Ethics
Computer Ethics
Cyber Ethics
Ethics for Computer Professionals
Renaat Verbruggen
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Renaat Verbruggen
School of Computing
Dublin City University
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Foundation of Ethics
• Philosophy; a system of beliefs allowing for
alternative views of reality, meaning and
understanding.
• Ethics belongs to philosophy not science.
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Philosophy
• philosophy {Gk. filosofia
[philosophia]}
– Literally, love of wisdom. Hence, careful
thought about the fundamental nature of the
world, the grounds for human knowledge, and
the evaluation of human conduct.
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Philosophy
– Parts of a philosophy system are: metaphysics,
epistemology, and axiology.
– Metaphysics: The theory of the nature of
reality, asks what is real? It is a belief in what
best explains reality and as it cannot be proven
it is an assumption.
– Epistemology The theory of truth or
knowledge, asks what is true and how do we
come to know that truth?
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Philosophy
– axiology The theory of value or worth. It asks
what is good or bad? It has two sub-parts:
ethics the theory of the goodness or badness of
human behaviour and aesthetics the theory of
the goodness or badness of visual or audible
stimuli (expressed in terms of beauty or
ugliness)
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Philosophy
– Compatibility: the parts of a philosophic system
must be compatible with one another.A person’s
view of reality (metaphysics ), must be
consistent with how they think reality is known
(epistemology), and how it is to be valued
(axiology).
– Metaphysics: Is the fundamental or controlling
element of philosophy, the way you explain
reality will determine your view of knowledge
and value.
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Ethics and Computing
• Why is Ethics such an issue with computing
in particular?
• Principles of ethics are the same - theft is
theft whether using a computer or not
• But computers give rise to new questions as
to how these principles are to be applied.
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Ethics and Computing
• Why is Ethics such an issue with computing
in particular?
• Privacy
• Pervasiveness
• Security
• Responsibility
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Issues for Ethics and Computing
• SPEED
• “Immediate” responses are possible using
email causing problems that would never
have occurred before.
• Flames
• Reply All phenomena
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Issues for Ethics and Computing
• STORAGE
• Vast amounts of data can be stored on
individuals including transactions,
locations, goods bought etc
• Privacy and Accuracy of information
become an issue
• Information can be shared in multiple ways
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Issues for Ethics and Computing
•
•
•
•
IDENTITY theft
Forgery
Spoofing identity (impersonation)
Pervasive mistaken identity
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Issues for Ethics and Computing
• TRANSNATIONALITY
• It can cross borders with impunity
• What is legal in one country can be viewed
by another in a country where it is illegal
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Issues for Ethics and Computing
• COPYING
• Information can be taken form its original
source and used elsewhere with ease.
• Copyright can easily be infringed
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Issues for Ethics and Computing
• Content
• Pornography
• Gambling
• Chat rooms
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Issues for Ethics and Computing
• POWER
• Gender - Computer Science is still a maledominated field, is this male domination an
inequity, or just an amoral accident?
• Race and Social Class is the computer such
a basic tool that all should have equal
access to it?
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Issues for Ethics and Computing
• PRIVACY
• Selling private data - harvesting e-mail
addresses then sell that information to mass
marketers (spam)
• .Opt-in vs. opt-out for solicitation - Is it
unfair to marketers to prevent them by law
from sending e-mail only to those who have
in some way requested it?
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Issues for Ethics and Computing
• Technical Issues
• Reverse engineering other companies
software
• Professional conduct - see codes later
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Why a Separate Category of
Professional Ethics?
• The same ethical rules involving honesty, fairness,
and so forth should apply to professionals as well
as to ordinary individuals.
• So, if it is wrong for ordinary people to steal,
cheat, lie, and so forth, then it is wrong for
professionals to do so as well.
• Thus, one might conclude that a separate field of
study called "professional ethics" is not really
needed.
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Separate Category of
Professional Ethics (continued)
• Ethicists argue that some moral issues affect- ing
professionals are sufficiently distinct and
specialized to warrant a separate field of study.
• Some also argue that professionals can have
special moral obligations that exceed those of
ordinary individuals.
• To grasp the arguments for this view, it is useful
first to understand what is meant by the terms
profession and professional.
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What Exactly is a Profession?
• A profession can be understood in terms of the
attributes and requirements of a professional
practice, such as "calling in which special
knowledge and skill are used in...the service of
mankind." (Firmage, 1991)
• Greenwood (1991) believes that professions are
occupational fields distinguishable in terms of five
characteristics: (i) systematic theory, (ii)
authority, (iii) community sanction, (iv) ethical
codes, and (v) a culture.
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Who is a Professional?
• Professionals who comprise a given profession
also tend to have certain defining attributes and
requirements.
• Medical doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc. find
themselves in situations in which their decisions
and actions can have significant social effects, and
have roles and responsibili- ties that exceed those
of ordinary individuals.
• Sometimes these roles and responsibilities
differentiate professionals from others.
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Who is a Computer Professional?
• A computer professional might be interpreted to
mean anyone who is employed in the computer,
information-technology, or
information/communications fields.
• Or a computer professional might be thought of in
more narrow terms, in which case only software
engineers would be included.
• There are various gradients in between the two
ends of this spectrum.
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Definition of a Computer
Professional (Continued)
• A computer professional could be defined in such
a way that, in addition to software engineers,
software quality analysts, software technical
writers, and software managers and supervisors.
• A software engineering team includes those who
contribute by direct participation to the analysis,
specification, design, development, certification,
maintenance, and testing of software systems.
