Case Studies of Social and Ethical Impacts of Blockchain Technology
This module offers several practical case studies on the development and application of blockchain technologies, analysed to highlight their social and ethical impacts. These case studies helped shape the narrative and normative framing of blockchain technologies within their communities, and consequently public discourse. By analysing the ethical issues and controversies that arose in these case studies, the complex terrain of ethical decision-making in the development and application of blockchain technologies will be made explicit. After completing this module, participants will have in-depth knowledge of the social and ethical impacts of the following case studies: Wikileaks and the early adoption of Bitcoin to circumvent state control, The ethical risks of designing a blockchain social networking service, The ethical risks of teaching and practicing blockchain cybersecurity.
Instructors
Quinn DuPont
Quinn DuPont studies human and social dimensions of cybersecurity, cryptography, and code. He is currently a postdoctoral Research Associate at the School of Information, University of Washington. He has a PhD in Information Science (Toronto), and is an ALA-accredited librarian (Western), with a decade of industry experience as a Senior Information Specialist at IBM, an IT consultant, and a usability and experience designer. His current research focuses on Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technologies. He is a member of the Standards Council of Canada, ISO, and IEEE Blockchain committees. His book, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains (Polity), is a scholarly survey of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies in society.
Wessel Reijers
Wessel Reijers studies philosophy and ethics of technology and has a strong interest in the study of financial and governance technologies. He is currently a PhD researcher at the ADAPT Centre, School of Computing, Dublin City University in Ireland. His current research focuses on the integration of ethics in research and innovation activities. One outcome of this research is the Ethics Canvas, which can be used by researchers to discuss ethical impacts of their work. He has published in several academic journals on the topics of hermeneutic philosophy of technology, blockchain technologies, social contract theory, the digital commons and ethics in research and innovation.
Publication Year: 2018