the tools that's being used for penetration testing for safe to use. The wrong tools can cause the network to shutdown or get worms/malware etc. Get familar with the latest operating systems and applications up to date.
Madam Brown, you wrote that " Implied consent is morally acceptable when a person believes that the action of another person could be dangerous." Does the degree or kind of danger matter? For instance, it's maybe a little bit dangerous for a homeowner to install steps without a railing leading up to their front door of their house--postal workers might slip in wet or snowy conditions. Does that give you the right to install railings wherever you think they need to be installed? Also, dangerous to whom? If I'm doing something that is dangerous to myself is there implicit consent for you to stop me? What about my ability to estimate risk vs. reward--after all, skydiving, getting tattoos, drinking alcohol, etc. all carry risks, but people often do them because they find that they give them pleasure or enrich their lives. Also, you're giving good general advice to ethical hackers, but can you be more specific and direct in answering the question with respect to ethical hacking and computers in general? What would be an example of implicit consent? Explicit consent?
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