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Do Computer Professionals Have
Special Responsibilities?
• Gotterbarn (1999) believes that because software
engineers and their teams are have significant
opportunities to:
• (i) do good or cause harm
• (ii) enable others to do good or cause harm
• (iii) influence others to do good or cause harm.
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Critical-Safety Software
• Gotterbarn suggests that the roles and
responsibilities involved in the development
of safety-critical systems is a differentiating
factor.
• A "safety-critical system" is often used to
refer to computer systems that can have a
direct life-threatening impact.
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Safety-Critical Software
(Continued)
• Examples of safety-critical software
systems and applications typically include:
• aircraft and air traffic control systems
• mass transportation systems
• nuclear reactors missile systems
• medical treatment systems.
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Additional Safety-Critical
Systems
• Bowyer (2002) extends the range of safetycritical applications to include software
used in the:
• design of bridges and buildings;
• election of water disposal sites;
• development of analytical models for
medical treatment.
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Professional Codes of Ethics
• Many professions have established professional
societies, which in turn have adopted codes of
conduct.
• The medical profession established the AMA
(American Medical Association),
• The legal profession established the ABA
(American Bar Association).
• Both associations have formal codes of
ethics/conduct for their members.
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Professional Codes for Computer
Societies
• The computing profession has also has
professional societies.
• The two largest are:
• The Association for Computing Machinery
(ACM);
• The Institute for Electrical and Electronics
Engineers – Computer Society (IEEE-CS).
• Both organizations have adopted professional
codes of ethics.
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Purpose of Professional Codes
• Professional codes of ethics are often
designed to motivate members of an
association to behave in certain ways.
• Four primary functions of codes are to:
–
–
–
–
inspire
guide
educate
discipline the members.
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Criticisms of Ethical Codes
• Ladd (1995) argues that ethical codes rest on a
series of confusions that are both "intellectual and
moral."
• His argument has three main points.
• First, ethics is basically an "open-ended,
reflective, and critical intellectual activity."
• Second, codes introduce confusions with respect
to micro-ethics vs. macro-ethics.
• Third, giving codes a disciplinary function makes
them more like legal than ethical rules.
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In Defense of Professional Codes
• Gotterbarn argues that we need to
distinguish between:
• codes of ethics;
• codes of conduct;
• codes of practice.
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In Defense of Professional
Codes (Continued)
• Codes of ethics as "aspirational," because they
often serve as mission statements for the
profession and thus can provide vision and
objectives.
• Codes of conduct are oriented more toward the
professional and the professional's attitude and
behavior.
• Codes of practice relate to operational activities
within a profession.
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Table 4-1: Some Strengths and
Weaknesses of Professional
Codes
Strengths
Weaknesses
Codes inspire the members of a profession to behave
ethically.
Directives included in many codes tend to be too
general and too vague.
Codes guide the members of a profession in ethical
choices.
Codes are not always helpful when two or more
directives conflict.
Codes educate the members of a profession about
their professional obligations.
A professional code’s directives are never complete
or exhaustive.
Codes discipline members when they violate one or
more of the code’s directives.
Codes are ineffective (have no “teeth”) in disciplinary
matters.
Codes “sensitize” members of a profession to ethical
issues and alert them to ethical aspects they otherwise
might overlook.
Codes do not help us distinguish between microethics issues and macro-ethics issues.
Codes inform the public about the nature and roles of
the profession.
Directives in codes are sometimes inconsistent with
one another.
Codes enhance the profession in the eyes of the Renaat Verbruggen
Codes can be self-serving for the profession.
public.
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ACM: General Moral
Imperatives
1. Contribute to society and human wellbeing.
2. Avoid harm to others.
3. Be honest and trustworthy.
4. Be fair and take action not to discriminate.
5. Honour property rights including
copyrights and patents
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ACM (cont’d)
6. Give proper credit for intellectual
property.
7. Respect the privacy of others.
8. Honour confidentiality.
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ACM: Specific Professional
Responsibilities
1. Strive to achieve the highest quality,
effectiveness and dignity in both the
process and products of professional work.
2. Acquire and maintain professional
competence.
3. Know and respect existing laws pertaining
to professional work.
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ACM: Specific Professional
Responsibilities (cont’d)
4. Accept and provide appropriate
professional review.
5. Give comprehensive and thorough
evaluations of computer systems and their
impacts, including analysis of possible
risks.
6. Honour contracts, agreements, and assigned
responsibilities.
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ACM: Specific Professional
Responsibilities (cont’d)
7. Improve public understanding of
computing and its consequences.
8. Access computing and communication
resources only when authorised to do so.
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ACM: Organisational Leadership
Imperatives
1. Articulate social responsibilities of
members of an organisational unit and
encourage full acceptance of those
responsibilities.
2. Manage personnel and resources to design
and build information systems that enhance
the quality of working life.
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ACM: Organisational Leadership
Imperatives(cont’d)
3. Acknowledge and support proper and
authorized uses of an organization's
computing and communication resources.
4. Ensure that users and those who will be
affected by a system have their needs
clearly articulated during the assessment
and design of requirements; later the system
must be validated to meet requirements.
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ACM: Organisational Leadership
Imperatives(cont’d)
5. Articulate and support policies that protect
the dignity of users and others affected by
a computing system.
6. Create opportunities for members of the
organisation to learn the principles and
limitations of computer systems.
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ACM: Compliance with the
Code
1. Uphold and promote the principles of this
Code.
2. Treat violations of this code as inconsistent
with membership in the ACM.
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