WGU Ethics-In-Technology Practice Test Questions Answers

The unauthorized change in the security key vault’s database led to the disclosure of confidential information, which directly impacts privacy. Privacy concerns the protection of personal and sensitive information from unauthorized access, use, or exposure.

When confidential data is leaked, it violates fundamental principles of data privacy and security, raising ethical issues about how sensitive information is managed and protected.

Privacy Ethics (Warren & Brandeis, 1890) – Defined privacy as "the right to be let alone."

Data Protection Regulations – GDPR (Europe), CCPA (California), and HIPAA (for health data) enforce ethical handling of personal information.

Confidentiality Principle in Cybersecurity – Ensuring only authorized access to sensitive information aligns with professional ethical standards (e.g., ACM Code of Ethics, IEEE Ethics Code).

Ethical Hacking & Incident Handling – Ethical frameworks emphasize preventing breaches that compromise privacy.

Relevant Ethical References in Technology:Thus, this incident primarily raises concerns about privacy, making option B the correct answer.

Industrial espionage refers to the unauthorized theft or copying of trade secrets, proprietary information, or intellectual property from one company to another, often to gain a competitive advantage.

Why is this Industrial Espionage?

The sibling stole proprietary source code from Employee A’s laptop.

This act provides unfair competitive advantage to the sibling’s company.

Unauthorized access to trade secrets violates legal and ethical standards (e.g., Economic Espionage Act).

A. Nepotism – Favoring family members in hiring or promotions, but this case involves theft.

B. Conflict of Interest – Would apply if Employee A voluntarily shared information, but here, it was stolen.

D. Corruption – Involves bribery or unethical business practices but does not specifically relate to corporate theft.

Why Not the Other Options?Thus, the correct answer is C. Industrial Espionage, as it involves theft of confidential trade secrets.

Economic Espionage Act (1996), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1831-1839.

OECD Guidelines on Corporate Ethics and Intellectual Property Protection.

References in Ethics in Technology:

Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the FBI can monitor communications without a warrant if both parties are non-U.S. citizens and the surveillance is conducted for intelligence purposes.

However, if one or both parties are U.S. citizens, the FBI would typically require a warrant under FISA or a separate court authorization, even in a short-term investigation.

FISA (1978) & Patriot Act (2001) – Provide legal authority for surveillance but impose restrictions on monitoring U.S. citizens.

Fourth Amendment (Privacy Rights) – Prevents warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens except in national security cases.

Snowden Leaks (2013) & Mass Surveillance Ethics – Raised concerns over the overreach of intelligence agencies in digital surveillance.

Deontological Ethics (Right to Privacy vs. National Security) – Governments must balance security concerns with individual privacy rights.

Relevant Ethical References in Technology:Thus, the correct answer is A. Calls between two non-U.S. citizens, as FISA allows warrantless surveillance in such cases.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), organizations are required to store personal data only for as long as necessary and must securely erase or anonymize data once it is no longer needed for its original purpose.

This aligns with GDPR’s "Storage Limitation Principle" (Article 5(1)(e)), which mandates that data should be:

Kept only for as long as necessary for processing purposes

Deleted or anonymized when no longer required

Stored securely to prevent unauthorized access

GDPR Compliance (Article 5: Principles of Processing Personal Data) – Enforces storage limitation and secure erasure.

Data Ethics (Fair and Responsible Use of Personal Data) – Ethical obligation to limit storage and prevent misuse.

Privacy by Design (Cavoukian, 1995) – Encourages secure deletion of unnecessary data.

Utilitarian Ethics & Data Protection – Secure erasure prevents potential misuse and data breaches.

Relevant Ethical References in Technology:Thus, the correct answer is D. Securely erasing data that is no longer needed, as it complies with GDPR storage limitation requirements.

Proxy discrimination occurs when a seemingly neutral variable (e.g., zip code) serves as a proxy for a protected characteristic, such as race, gender, or socioeconomic status. In this case, the AI uses zip codes to determine learning support for racial segments, introducing unintentional racial bias because zip codes often reflect historical segregation and economic disparities.

Since historical housing policies (e.g., redlining) led to racial and economic segregation, using zip codes as a decision factor unfairly correlates race with access to educational resources—a classic example of proxy discrimination.

Algorithmic Bias & Fairness (FAT/ML Guidelines) – AI systems must avoid using proxies that reinforce systemic discrimination.

Civil Rights Laws (Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act) – Policies that disproportionately harm racial groups violate anti-discrimination laws.

ACM & IEEE Ethics in AI – Developers must mitigate biases in AI models that result in unfair treatment.

Deontological Ethics & Fairness – AI systems should not perpetuate historical biases through indirect discrimination.

Relevant Ethical References in Technology:Thus, the correct answer is C. Proxy discrimination, as zip codes indirectly introduce racial bias into the AI system.