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Copyright 2003 Prentice Hall
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 1

Ethics
Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals
Cases
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 2

Categories:
• Medical,
• Legal,
• Engineering,
• Accounting,
• Computer,
• …and more.
Q
: What are the special responsibilities of these professionals?
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 3

Ethics
Special Responsibilities Facing Computer Professionals and
Users
• Maintaining relationships with and responsibilities toward customers, clients, coworkers, employees, and employers.
• Making critical decisions that have significant consequences for many people.
• Determining how to manage, select, or use computers in a professional setting.
Q
: Describe an ethical scenario for one of the categories, above.
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 4

Ethics
Behaving Ethically Includes:
• Being honest.
• Keeping promises.
• Doing your job well.
• Not stealing.
Q
: What other behaviors are usually considered “doing the right thing?”
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Ethics
Deontological
• Emphasizes duty and absolute rules.
• Rules should apply to everyone.
• Use logic or reason to determine what is good.
• Treat people as an ends (not a means).
Q
: Describe “rules” that follow deontological decision-making that apply to school or work.
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Ethics
(cont’d)
Consequentialist
• Includes Utilitarianism
• Strive to increase “utility” (that which satisfies a person’s needs and values) for the most people (the greater good).
• Consider the consequences for all affected people.
Q
: Describe “rules” that follow consequentialist decision-making that apply to school or work.
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 7

Ethics
(cont’d)
Consequentialist (cont’d)
• Rule-Utilitarianism: Choose rules, or guidelines for behavior, that generally increase utility.
• Act-Utilitarianism: Analyze each action to determine if it increases utility.
Q
: What are some problems with act-utilitarianism?
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 8

Ethics
(cont’d)
Natural Rights
• Derived from the nature of humanity
• Focus is on the process by which people interact.
• Respect the fundamental rights of others, including life, liberty, and property.
Q
: Describe an ethical scenario about use of a computer system and tell what rights the people involved have.
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 9

Ethics
(cont’d)
Reaching the Right Decision
• There is no formula to solve ethical problems.
• The computer professional must consider trade-offs.
• Ethical theories help to identify important principles or guidelines.
Q
: What trade-offs might a computer professional need to consider?
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Ethics
(cont’d)
Some Important Distinctions
• Right, Wrong, and Okay: acts may be ethically obligatory, ethically prohibited, or ethically acceptable.
• Negative rights (liberties): the right to act without coercive interference.
• Positive rights (claim-rights): imposing an obligation on some people to provide certain things.
• Causing harm: some acts may cause harm to others but are not necessarily unethical.
Q
: Describe an ethical scenario involving a computer professional that illustrates one of the items above.
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 11

Ethics
(cont’d)
Some Important Distinctions (cont’d)
• Goals vs. actions: the actions we take to achieve our goals should be consistent with our ethical constraints.
• Personal preference vs. ethics: some issues we disapprove of because of our dislikes, rather than on ethical grounds.
• Law vs. ethics: some acts are ethical, but illegal; other acts are legal, but unethical.
Q
: Describe an ethical scenario involving a computer professional that illustrates one of the items above.
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 12

Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals
Computer Professionals:
• Are experts in their field,
• Know customers rely on their knowledge, expertise, and honesty,
• Understand their products (and related risks) affect many people,
• Follow good professional standards and practices,
• Maintain an expected level of competence and are up-to-date on current knowledge and technology, and
• Educate the non-computer professional.
Q
: Recall a computer professional who demonstrated some of these characteristics.
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 13

Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals
Professional Codes
ACM and IEEE CS
• Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice
ACM
• ACM Code of Ethics
CIPS – Canadian Information Processing Society
• Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
Ethical Behaviors Expected of the Computer Professional:
• Honest and fair; respects confidentiality; maintains professional competence; understands relevant laws; respects and protection of personal privacy; avoids harming others; and respects property rights.
Q
: How does a software engineer “learn” to be ethical?
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ACM/IEEE Code of Ethics
Eight Principles related to the behaviour of and decisions made by professional software engineers, including practitioners, educators, managers, supervisors and policy makers, as well as trainees and students of the profession.
Software engineers shall commit themselves to making the analysis, specification, design, development, testing and maintenance of software a beneficial and respected profession. In accordance with their commitment to the health, safety and welfare of the public, software engineers shall adhere to the following Eight Principles:
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 15

