The Software Engineering

Code of Ethics and

Professional Practice
A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal,
and Professional Issues for
Computing and the Internet
By: Sara Baase
Preamble
 Computers have a central and growing
role in commerce, industry, government,
medicine, education, entertainment, and
society at large.
Preamble
 Software Engineers are those
 who contribute by direct participation
or by teaching, to the analysis,
specification, design, development,
certification, maintenance and testing
of software systems.

 have significant opportunities to do good

 to enable others to do good
 to influence others to do good
Preamble
 Inaccordance with the commitment,
software engineers shall adhere to the
Code of Ethics and Professional Practice.
 The eight principles are related to the
behavior and decisions made by:
o Professional Software Engineers
o Practitioners
o Educators
o Managers
o Supervisors
o Policy makers
o Trainees
o Students
Principles
Principle 1: PUBLIC
Software engineers shall act
consistently with the public interest.
 Accept full responsibility for their own work
 Moderate interest of the software engineer,
the employer, the client, and the users with
the public good.
 Approve software only if they have well-
founded belief that is safe, meets
specifications, passes appropriate test, and
does not diminish quality of life
Principles
Principle 1: PUBLIC
Software engineers shall act
consistently with the public interest.
 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
 Cooperate in efforts to address matters of
grave public concern caused by software,
its installation, maintenance, support, or
documentation
Principles
Principle 1: PUBLIC
Software engineers shall act consistently
with the public interest.
 Be fair and avoid deception in all statements,
particularly public ones, concerning software
and 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
Principles
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. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:

 Provide service in their areas of competence,

being honest and forthright about any
limitations of their experience and education.
 Not knowingly use software that is obtained or
retained either illegally or unethically.
 Use the property of a client or employer only
in ways properly authorized, and with the
client's or employer's knowledge and consent.
Principles
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. In
particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:

 Ensure that any document upon which they rely

has been approved, when required, by someone
authorized to approve it.
 Keep private any confidential information gained
in their professional work, where such
confidentiality is consistent with the public interest
and consistent with the law.
 Identify, document, collect evidence and report
to the client or the employer promptly if, in their
opinion, a project is likely to fail, to prove too
expensive, to violate intellectual property law, or
otherwise to be problematic.
Principles
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. In
particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:

 Identify, document, and report significant

issues of social concern, of which they are aware,
in software or related documents, to the employer
or the client.
 Accept no outside work detrimental to the work
they perform for their primary employer.
 Promote no interest adverse to their employer or
client, unless a higher ethical concern is being
compromised; in that case, inform the employer or
another appropriate authority of the ethical
concern.
Principles
Principle 3: PRODUCT
Software engineers shall ensure that their
products and related modifications meet the
highest professional standards possible. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Strive for high quality, acceptable cost and a
reasonable schedule, ensuring significant
tradeoffs are clear to and accepted by the
employer and the client, and are available
for consideration by the user and the public.
 Ensure proper and achievable goals and
objectives for any project on which they work
or propose.
 Identify, define and address ethical,
economic, cultural, legal and environmental
issues related to work projects.
Principles
Principle 3: PRODUCT
Software engineers shall ensure that their
products and related modifications meet the
highest professional standards possible. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Ensure that they are qualified for any project
on which they work or propose to work by an
appropriate combination of education and
training, and experience.
 Ensure an appropriate method is used for any
project on which they work or propose to
work.
 Work to follow professional standards, when
available, that are most appropriate for the
task at hand, departing from these only when
ethically or technically justified.
Principles
Principle 3: PRODUCT
Software engineers shall ensure that their
products and related modifications meet the
highest professional standards possible. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Strive to fully understand the specifications
for software on which they work.
 Ensure that specifications for software on
which they work have been well
documented, satisfy the users’ requirements
and have the appropriate approvals.
 Ensure realistic quantitative estimates of cost,
scheduling, personnel, quality and outcomes
on any project on which they work or propose
to work and provide an uncertainty
assessment of these estimates.
Principles
Principle 3: PRODUCT
Software engineers shall ensure that their
products and related modifications meet the
highest professional standards possible. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Ensure adequate testing, debugging, and
review of software and related documents on
which they work.
 Ensure adequate documentation, including
significant problems discovered and solutions
adopted, for any project on which they work.
 Work to develop software and related
documents that respect the privacy of those
who will be affected by that software.
Principles
Principle 3: PRODUCT
Software engineers shall ensure that their
products and related modifications meet the
highest professional standards possible. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Be careful to use only accurate data derived
by ethical and lawful means, and use it only in
ways properly authorized.
 Maintain the integrity of data, being sensitive
to outdated or flawed occurrences.
 Treat all forms of software maintenance with
the same professionalism as new
development.
Principles
Principle 4: JUDGMENT
Software engineers shall maintain integrity
and independence in their professional
judgment. In particular, software engineers
shall, as appropriate:
 Temper all technical judgments by the
need to support and maintain human
values.
 Only endorse documents either prepared
under their supervision or within their
areas of competence and with which
they are in agreement.
 Maintain professional objectivity with
respect to any software or related
documents they are asked to evaluate.
Principles
Principle 4: JUDGMENT
Software engineers shall maintain integrity and
independence in their professional judgment. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Not engage in deceptive financial practices
such as bribery, double billing, or other
improper financial practices.
 Disclose to all concerned parties those
conflicts of interest that cannot reasonably be
avoided or escaped.
 Refuse to participate, as members or advisors,
in a private, governmental or professional
body concerned with software related issues,
in which they, their employers or their clients
have undisclosed potential
conflicts of interest.
Principles
Principle 5: MANAGEMENT
Software engineering managers and leaders shall
subscribe to and promote an ethical approach to
the management of software development and
maintenance . In particular, those managing or
leading software engineers shall, as appropriate:
 Ensure good management for any project on
which they work, including effective procedures
for promotion of quality and reduction of risk.
 Ensure that software engineers are
informed of standards before being held to them.
 Ensure that software engineers know the
employer's policies and procedures for protecting
passwords, files and information that is confidential
to the employer or confidential to others.
Principles
Principle 5: MANAGEMENT
Software engineering managers and leaders shall
subscribe to and promote an ethical approach to
the management of software development and
maintenance . In particular, those managing or
leading software engineers shall, as appropriate:
 Assign work only after taking into account
appropriate contributions of education and
experience tempered with a desire to further that
education and experience.
 Ensure realistic quantitative estimates of cost,
scheduling, personnel, quality and outcomes on
any project on which they work or propose to
work, and provide an uncertainty
assessment of these estimates.
 Attract potential software engineers only by full
and accurate description of the
conditions of employment.
Principles
Principle 5: MANAGEMENT
Software engineering managers and leaders shall
subscribe to and promote an ethical approach to
the management of software development and
maintenance . In particular, those managing or
leading software engineers shall, as appropriate:
 Offer fair and just remuneration.
 Not unjustly prevent someone from taking a
position for which that person is suitably qualified.
 Ensure that there is a fair agreement concerning
ownership of any software, processes, research,
writing, or other intellectual property to which
a software engineer has contributed.
Principles
Principle 5: MANAGEMENT
Software engineering managers and leaders
shall subscribe to and promote an ethical
approach to the
management of software development and
maintenance . In particular, those managing or
leading software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Provide for due process in hearing
charges of violation of an employer's policy
or of this Code.
 Not ask a software engineer to do anything
inconsistent with this Code.
 Not punish anyone for expressing ethical
concerns about a project.
Principles
Principle 6: PROFESSION
Software engineers shall advance the integrity
and reputation of the profession consistent with
the public interest. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Help develop an organizational environment
favorable to acting ethically.
 Promote public
knowledge of software engineering.
 Extend software engineering knowledge by
appropriate participation in professional
organizations, meetings and publications.
Principles
Principle 6: PROFESSION
Software engineers shall advance the integrity and
reputation of the profession consistent with the
public interest. In particular, software engineers shall,
as appropriate:
 Support, as members of a profession,
other software engineers striving to follow
this Code.
 Not promote their own interest at the
expense of the profession, client or employer.
 Obey all laws governing their work, unless, in
exceptional circumstances, such compliance is
inconsistent with the public interest.
 Be accurate in stating the
characteristics of software on which they work,
avoiding not only false claims but also claims that
might reasonably be supposed to be speculative,
vacuous, deceptive, misleading, or doubtful.
Principles
Principle 6: PROFESSION
Software engineers shall advance the integrity and
reputation of the profession consistent with the
public interest. In particular, software engineers shall,
as appropriate:

