The Ethics and Politics of Search Engines
On February 27, 2006, despite a heavy downpour, 170 people attended "The Ethics and Politics of Search Engines," a seminar sponsored by Santa Clara University's Center for Science, Technology, and Society and Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
Panelists included Peter Norvig, Director of Research at Google, Terry Winograd, Computer Science Professor at Stanford University, and Geoffrey C. Bowker, Executivie Director at the Center for Science, Technology, and Society (CSTS) at Santa Clara University. Susan Leigh Star, Senior Scholar at CSTS introduced the panelists and offered some questions to consider surrounding the topic. Kirk Hanson, Executive Director at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics moderated the discussion.
Questions about censorship and China underscored the event and served as a rare public discussion by a tech company executive (Google) about the ethics of doing business in China. A broader set of questions, from differing vantage points including utilitarian virtue, rights, privacy, common good, and fairness perspectives can be found in the attached "Unavoidable Ethical Questions About Search Engines."
This event is the 2nd in a forum series co-sponsored by the two Centers. The 3rd will be a panel discussion on May 16, 5:30 to 7p.m. (Wiegand Room), titled "Traces of Ourselves: The Politics and Ethics of Databases" Contact Sherrill Dale sdale@scu.edu, or 408-551-6027 for more information concerning this upcoming event.
Unavoidable Ethical Questions About Search Engines
Panelists (right to left): Moderator: Kirk Hanson, Executive Director, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University.
Panelists: Geoffrey Bowker, Executive Director, Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Santa Clara University
Peter Norvig, Director of Research, Google
Terry Winograd, Professor of Computer Science, Santa Clara University