ACM/IEEE Code of ethics - principles
PUBLIC - Software engineers shall act consistently with the public interest.
CLIENT AND EMPLOYER - Software engineers shall act in a manner that is in the best interests of their client and employer consistent with the public interest.
PRODUCT - Software engineers shall ensure that their products and related modifications meet the highest professional standards possible.
JUDGMENT - Software engineers shall maintain integrity and independence in their professional judgment.
MANAGEMENT - Software engineering managers and leaders shall subscribe to and promote an ethical approach to the management of software development and maintenance.
PROFESSION - Software engineers shall advance the integrity and reputation of the profession consistent with the public interest.
COLLEAGUES - Software engineers shall be fair to and supportive of their colleagues.
SELF - Software engineers shall participate in lifelong learning regarding the practice of their profession and shall promote an ethical approach to the practice of the profession.
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 16

• Designed to help members provide high levels of service and respect for colleagues, other professionals, employers/clients, and public
• IT Professionals often granted privileges to solve problems; provides unique means and opportunity to impact society
• With privilege comes responsibility
• At times must resolve conflicting ethical principles
• Sometimes there is no one right answer – but there is always a preferred set of answers
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– Protect public interest
– Avoid conflicts of interest
– Take responsibility
– Contribute to positively to the IT profession
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 18

•
Public Interest
– Contribute to growth of society
– Report and do the right thing (not just legal thing)
– Use privilege access to protect society
• Competency
– Leadership / professional attractiveness
– Participation in industry, academia, associations
– Getting along with and accepting other credentials
• Deal with conflicting loyalties
– Serve the greater good, use “intelligence disobedience” when necessary
–
Constrain self-interest, ambition appropriately
–
Consider alternatives, pros/cons of solutons
–
Overcome favourtism and the small ethical missteps
•
Honesty and Integrity
– Respect privacy and intellectual property
– Identify true competence and qualifications
– Desire to continually expand knowledge
–
Fair practices, being impartial
–
Being accountable of results, contractual obligations
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• Process of Ethical Decision Making:
1. Identify the problem - key ethical issues
2.
Identify the relevant ethical “ends” that are most important to the situation
3. Identify the relevant ethical principles
4. Generate alternative actions; analyse the risks and benefits of each alternative; consult with knowledgeable colleagues
5. Reflect on best alternatives, make decision
6. Determine action plan
7. Take action
• Requests for guidance, clarification can be made in confidence to CIPS
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Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals
Understand Success
• Understand what success means—developers (especially) and users of computer systems must see beyond simply writing code to complete a task.
Design for Real Users
• To provide useful systems, real users must be included in the design stage.
Q: Give an example of a system for which consultation with real users in the design stage would be important.
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Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals
(cont’d)
Thorough Planning and Scheduling
• Pay attention to details—do a thorough and careful job when planning and scheduling a project and when writing bids.
Test With Real Users
• To provide safe systems, real users must be included in the testing stage.
Q: Give an example of a system that has a straightforward user interface. A confusing interface. Would testing with real users improve the confusing one?
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 22

Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals
(cont’d)
Evaluate Re-use of Software
• Don’t assume existing software is safe and re-usable.
Candidness
• Be open and honest about capabilities, safety, and limitations of software.
Protect
• Require a convincing case for safety.
Q
: Describe a software program or computer system for which you think these guidelines were not followed.
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 23

An air traffic controller, relying on information from his computer console, directs two
Boeing 747's onto intersecting paths. The jets collide and burst into flame, and all aboard perish. -- Washington Post
"Software Gone Awry", Scientific American, October 1996 --Investigators appointed by the European Space Agency reported in July that a software bug brought down the new $8-billion Ariane 5 rocket.
A hospital minicomputer, monitoring a patient recovering from surgery, fails to alert hospital staff that the patient is having a stroke. The patient dies. -- Washington
Post
"Computer bug bites Alberta exchange", Calgary Herald, October 24, 1996 -- The
Alberta Stock Exchange crashed at 7:38 a.m. Wednesday, brought down by a glitch in its new, fully computerized trading system.
A company dicovers that its computer has mangled valuable and sensitive information beyond recovery. The loss gravely weakens the company's market position. --
Washington Post
Also see … http://www5.in.tum.de/~huckle/bugse.html
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 24

Cases
Brainstorming phase
• List risks, issues, problems, consequences.
• List all the stakeholders.
• List possible actions.
Q
: What is the purpose of this stage?
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 25

Cases
(cont’d)
Analysis phase
• Identify the responsibilities of the decision-maker.
• Identify the rights of stakeholders.
• Consider the impact of the action options on the stakeholders.
• Find sections in codes of ethics that apply. Categorize each potential action or response as ethically obligatory, ethically prohibited, or ethically acceptable.
• Consider the ethical merits of each option and select one.
Q
: What is the value of this stage?
A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 26

Cases
Refer to any of the cases in the text or the general exercises following each chapter or current scenarios in the news.
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Ethical dilemmas you may encounter
1. Disagreement in principle with the policies of senior management
2. Your employer acts in an unethical way and releases a safety-critical system without finishing the testing of the system
3. Participation in the development of components for military weapons or biogenetic systems
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