Ethics Newsline®

IRS warns taxpayers to be honest; closed-circuit TV cameras may be introduced into British examination halls; and button cameras may be the latest rage in high-tech cheating

VARIOUS DATELINES
High- and low-tech cheating made headlines in several major stories last week. Among them:

• The U.S. Internal Revenue Service participated in what has become an April ritual — reminding citizens not to cheat on their taxes. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that the IRS has gotten into the habit of highlighting past cases of tax fraud, including descriptions of the sentences miscreants have received.
• Closed-circuit TV cameras may be introduced into Britain’s exam halls in order to deter cheating, the U.K. Press Association reports. While a teachers’ union warned last week of an Orwellian surveillance culture that could develop as a result of the technology, officials of the association representing exam proctors say closed-circuit monitoring could protect not only honest students but also exam monitors, who sometimes are accused of making false accusations or botching exam instructions. Cheating, according to the report, is becoming an increasingly difficult problem because of new technologies — such as pens fitted with voice recorders — that enable dishonest test takers.
• High-tech cheating was the topic of a recent Los Angeles Times report. Among the innovations: websites devoted to cheating practices, cheating tutorials on YouTube, and phones that receive text messages from confederates helping a student with answers. At the leading edge of cheating technology, the Times reports, are button cameras, which have a wireless connection to a laptop computer, enabling students to save images of the test for use by cheaters who take it later.

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Apr. 12 — U.K. Press Association, Apr. 12 — Los Angeles Times, Mar. 30.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Feb. 25 — Related Newsline Commentary, Dec. 31, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 10, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 19, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 27, 2007.