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General Ethical Principles

This document outlines general ethical principles for computing professionals. It discusses principles such as contributing to society and human well-being, avoiding harm, being honest and trustworthy, being fair and avoiding discrimination, respecting intellectual property, respecting privacy, and honoring confidentiality.

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Eremu Thomas
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57 views4 pages

General Ethical Principles

This document outlines general ethical principles for computing professionals. It discusses principles such as contributing to society and human well-being, avoiding harm, being honest and trustworthy, being fair and avoiding discrimination, respecting intellectual property, respecting privacy, and honoring confidentiality.

Uploaded by

Eremu Thomas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1. GENERAL ETHICAL PRINCIPLES.

A computing professional should...

1.1 Contribute to society and to human well-being,


acknowledging that all people are stakeholders in computing.

This principle, which concerns the quality of life of all people, affirms an
obligation of computing professionals, both individually and collectively, to
use their skills for the benefit of society, its members, and the
environment surrounding them. This obligation includes promoting
fundamental human rights and protecting each individual's right to
autonomy. An essential aim of computing professionals is to minimize
negative consequences of computing, including threats to health, safety,
personal security, and privacy. When the interests of multiple groups
conflict, the needs of those less advantaged should be given increased
attention and priority.

Computing professionals should consider whether the results of their


efforts will respect diversity, will be used in socially responsible ways, will
meet social needs, and will be broadly accessible. They are encouraged to
actively contribute to society by engaging in pro bono or volunteer work
that benefits the public good.

In addition to a safe social environment, human well-being requires a safe


natural environment. Therefore, computing professionals should promote
environmental sustainability both locally and globally.

1.2 Avoid harm.

In this document, "harm" means negative consequences, especially when


those consequences are significant and unjust. Examples of harm include
unjustified physical or mental injury, unjustified destruction or disclosure
of information, and unjustified damage to property, reputation, and the
environment. This list is not exhaustive.

Well-intended actions, including those that accomplish assigned duties,


may lead to harm. When that harm is unintended, those responsible are
obliged to undo or mitigate the harm as much as possible. Avoiding harm
begins with careful consideration of potential impacts on all those affected
by decisions. When harm is an intentional part of the system, those
responsible are obligated to ensure that the harm is ethically justified. In
either case, ensure that all harm is minimized.

To minimize the possibility of indirectly or unintentionally harming others,


computing professionals should follow generally accepted best practices
unless there is a compelling ethical reason to do otherwise. Additionally,
the consequences of data aggregation and emergent properties of
systems should be carefully analyzed. Those involved with pervasive or
infrastructure systems should also consider Principle 3.7.

A computing professional has an additional obligation to report any signs


of system risks that might result in harm. If leaders do not act to curtail
or mitigate such risks, it may be necessary to "blow the whistle" to reduce
potential harm. However, capricious or misguided reporting of risks can
itself be harmful. Before reporting risks, a computing professional should
carefully assess relevant aspects of the situation.

1.3 Be honest and trustworthy.

Honesty is an essential component of trustworthiness. A computing


professional should be transparent and provide full disclosure of all
pertinent system capabilities, limitations, and potential problems to the
appropriate parties. Making deliberately false or misleading claims,
fabricating or falsifying data, offering or accepting bribes, and other
dishonest conduct are violations of the Code.

Computing professionals should be honest about their qualifications, and


about any limitations in their competence to complete a task. Computing
professionals should be forthright about any circumstances that might
lead to either real or perceived conflicts of interest or otherwise tend to
undermine the independence of their judgment. Furthermore,
commitments should be honored.

Computing professionals should not misrepresent an organization's


policies or procedures, and should not speak on behalf of an organization
unless authorized to do so.

1.4 Be fair and take action not to discriminate.

The values of equality, tolerance, respect for others, and justice govern
this principle. Fairness requires that even careful decision processes
provide some avenue for redress of grievances.

Computing professionals should foster fair participation of all people,


including those of underrepresented groups. Prejudicial discrimination on
the basis of age, color, disability, ethnicity, family status, gender identity,
labor union membership, military status, nationality, race, religion or
belief, sex, sexual orientation, or any other inappropriate factor is an
explicit violation of the Code. Harassment, including sexual harassment,
bullying, and other abuses of power and authority, is a form of
discrimination that, amongst other harms, limits fair access to the virtual
and physical spaces where such harassment takes place.
The use of information and technology may cause new, or enhance
existing, inequities. Technologies and practices should be as inclusive and
accessible as possible and computing professionals should take action to
avoid creating systems or technologies that disenfranchise or oppress
people. Failure to design for inclusiveness and accessibility may constitute
unfair discrimination.

1.5 Respect the work required to produce new ideas, inventions,


creative works, and computing artifacts.

Developing new ideas, inventions, creative works, and computing artifacts


creates value for society, and those who expend this effort should expect
to gain value from their work. Computing professionals should therefore
credit the creators of ideas, inventions, work, and artifacts, and respect
copyrights, patents, trade secrets, license agreements, and other
methods of protecting authors' works.

Both custom and the law recognize that some exceptions to a creator's
control of a work are necessary for the public good. Computing
professionals should not unduly oppose reasonable uses of their
intellectual works. Efforts to help others by contributing time and energy
to projects that help society illustrate a positive aspect of this principle.
Such efforts include free and open source software and work put into the
public domain. Computing professionals should not claim private
ownership of work that they or others have shared as public resources.

1.6 Respect privacy.

The responsibility of respecting privacy applies to computing professionals


in a particularly profound way. Technology enables the collection,
monitoring, and exchange of personal information quickly, inexpensively,
and often without the knowledge of the people affected. Therefore, a
computing professional should become conversant in the various
definitions and forms of privacy and should understand the rights and
responsibilities associated with the collection and use of personal
information.

Computing professionals should only use personal information for


legitimate ends and without violating the rights of individuals and groups.
This requires taking precautions to prevent re-identification of
anonymized data or unauthorized data collection, ensuring the accuracy
of data, understanding the provenance of the data, and protecting it from
unauthorized access and accidental disclosure. Computing professionals
should establish transparent policies and procedures that allow individuals
to understand what data is being collected and how it is being used, to
give informed consent for automatic data collection, and to review,
obtain, correct inaccuracies in, and delete their personal data.
Only the minimum amount of personal information necessary should be
collected in a system. The retention and disposal periods for that
information should be clearly defined, enforced, and communicated to
data subjects. Personal information gathered for a specific purpose should
not be used for other purposes without the person's consent. Merged data
collections can compromise privacy features present in the original
collections. Therefore, computing professionals should take special care
for privacy when merging data collections.

1.7 Honor confidentiality.

Computing professionals are often entrusted with confidential information


such as trade secrets, client data, nonpublic business strategies, financial
information, research data, pre-publication scholarly articles, and patent
applications. Computing professionals should protect confidentiality
except in cases where it is evidence of the violation of law, of
organizational regulations, or of the Code. In these cases, the nature or
contents of that information should not be disclosed except to appropriate
authorities. A computing professional should consider thoughtfully
whether such disclosures are consistent with the Code.

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