Electronic voting

2008-07-30T20:33:51Z

Jlwilso8:

This is an updated version of the existing page found [http://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/risks/reliability/voting/electronic/ here.]

=Study Guide=

==Electronic Voting==

Electronic Voting has been given a rather broad definition. For the purpose of this study guide we will limit it to people casting votes using computerized voting equipment. While most conceive of a future when polling places are far more up-to-date, the idea of making a vote on a computer raises a number of ethical problems that must be solved before any such endeavor can take place. Voting in America long ago became mechanized; is it time to take make it computerized? If so, what standards should be used and what are some possible ramifications?

===Fundamental Requirements===

Here is a list of the fundamental requirements for electronic voting systems listed in decreasing order of importance as stated by Michael Ian Shamos in his article Electronic Voting - Evaluating the Threat:

I. Thou shalt keep each voter's choices an inviolable secret.

II. Thou shalt allow each eligible voter to vote only once, and only for those offices for which she is authorized to cast a vote.

III. Thou shalt not permit tampering with thy voting system, nor the exchange of gold for votes.

IV. Thou shalt report all votes accurately.

V. Thy voting system shall remain operable throughout each election.

VI. Thou shalt keep an audit trail to detect sins against Commandments II-IV, but thy audit trail shall not violate Commandment I.

===Security===

On thing that plagues the minds of most analysts are the security risks that would accompany converting the voting process from a physical medium and subjecting it to the perils of computers.

* Could crackers change the outcome of an election? Would an electronic election pose a tantalizing target for any vandal? Could a "voting network" be hacked like the Internet? Are we willing to expose the voting process to this risk?
* Could a rival government cause a disruption in an electronic election more easily than a paper-based election?
* Would security, tight enough to alleviate the threat of outside influences, make it prohibitively difficult to cast your vote? Does such security even exist?
* What would ensure security more: Open source code for everyone to see or private so that hackers can't find holes in the security as easily?

===Reliability and Standards===

Another question on the minds of many concerned voters is how reliable are these new electronic voting systems and who determines the standards of reliability. Even though it may be extremely difficult and time consuming to count the paper ballots of today’s systems it is at least comforting to know that there is reliable hard evidence to prove the results of an election if a problem occurs.

* What would happen if the electronic voting machine “crashed” during operation within an election? Would there be a reliable way to retrieve the information within the machine. Would it be possible under any circumstance to loose the machines results?
* If there was a power outage could the election continue on schedule?

===Equal Voting Opportunity===

Clearly, not everyone has had equal opportunity to achieve proficiency on computing systems. This gap in knowledge has been dubbed The Digital Divide and poses tough questions for the future of voting on computers.

* Would these new electronic voting machines be easy enough for everyone to use regardless of their computer experience? Could non computer proficient voters claim discrimination if they felt that the electronic systems were too complicated?
* Would the ease of electronic voting unfairly over represent the opinions of those communities that could afford the electronic systems?
* Is it ethical to have different voting systems (some decrepit) in different communities?

===Problems With The Status Quo===

Many see the events and confusion surrounding the 2000 Presidential election in Florida as proof that a change in the way we vote is necessary. A careful examination of the current system should help us decide if an update to these new electronic systems is needed.

* Is the current system fair? If not, is it feasible to make it fair?
* Does the current system discriminate against segments of the population (the handicapped, minorities, the poor, etc)?
* Would electronic voting alleviate these problems or compound them?
* Are we blowing the whole thing out of proportion? Will there always be a minority that claims any system is unfair to some group of people? Can a voting system ever please everyone?

=Bibliography=

===What is Electronic Voting===

* [http://cse.stanford.edu/class/cs201/projects-95-96/electronic-vote-counting/recommendations.html The Future of Electronic Elections] Stanford.edu
* [http://www.acm.org/usacm/Issues/EVoting.htm E-Voting Standards] USACM Policy Brief
* [http://www.howstuffworks.com/e-voting1.htm How E-Voting Will Work] Kevin Bosner, Howstuffworks.com

