COMPUTER ETHICS – An Introduction_2

8/3/2019 COMPUTER ETHICS An Introduction_2

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COMPUTER Ethics An Introduction

Samuel Tetteh-Nartey


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Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics

I. Thou shalt not steal mouse balls.

II. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.

III. Thou shalt not interfere with other peoples computer work.

IV. Thou shalt not snoop around in other peoples computer files.

V. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.VI.Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.

VII. Thou shalt not copy or use software for which you have not paid (or been

given authority to do so).

VIII. Thou shalt not appropriate other peoples intellectual output.

IX. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are

writing or the system you are designing.

X. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that insure consideration and

respect for your fellow humans.


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It is not enough that you shouldunderstand about applied science inorder that your work may increase

mans blessings. Concern for manhimself and his fate must always formthe chief interest of all technicalendeavors.

Albert Einstein


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History of ComputerEthics

Father of Computer Ethics - Professor NorbertWiener of MIT 1940s and 1950s

Wieners works were essentially ignored byother thinkers

In the 1970s and 1980s computer ethics wasrecreated and redefined by thinkers who didnot realize that Wiener had already done somuch work in the field. Today, more than 50

years after Wiener created computer ethics,some thinkers are still attempting to definethe nature and boundaries of the subject. Letus briefly consider five different definitions

that have been developed since the 1970s.


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Computer Ethics -Definitions

Maners DefinitionThe name computer ethics was not

commonly used until the mid-1970swhen Walter Maner began to use it.

He defined this field of study asone that examines ethicalproblems aggravated,transformed or created by

computer technology. Some old ethical problems, he said,

were made worse by computers,while others came into existence

because of computer technology.


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Johnsons Definition In her book, Computer Ethics (1985),

Deborah Johnson said that computerethics studies the way in whichcomputers pose new versions ofstandard moral problems and moraldilemmas, exacerbating the old

problems, and forcing us to apply

ordinary moral norms in unchartedrealms.

Unlike Maner, she did not believe thatcomputers create wholly new moral

problems.Rather, she thought that computersave a new twist to ethical uestions that


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Moors Definition In his influential article What Is Computer

Ethics? (1985), James Moor provided a

definition of computer ethics that is muchbroader and more wide-ranging than thoseof Maner or Johnson

He defined computer ethics as a fieldconcerned with policy vacuums andconceptual muddles regarding thesocial and ethical use of informationtechnology


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A typical problem in Computer Ethics arises because there is

a policy vacuum about how computer technology should be

used. Computers provide us with new capabilities and these

in turn give us new choices for action. Often, either no

policies for conduct in these situations exist or existing

policies seem inadequate. A central task of Computer Ethics

is to determine what we should do in such cases, that is,

formulate policies to guide our actions. . . . One difficulty is

that along with a policy vacuum there is often a conceptual

vacuum. Although a problem in Computer Ethics may seem

clear initially, a little reflection reveals a conceptual muddle.

What is needed in such cases is an analysis that provides a


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Moor said that computertechnology is genuinelyrevolutionary because it is

logically malleable

Computers are logically malleable in that they canbe shaped and molded to do any activity that canbe characterized in terms of inputs, outputs andconnecting logical operations. . . . Because logicapplies everywhere, the potential applications ofcomputer technology appear limitless. The

computer is the nearest thing we have to auniversal tool. Indeed, the limits of computers are


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Bynums Definition

In 1989 Terrell Ward Bynum developedanother broad definition of computer

ethics following a suggestion in Moors1985 paper.

According to this view, computerethics identifies and analyzes the

impacts of information technologyon such social and human valuesas health, wealth, work,opportunity, freedom, democracy,

knowledge, privacy, security, self-


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Donald GotterbarnsDefinition

From his perspective, computerethics should be viewed as abranch ofprofessional ethics,concerned primarily with

standards of good practice andcodes of conduct for computingprofessionals:


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There is little attention paid to thedomain of professional ethics thevalues that guide the day-to-day

activities of computing professionalsin their role as professionals. Bycomputing professional I mean anyoneinvolved in the design and

development of computerartifacts. . . . The ethical decisionsmade during the development ofthese artifacts have a direct

relationship to many of the issues


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With this professional ethicsapproach to computer ethics,Gotterbarn co-authored the 1992

version of the ACM Code of Ethics andProfessional Conduct and led a teamof scholars in the development of the1999 ACM/IEEE Software Engineering

Code of Ethics and ProfessionalPractice.


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Next Week

Reason, Relativity, andResponsibility in ComputerEthics

Philosophical & ProfessionalEthics

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