Ethics in Technology

Internet Measurements' Ethical Dilemmas and RIPE Atlas

Speaker: Vesna Manojlovic

Abstract

When designing technologies, networked systems, and measurements on the Internet, we must be aware of their implications and consequences for the society and participants. As engineers, scientists, programmers and other experts, we have moral obligations towards our peers, users of technologies we create, and the wider communities.

In this talk I want to talk both about general ethical considerations, and specific examples of moral dilemmas that come from building the RIPE Atlas system, and conducting measurements that reveal workings of Internet infrastructure and services.

RIPE Atlas is an extensive measurement network, where the vantage points (sources of measurements) are hosted by volunteers: mostly individuals at home, but also some institutions (ISPs, IXPs, academia, various other businesses). RIPE Atlas users are using someone else's Internet connection to do measurements.

In order to recognise ethical considerations surrounding use of RIPE Atlas, we looked both into the historical considerations of engineers and scientists, and into practical constraints users should keep in mind, and we published some findings in this article.

Biography

Vesna Manojlovic is the Senior Community Builder with a focus on measurement tools. She joined the RIPE NCC as a Trainer in 1999. In 2003, she took responsibility for developing and delivering advanced courses, such as RPSL, Routing Registry, DNSSEC and IPv6.

In 2008, she lead efforts to establish IPv6 RIPEness as a measure of IPv6 deployment among LIRs. In 2011, she joined the Science Division as Manager of the Measurements Community Building team.

Vesna also takes part in and gives presentations at many technical conferences and workshops. Vesna received a BS in Computer Science and Informatics from the School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade. She has three children.

Twitter: @Ms_Multicolor