===The Existing System And The Need For Change===

* [http://www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/Risk/rsk-55.cfm?&CFID=8654825&CFTOKEN=11050776 Voting Technologies in the United States] Eric A. Fischer, Congressional Research Service
* [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/11/latimes.votecount/index.html A 'modern' democracy that can't count votes] CNN- LA Times
* [http://lorrie.cranor.org/voting/essay.html Voting After Florida: No Easy Answers] Lorrie Faith Cranor
* [http://www.todaysengineer.org/policyperspectives/feb_01features/evoting.html Electronic Voting Technology: Can We Be Spared a Repeat of Election 2000?] Robert Bellinger

===Dangers Associated With Electronic Voting===
* [http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/voting1.html MIT-Caltech study votes for paper ballots, levers, scanning devices] MIT
* [http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2000/07/37504 Report says E-Voting is unsafe] Lynn Burke, Wired
* [http://www.notablesoftware.com/Papers/Risks2114.html Internet and Electronic Voting] Dave Farber & Peter G. Neumann, The Risks Digest
* [http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/2.42.html#subj4 Computerized Voting - No Standards and a Lot of Questions Ron Newman Statement on Electronic Voting] Rebecca Mercuri

===Legal Issues===

* [http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_b.htm The Voting Rights Act Of 1965] United States Department of Justice

===Planning For The Future - A Proponent's View===

* [http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2000/11/40141 The Case For Electronic Voting] Farhad Manjoo, Wired
* [http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2000/voting.html MIT, Caltech Join Forces To Develop Reliable, Uniform US Voting Machine] MIT
* [http://edition.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/11/08/e.voting.no.gamble.idg/ Experts: E-voting Could Have Prevented U.S. Election confusion] Rick Perera, Brian Fonseca, Martyn Williams and Terho Uimonen, CNN
* [http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-249029.html Commentary: Electronic Voting Likely To Emerge A Winner] Christopher Baum CNET
* [http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds2-4/voting.html Electronic Voting: Computerized Polls May Save Money, Protect Privacy] Lorrie Faith Cranor
* [http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2003/11/61045 Australia Moves to E-voting] Kim Zetter, Wired

===Related Sites===

* [http://guardianvoting.com/gvs/ Guardian Voting] Guardian Voting Inc.
* [http://www.diebold.com/default.htm Diebold - Voting Machines] Diebold International
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Voting_machine Voting Machine Overview] Sourcewatch.com

Electronic voting

2008-07-30T20:28:35Z

Jlwilso8:

This is an updated version of the existing page found [http://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/risks/reliability/voting/electronic/ here.]

=Study Guide=

==Electronic Voting==

Electronic Voting has been given a rather broad definition. For the purpose of this study guide we will limit it to people casting votes using computerized voting equipment. While most conceive of a future when polling places are far more up-to-date, the idea of making a vote on a computer raises a number of ethical problems that must be solved before any such endeavor can take place. Voting in America long ago became mechanized; is it time to take make it computerized? If so, what standards should be used and what are some possible ramifications?

===Fundamental Requirements===

Here is a list of the fundamental requirements for electronic voting systems listed in decreasing order of importance as stated by Michael Ian Shamos in his article Electronic Voting - Evaluating the Threat:

I. Thou shalt keep each voter's choices an inviolable secret.

II. Thou shalt allow each eligible voter to vote only once, and only for those offices for which she is authorized to cast a vote.

III. Thou shalt not permit tampering with thy voting system, nor the exchange of gold for votes.

IV. Thou shalt report all votes accurately.

V. Thy voting system shall remain operable throughout each election.

VI. Thou shalt keep an audit trail to detect sins against Commandments II-IV, but thy audit trail shall not violate Commandment I.

===Security===

On thing that plagues the minds of most analysts are the security risks that would accompany converting the voting process from a physical medium and subjecting it to the perils of computers.

* Could crackers change the outcome of an election? Would an electronic election pose a tantalizing target for any vandal? Could a "voting network" be hacked like the Internet? Are we willing to expose the voting process to this risk?
* Could a rival government cause a disruption in an electronic election more easily than a paper-based election?
* Would security, tight enough to alleviate the threat of outside influences, make it prohibitively difficult to cast your vote? Does such security even exist?
* What would ensure security more: Open source code for everyone to see or private so that hackers can't find holes in the security as easily?

===Reliability and Standards===

Another question on the minds of many concerned voters is how reliable are these new electronic voting systems and who determines the standards of reliability. Even though it may be extremely difficult and time consuming to count the paper ballots of today’s systems it is at least comforting to know that there is reliable hard evidence to prove the results of an election if a problem occurs.

