Slide 1

Ethics

Slide 2

Computer Ethics

Category of professional ethics Examples of other professions with ethics

issues:• Medical• Legal• Accounting

Slide 3

Computer 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.

Slide 4

Computer Ethics Example scenario

• Suppose you are a manager and discover that many of your employees are spending a lot of time visiting sports, stock, and entertainment Web sites while at work.• Will you install monitoring software that records

what sites each employee visits and how much time he/she spends there?

• Will you inform employees first?

Slide 5

Ethics

The study of what it means to “do the right thing”

Behaving ethically includes• Being honest.• Keeping promises.• Doing your job well.• Not stealing.

Slide 6

Ethics Views

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.

Slide 7

Ethics Views Some Important Distinctions

• Right, Wrong, and Okay• acts may be ethically required, ethically

prohibited, or ethically acceptable

• Distinguishing wrong and harm• Causing harm

Some acts may cause harm to others but are not necessarily unethical

Lack of harm is not sufficient to conclude that an act is ethically acceptable

Slide 8

Ethics Views

Some Important Distinctions• Personal preference and ethics

• Some issues we disapprove of because of our dislikes, rather than on ethical grounds

• Law and ethics• Some acts are ethical but illegal• Other acts are legal but unethical

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Special Aspects of Professional Ethics

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

Slide 10

Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals

Code of professional conduct• Provides a general statement of ethical

values expected of the people in that profession

• Provides reminders about specific responsibilities

Slide 11

Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals

Professional Codes• ACM and IEEE CS

• Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice

• http://www.computer.org/tab/seprof/code.htm

• ACM• ACM Code of Ethics• http://www.acm.org/constitution/code.html

Slide 12

Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice

Principle 1 PUBLIC Software engineers shall act consistently with the public interest. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:• Accept full responsibility for their own work.• Moderate the interests of the software engineer, the employer, the

client, and the users with the public good.• Approve software only if they have a well-founded belief that it is

safe, meets specifications, passes appropriate tests, and does not diminish quality of life, diminish privacy or harm the environment. The ultimate effect of the work should be to the public good.

• Disclose to appropriate persons or authorities any actual or potential danger to the user, the public, or the environment, that they reasonably believe to be associated with software or related documents.

Slide 13

Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice

Principle 1 PUBLIC Software engineers shall act consistently with the public interest. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:• Cooperate in efforts to address matters of grave public concern

caused by software, its installation, maintenance, support or documentation.

• Be fair and avoid deception in all statements, particularly public ones, concerning software or related documents, methods and tools.

• Consider issues of physical disabilities, allocation of resources, economic disadvantage and other factors that can diminish access to the benefits of software.

• Be encouraged to volunteer professional skills to good causes and to contribute to public education concerning the discipline.

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Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice

Principle 2 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.

Principle 3 PRODUCT Software engineers shall ensure that their products and related modifications meet the highest professional standards possible.

Principle 4 JUDGMENT Software engineers shall maintain integrity and independence in their professional judgment.

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Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice

Principle 5 MANAGEMENT Software engineering managers and leaders shall subscribe to and promote an ethical approach to the management of software development and maintenance.

Principle 6 PROFESSION Software engineers shall advance the integrity and reputation of the profession consistent with the public interest.

Principle 7 COLLEAGUES Software engineers shall be fair to and supportive of their colleagues.

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Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice

Principle 8 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. In particular, software engineers shall continually endeavor to:• Further their knowledge of developments in the analysis, specification,

design, development, maintenance and testing of software and related documents, together with the management of the development process.

• Improve their ability to create safe, reliable, and useful quality software at reasonable cost and within a reasonable time.

• Improve their ability to produce accurate, informative, and well-written documentation.

• Improve their understanding of the software and related documents on which they work and of the environment in which they will be used.

• Improve their knowledge of relevant standards and the law governing the software and related documents on which they work.

• <<others>>

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Ethical Considerations Some Ethical Issues for Consideration

Negative/Positive Impacts of New Technology Themes Privacy Communication Trust in Computers Freedom of Speech Intellectual Property

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Impacts of New Technology

Negative• Unemployment. Alienation, Crime, Loss of

Privacy, Errors.

Positive• Convenience, New types of jobs, • More options for transactions, • Improvements in crime-fighting, • Small error rate

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Privacy

Privacy and Personal Information

• The Impact of Computer Technology

• “Big Brother is Watching You”

• Consumer Information

• More Privacy Risks

• Protecting Privacy: Education, Technology, and Markets

• Protecting Privacy: Law and Regulation

Slide 20

Trust Can We Trust the Computer?

• What Can Go Wrong?

• Increasing Reliability and Safety

• Perspectives on Failures, Dependence, Risk, and Progress

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Trust Freedom of Speech The First Amendment

• Protects Citizens From Government• Prohibits restriction of speech, press, peaceful assembly,

and religion.

Freedom of Speech In Cyberspace

• Changing Communications Paradigms

• Offensive Speech and Censorship in Cyberspace

• Anonymity

• Spam

• Ensuring Valuable and Diverse Content

Slide 22

Intellectual Property Intellectual Property

• Intellectual Property and Changing Technology

• Copyright Law

• Copying Music, Movies, Software, and Books

• Solutions (Good and Bad)

• Free-Speech Issues

• Free Software

• Issues for Software Developers

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Intellectual Property Computer Crime

• Introduction

• Hacking

• Online Scams

• Fraud, Embezzlement, Sabotage, Information Theft, and

Forgery

• Crime Fighting Versus Privacy and Civil Liberties

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Professional Ethics Special Aspects of Professional Ethics

• 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.

Slide 25

Professional Ethics Professional Codes

• ACM and IEEE CS • Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice

• ACM• ACM Code of Ethics

• 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.

Slide 26

Computer Ethics

Analyzing scenarios• List all the people and organizations affected.• List risks, issues, problems, and

consequences.• List possible actions, and consider the impact

of each action.• List responsibilities of the decision maker.• Consult a code of professional ethics.

Slide 27

Computer Ethics

Scenario• You are a computer system manager. An

employee is out sick and another employee requests that you copy all files from the sick person’s computer to his so he can do some work.

Slide 28

Computer Ethics

Scenario• Suppose you are a member of a team

working on a computer-controlled crash-avoidance system for automobiles. You think the system has a flaw that could endanger people. The project manager does not seem concerned and expects to announce completion of the project soon. Are you ethically obligated to do something?

Slide 29

Computer Ethics

Scenario• Your company has about 25 licenses for a

computer program. You discover that it has been copied onto 80 computers.