Lecture 3 Professional Ethics and Responsibilities

Professional Ethics?
 Professional Ethics: concerns one's conduct of

behavior and practice when carrying out
professional work, e.g., consulting,
researching, teaching and writing
 Professional Ethics must take into accounts:
– Relations between professionals and clients
– Relation between profession and society
– Relations among professionals
– Relations between employee and employer
– Specialized technical details of the profession
Professional Ethics?
 A computing professional must understand
– Cultural, social, legal, and ethical issues in
computing
– Responsibility and possible consequences of
failure
 Professional organizations dealing with
computing have code of ethics (e.g. IEEE,
ACM, and NSPE)
Professional Ethics
 Professional code of ethics:
– Symbolize professionalism
– Protect group interests
– Specify membership etiquette
– Inspire good conduct
– Educate and discipline members
– Foster external relations
– Enumerate principles, express ideals
– Put forth rules, offer guidelines
– Codify rights
IEEE - Code of Ethics
 In recognition of importance of our technology in
affecting the quality of life we commit ourselves
to conduct of the highest ethical and professional
manner and agree to:
– accept responsibility in making decisions
consistent with safety, health, and welfare of the
public
– avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest
– be honest and realistic in stating claims or
estimates
– reject bribery in all forms
– improve understanding of technology, its
application, and potential consequences
– maintain and improve our technical competence
and undertake technological tasks for others only
if qualified
– seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of
technical work
– acknowledge and correct errors
– credit properly the contributions of others
– treat all persons fairly regardless of race, religion,
gender, disability, age, or national origin
– avoid injuring others, their property, reputation,
or employment by false or malicious action
– assist colleagues and co-workers in their
professional development and to support them
in following this code of ethics
Computer Ethics
 Computer ethics defined as the application of
classical ethical principles to the use of computer
technology
 Ethical problems related to computers are not
unique but they tend to occur on a much larger
scale and scope
– Scope: communications networks bring the world
together
– Anonymity: beneficial but creates problems of
integrity
– Reproducibility
Computer Ethics
 Aspects of computer ethics:

– Analysis of the nature of problems related to
the social impact of computers
– Formulation and justification of policies
needed to manage computer technology
Categories of Computer Ethics
Issues
 Privacy
– Computers create a false sense of security
– People do not realize how vulnerable
information stored on computers are
 Property
– Physical property
– Intellectual property (in both copyright and
patent)
– Data as property
Categories of Computer Ethics
Issues
 Access
– Access to computing technology
– Access to data
 Accuracy
– Accuracy of information stored
Moral and Ethical Problems
 Hacking, cracking and virus creation
– Serious crimes that cannot be justified
– Attempts at justifying such actions
• Electrons are free- they do not belong to anybody
• Companies have weak protection
• Point out flaws and vulnerabilities in information
systems
• Hacking or virus creation is right in a particular
country or culture
Moral and Ethical Problems
 Software piracy
– Unauthorized copying of software is stealing
– It is morally wrong as it constitutes a violation of
someone else’s rights
Problems with Codes of Ethics
 A legal system is not a complete and correct

guide to moral behavior
 Codes of ethics are mostly voluntary
 May encounter situations for which the code
makes no explicit recommendations
 Goodness cannot be defined through a list of
Dos and Don'ts
 You must use your internal sense of ethics
Computer Ethics
Awareness and Educational Issues
 How to raise the moral consciousness and
ethical level
 Possibilities of developing global computer
ethics codes
 Computer ethics education should include:
– Explanation of disruptive potential of even a
single user
Computer Ethics
Awareness and Educational Issues
– Understanding of importance of ethics and

lack of laws in computer/information
technology
– Explanation of information security & related
problems
– Making people aware of ethical impact of
their actions
– Training and education by professionals
Computing Ethics and Guidelines -
Example
 Respect privacy of other users and do not share
your account with others
 Respect appropriate laws and copyrights
 Obey established guidelines for any network or
system used
 Do not use computer resources for unauthorized
purposes
 Do not use computer resources for commercial
endeavors
 Do not use computer resources in ways detrimental
to normal operation
Conclusions
 Must understand cultural, social, legal and

ethical issues related to computing
 Expect to face variety of ethically difficult
situations
 Hold to highest possible ethical standards
 Use your internal sense of ethics
Conclusions
 Making the wrong ethical choice begins with

focusing on short-term self-interest
 Ethical behavior is a way of life, best learned
through experience
 Living ethically requires strong and sincere
motivation

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Professional Ethics?

 Professional Ethics: concerns one's conduct of

 Aspects of computer ethics:

 A legal system is not a complete and correct

– Understanding of importance of ethics and

 Must understand cultural, social, legal and

 Making the wrong ethical choice begins with

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