* What would happen if the electronic voting machine “crashed” during operation within an election? Would there be a reliable way to retrieve the information within the machine. Would it be possible under any circumstance to loose the machines results?
* If there was a power outage could the election continue on schedule?

===Equal Voting Opportunity===

Clearly, not everyone has had equal opportunity to achieve proficiency on computing systems. This gap in knowledge has been dubbed The Digital Divide and poses tough questions for the future of voting on computers.

* Would these new electronic voting machines be easy enough for everyone to use regardless of their computer experience? Could non computer proficient voters claim discrimination if they felt that the electronic systems were too complicated?
* Would the ease of electronic voting unfairly over represent the opinions of those communities that could afford the electronic systems?
* Is it ethical to have different voting systems (some decrepit) in different communities?

===Problems With The Status Quo===

Many see the events and confusion surrounding the 2000 Presidential election in Florida as proof that a change in the way we vote is necessary. A careful examination of the current system should help us decide if an update to these new electronic systems is needed.

* Is the current system fair? If not, is it feasible to make it fair?
* Does the current system discriminate against segments of the population (the handicapped, minorities, the poor, etc)?
* Would electronic voting alleviate these problems or compound them?
* Are we blowing the whole thing out of proportion? Will there always be a minority that claims any system is unfair to some group of people? Can a voting system ever please everyone?

=Bibliography=

===What is Electronic Voting===

* [http://cse.stanford.edu/class/cs201/projects-95-96/electronic-vote-counting/recommendations.html The Future of Electronic Elections] Stanford.edu
* [http://www.acm.org/usacm/Issues/EVoting.htm E-Voting Standards] USACM Policy Brief
* [http://www.howstuffworks.com/e-voting1.htm How E-Voting Will Work] Kevin Bosner, Howstuffworks.com

===The Existing System And The Need For Change===

* [http://www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/Risk/rsk-55.cfm?&CFID=8654825&CFTOKEN=11050776 Voting Technologies in the United States] Eric A. Fischer, Congressional Research Service
* [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/11/latimes.votecount/index.html A 'modern' democracy that can't count votes] CNN- LA Times
* [http://lorrie.cranor.org/voting/essay.html Voting After Florida: No Easy Answers] Lorrie Faith Cranor
* [http://www.todaysengineer.org/policyperspectives/feb_01features/evoting.html Electronic Voting Technology: Can We Be Spared a Repeat of Election 2000?] Robert Bellinger

===Dangers Associated With Electronic Voting===
* [http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/voting1.html MIT-Caltech study votes for paper ballots, levers, scanning devices] MIT
* [http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2000/07/37504 Report says E-Voting is unsafe] Lynn Burke, Wired
* [http://www.notablesoftware.com/Papers/Risks2114.html Internet and Electronic Voting] Dave Farber & Peter G. Neumann, The Risks Digest
* [http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/2.42.html#subj4 Computerized Voting - No Standards and a Lot of Questions Ron Newman Statement on Electronic Voting] Rebecca Mercuri

===Legal Issues===

* [http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_b.htm The Voting Rights Act Of 1965] United States Department of Justice

===Planning For The Future - A Proponent's View===

===Related Sites===

[http://guardianvoting.com/gvs/ Guardian Voting] Guardian Voting Inc.
[http://www.diebold.com/default.htm Diebold - Voting Machines] Diebold International
[http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Voting_machine Voting Machine Overview] Sourcewatch.com

Electronic voting

2008-07-30T20:23:43Z

Jlwilso8:

This is an updated version of the existing page found [http://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/risks/reliability/voting/electronic/ here.]

=Study Guide=

==Electronic Voting==

Electronic Voting has been given a rather broad definition. For the purpose of this study guide we will limit it to people casting votes using computerized voting equipment. While most conceive of a future when polling places are far more up-to-date, the idea of making a vote on a computer raises a number of ethical problems that must be solved before any such endeavor can take place. Voting in America long ago became mechanized; is it time to take make it computerized? If so, what standards should be used and what are some possible ramifications?

===Fundamental Requirements===

Here is a list of the fundamental requirements for electronic voting systems listed in decreasing order of importance as stated by Michael Ian Shamos in his article Electronic Voting - Evaluating the Threat:

I. Thou shalt keep each voter's choices an inviolable secret.

II. Thou shalt allow each eligible voter to vote only once, and only for those offices for which she is authorized to cast a vote.