 Take responsibility for detecting, correcting, and

reporting errors in software and associated
documents on which they work.
 Ensure that clients, employers, and supervisors
know of the software engineer's commitment to
this Code of ethics, and the subsequent
ramifications of such commitment.
 Avoid associations with businesses and
organizations which are in conflict with this code.
Principles
Principle 6: PROFESSION
Software engineers shall advance the integrity and
reputation of the profession consistent with the
public interest. In particular, software engineers shall,
as appropriate:

 Recognize that violations of this Code are

inconsistent with being a
professional software engineer.
 Express concerns to the people involved when
significant violations of this Code are detected
unless this is impossible, counter-productive, or
dangerous.
 Report significant violations of this Code to
appropriate authorities when it is clear that
consultation with people involved in these
significant violations is impossible, counter-
productive or dangerous.
Principles
Principle 7: COLLEAGUES
Software engineers shall be fair to and
supportive of their colleagues. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Encourage colleagues to adhere to
this Code.
 Assist colleagues in professional
development.
 Credit fully the work of others and refrain
from taking undue credit.
Principles
Principle 7: COLLEAGUES
Software engineers shall be fair to and
supportive of their colleagues. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Review the work of others in an objective,
candid, and properly-documented way.
 Give a fair hearing to the opinions, concerns,
or complaints of a colleague.
 Assist colleagues in being fully
aware of current standard work practices
including policies and procedures for
protecting passwords, files and other
confidential information, and security
measures in general.
Principles
Principle 7: COLLEAGUES
Software engineers shall be fair to and
supportive of their colleagues. In
particular, software engineers shall, as
appropriate:
 Not unfairly intervene in the career of any
colleague; however, concern for the
employer, the client or public interest may
compel software engineers, in good faith, to
question the competence of a colleague.
 In situations outside of their own
areas of competence, call upon the
opinions of other professionals who have
competence in that area.
Principles
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.
Principles
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:
 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.
 Improve their knowledge of this Code, its
interpretation, and its application to their work.
Principles
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:
 Not give unfair treatment to anyone
because of any irrelevant prejudices.
 Not influence others to undertake any action
that involves a breach of this Code.
 Recognize that personal
violations of this Code are inconsistent with
being a professional software engineer.
End
This Code was developed by the ACM/IEEE-
CS joint task force
on Software Engineering Ethics and
Professional Practices (SEEPP):
Copyright (c) 1999 by the Association for
Computing Machinery, Inc. and the Institute
for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.