PowerPoint® Slides to Accompany

A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and

Ethical Issues for Computers and the
Internet
(2nd Edition)
by Sara Baase
San Diego State University

PowerPoint slides created by Sherry Clark

Copyright 2003 Prentice Hall

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 1

 A Gift of Fire

Professional Ethics and Responsibilities

Ethics

Ethical Guidelines for Computer Professionals

Cases

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 2

 Ethics

Professional Ethics
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

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.

Q: Describe an ethical scenario for one of the categories, above.

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 4

 Ethics

“Do the Right Thing”

Behaving Ethically Includes:
• Being honest.
• Keeping promises.
• Doing your job well.
• Not stealing.

Q: What other behaviors are usually considered “doing the right thing?”

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 5

 Ethics

Ethical Views
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.

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 6

 Ethics

Ethical Views (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

Ethical Views (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

Ethical Views (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

Ethical Views (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?

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 10

 Ethics

Ethical Views (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

Ethical Views (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
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.

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?

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 14
 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.

Preamble
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

 CIPS Code of Ethics and Profession Conduct
• 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

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 17

 CIPS Code of Ethics and Profession Conduct
• CISP members are expected to:
– Protect public interest
– Avoid conflicts of interest
– Take responsibility
– Contribute to positively to the IT profession
• Obligation of integrity and self-discipline > law
• A broad set of principles not a fixed rigid set
of rules
• Lack of knowledge of ethics is not an excuse
• Duty to report unethical behaviour

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 18

 CIPS Code of Ethics and Profession Conduct
• 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

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 19

 CIPS Code of Ethics and Profession Conduct

• 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

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 20

 Ethical Guidelines
for Computer Professionals
Additional Guidelines for the Computer
Professional
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.

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 21

 Ethical Guidelines
for Computer Professionals
Additional Guidelines for the Computer
Professional (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
Additional Guidelines for the Computer
Professional (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
 Play with fire and you may get burned ..
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

Analyzing a Professional Ethical Scenario

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

Analyzing Professional Responsibilities (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

Applying the Brainstorming and Analysis

Phases
Refer to any of the cases in the text or the general exercises
following each chapter or current scenarios in the news.

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 27

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

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 10: Professional Ethics and Responsibilities 28