III. Thou shalt not permit tampering with thy voting system, nor the exchange of gold for votes.

IV. Thou shalt report all votes accurately.

V. Thy voting system shall remain operable throughout each election.

VI. Thou shalt keep an audit trail to detect sins against Commandments II-IV, but thy audit trail shall not violate Commandment I.

===Security===

On thing that plagues the minds of most analysts are the security risks that would accompany converting the voting process from a physical medium and subjecting it to the perils of computers.

* Could crackers change the outcome of an election? Would an electronic election pose a tantalizing target for any vandal? Could a "voting network" be hacked like the Internet? Are we willing to expose the voting process to this risk?
* Could a rival government cause a disruption in an electronic election more easily than a paper-based election?
* Would security, tight enough to alleviate the threat of outside influences, make it prohibitively difficult to cast your vote? Does such security even exist?
* What would ensure security more: Open source code for everyone to see or private so that hackers can't find holes in the security as easily?

===Reliability and Standards===

Another question on the minds of many concerned voters is how reliable are these new electronic voting systems and who determines the standards of reliability. Even though it may be extremely difficult and time consuming to count the paper ballots of today’s systems it is at least comforting to know that there is reliable hard evidence to prove the results of an election if a problem occurs.

* What would happen if the electronic voting machine “crashed” during operation within an election? Would there be a reliable way to retrieve the information within the machine. Would it be possible under any circumstance to loose the machines results?
* If there was a power outage could the election continue on schedule?

===Equal Voting Opportunity===

Clearly, not everyone has had equal opportunity to achieve proficiency on computing systems. This gap in knowledge has been dubbed The Digital Divide and poses tough questions for the future of voting on computers.

* Would these new electronic voting machines be easy enough for everyone to use regardless of their computer experience? Could non computer proficient voters claim discrimination if they felt that the electronic systems were too complicated?
* Would the ease of electronic voting unfairly over represent the opinions of those communities that could afford the electronic systems?
* Is it ethical to have different voting systems (some decrepit) in different communities?

===Problems With The Status Quo===

Many see the events and confusion surrounding the 2000 Presidential election in Florida as proof that a change in the way we vote is necessary. A careful examination of the current system should help us decide if an update to these new electronic systems is needed.

* Is the current system fair? If not, is it feasible to make it fair?
* Does the current system discriminate against segments of the population (the handicapped, minorities, the poor, etc)?
* Would electronic voting alleviate these problems or compound them?
* Are we blowing the whole thing out of proportion? Will there always be a minority that claims any system is unfair to some group of people? Can a voting system ever please everyone?

=Bibliography=

===What is Electronic Voting===

* [http://cse.stanford.edu/class/cs201/projects-95-96/electronic-vote-counting/recommendations.html The Future of Electronic Elections] Stanford.edu
* [http://www.acm.org/usacm/Issues/EVoting.htm E-Voting Standards] USACM Policy Brief
* [http://www.howstuffworks.com/e-voting1.htm How E-Voting Will Work] Kevin Bosner, Howstuffworks.com

===The Existing System And The Need For Change===

* [http://www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRSreports/Risk/rsk-55.cfm?&CFID=8654825&CFTOKEN=11050776 Voting Technologies in the United States] Eric A. Fischer, Congressional Research Service
* [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/11/latimes.votecount/index.html A 'modern' democracy that can't count votes] CNN- LA Times
* [http://lorrie.cranor.org/voting/essay.html Voting After Florida: No Easy Answers] Lorrie Faith Cranor
* [http://www.todaysengineer.org/policyperspectives/feb_01features/evoting.html Electronic Voting Technology: Can We Be Spared a Repeat of Election 2000?] Robert Bellinger

===Dangers Associated With Electronic Voting===
* [http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/voting1.html MIT-Caltech study votes for paper ballots, levers, scanning devices] MIT
* [http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2000/07/37504 Report says E-Voting is unsafe] Lynn Burke, Wired
* [http://www.notablesoftware.com/Papers/Risks2114.html Internet and Electronic Voting] Dave Farber & Peter G. Neumann, The Risks Digest
* [http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/2.42.html#subj4 Computerized Voting - No Standards and a Lot of Questions Ron Newman Statement on Electronic Voting] Rebecca Mercuri

===Legal Issues===

===Planning For The Future - A Proponent's View===

===Related Sites===

Electronic voting

2008-07-30T20:13:31Z

Jlwilso8:

Electronic voting

2008-07-30T20:12:54Z

Jlwilso8:

Electronic voting

2008-07-30T20:09:44Z

Jlwilso8:

2008-07-26T00:57:10Z

Jlwilso8:

CSC 379 SUM2008:Week 3, Group 4

2008-07-25T22:26:37Z

Jlwilso8:

= Bundling Malware =
Some types of malware are legal, such as ad-ware and spyware that often comes bundled with (frequently free or trial-use) software applications. Examine recent attempts to regulate ad-ware and spyware, and the ethical concerns addressed. What ethical considerations are there in deciding to bundle ad-ware and spyware with software? Is regulation needed?

==History==

==Bundling==

Many freeware and shareware applications have been incuding spyware and ad-ware applications along with thier products. Many of these products include:

*Peer to Peer applications
*Free Email Clients
*Game Downloads
*and many others...

These companies choose to bundle this ad-ware/spyware with thier product in order to gain a profit. One bundle that computer users see the most is Internet Explorer toolbars. These toolbars although not malicious, put advertisements and slow down Internet Explorer.

There are more harmfull bundles; however, [http://www.technogoggles.com/technogoggles/2004/12/spyware_for_fre.html technogoogles] recently published an article dicussing how [http://www.imesh.com imesh],a peer to peer music network, has been using Marketscore. Marketscore diverts the users internet connection through a proxy, this proxy looks at the users internet usage and credit information.

==Regulation Attempts==

Windows has the largest problem with being compromised with spyware and ad-ware. Since it is used by a majority of computer users, spyware and ad-ware code writers target it more than its competitors. To deal with this windows has a firewall included in its operating system. Windows has also recently released [http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/default.htm?mkt=en-us&s_cid=WL2Hdr Live OneCare] as a subscriptions antivirus and maleware removeal software. Other comapnies such as Norton and McAfee have upgraded thier antivirus software to help users remove harmfull malware.

===Government on Malware===

Existing U.S. laws that can be used to fight "spyware" are:

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Title 5 of the Federal Trade Commission.

There is also new legislation, known as the "Spy Act", and its main objective is to protect Internet users against cybertrespassing -- namely security and privacy breaches -- brought about by spyware or adware. The Spy Act makes it illegal for non-owners or unathorized users to infiltrate and sabotage a computer used by financial, government, or communications personel. The Spy Act also makes it unlawful for a non-user of a computer to transmit information collection programs to a computer protected under the legislation, unless the program gives notice before executing its collection functions and specifies its functions, or unless the user has already given consent under a previous notification. Infrations for this law are set at a costly three million.

===Freeware Removal===

There is also freeware that users can download to help remove spyware and ad-ware.

*[http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html Spybot Search and Destory] Spybot is a freee program that users can download to help with removal of harmful spyware.

*[http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php Ad-aware] Ad-aware is a free program that alows users to search thier computers for ad programs, including annoying pop-ups, and remove them.

==Ethical Concerns==

*Will the average user be aware of the introduction of malware onto their system? -- Many malware/adware programs are installed during other installations where the user might (unintentionally) click through to the next screen without noticing they even have an option.
*Is it ethically correct to include non-desirable software in downloads/installations? -- Companies/organizations usually include malware to make money or mine data from users without even compensating or notifying them.
*Can users easily remove all traces of malware? -- Certain programs either make it extremely difficult to remove their attached malware or they choose to disable their software once stripped of malware. Both of these situations put users in an undesirable position.

==Links==
Some types of malware are legal, such as ad-ware and spyware that often comes bundled with (frequently free or trial-use) software applications. Examine recent attempts to regulate ad-ware and spyware, and the ethical concerns addressed. What ethical considerations are there in deciding to bundle ad-ware and spyware with software? Is regulation needed?

* [http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/ http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/]
* [http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2004/apr04/04-20Spyware.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2004/apr04/04-20Spyware.mspx]
* [http://www.zdnetasia.com/sitemap/?pt=l&dt=prod&id=39001191 http://www.zdnetasia.com/sitemap/?pt=l&dt=prod&id=39001191]
* ''see TA for print article''