IBU

Ethics in IT
International Burch University

IBU 020 Computer Engineering

Orientation

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zerina Altoka

OVERVIEW OT ETHICS
3 Objectives

 Consider the following questions:

 What is ethics, and why is it important to act according to a code of ethics?
 Why is business ethics becoming increasingly important?
 What are organizations doing to improve their business ethics?

Ethics in Information Technology, Fourth Edition

4 Objectives (cont’d.)

 Why are organizations interested in fostering good business ethics?

 What trends have increased the risk of using information technology in an unethical manner?

Ethics in Information Technology, Fourth Edition

5 What is Ethics?
 Moral code
 Set of rules
 Establishes boundaries of generally accepted behavior
 Different rules often have contradictions
 Morality
 Social conventions about right and wrong
 Widely shared
 Form basis for an established consensus

Ethics in Information Technology, Fourth Edition

6 What is Ethics? (cont’d.)
 Morality may vary by:
 Age
 Cultural group
 Ethnic background
 Religion
 Life experiences
 Education
 Gender

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7 Definition of Ethics
 Virtues
 Habits that incline people to do what is acceptable
 Vices
 Habits of unacceptable behavior
 Virtues and vices define a personal value system
 Scheme of moral values

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8 The Importance of Integrity
 Integrity is a cornerstone of ethical behavior
 People with integrity:
 Act in accordance with a personal code of principles
 Extend to all the same respect and consideration
 Apply the same moral standards in all situations
 Lack of integrity emerges if you apply moral standards differently according to
situation or people involved
 Many ethical dilemmas are not as simple as right versus wrong

Ethics in Information Technology, Fourth Edition

9 The Difference Between Morals,
Ethics, and Laws
 Morals: one’s personal beliefs about right and wrong
 Ethics: standards or codes of behavior expected of an individual by a group
 Law: system of rules that tells us what we can and cannot do
 Laws are enforced by a set of institutions
 Legal acts conform to the law
 Moral acts conform to what an individual believes is the right belief of right and wrong

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10 Ethics in the Business World

 Both the likelihood and the negative impact of inappropriate behavior have increased
 Several trends have increased the likelihood of unethical behavior:
 Globalization creating complex work environments
 Organizations challenged to maintain profits / revenue
 Heightened vigilance by:
 Employees
 Shareholders
 Regulatory agencies

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 Establishing a Corporate Code of Ethics
11

 Code of ethics
 Highlights an organization’s key ethical issues
 Identifies overarching values and important principles
 Focuses employees on areas of ethical risk
 Offers guidance for employees to recognize and deal with ethical issues
 Provides mechanisms to report unethical conduct
 Help employees abide by the law, follow necessary regulations, and behave in an ethical
manner

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12 Establishing a Corporate
Code of Ethics (cont’d.)
 Cannot gain company-wide acceptance unless it is:
 Developed with employee participation
 Fully endorsed by organization’s leadership
 Must continually be applied to company’s decision making and emphasized as part of its culture
 Breaches in the code of ethics must be identified and dealt with appropriately

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 Establishing a Corporate
13
Code of Ethics (cont’d.)

Ethics in Information Technology, Fourth Edition

14 Conducting Social Audits
 Social audit
 Reviews how well organization is meeting ethical and social responsibility goals
 Communicates new goals for upcoming year
 Shared broadly with employees, shareholders, investors, market analysts, customers,
suppliers, government agencies, and local communities

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 Requiring Employees to
15
Take Ethics Training
 Personal convictions improved through education
 Comprehensive ethics education program encourages employees to act responsibly
and ethically
 Often presented in small workshop formats
 Employees apply code of ethics to hypothetical but realistic case studies
 Demonstration of recent company decisions based on principles from the code of ethics

Ethics in Information Technology, Fourth Edition

16 Requiring Employees to
Take Ethics Training (cont’d.)
 Critical that training increase the percentage of employees who report incidents of
misconduct
 Employees must:
 Learn effective ways of reporting incidents
 Be reassured their feedback will be acted on without retaliation

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 Including Ethical Criteria in
17
Employee Appraisals
 Only 43% of companies include ethical conduct in employee’s performance
appraisal
 Ethical criteria include:
 Treating others fairly and with respect
 Operating effectively in a multicultural environment
 Accepting personal accountability
 Continually developing themselves and others
 Operating openly and honestly with all

Ethics in Information Technology, Fourth Edition

18 Ethics in Information Technology
 Public concern about the ethical use of information technology includes:
 E-mail and Internet access monitoring
 Downloading in violation of copyright laws
 Spam e-mail
 Hackers and identify theft
 Students and plagiarism
 Cookies and spyware

Ethics in Information Technology, Fourth Edition

19 Ethics in Information Technology (cont’d.)

 The general public does not understand the critical importance of ethics as applied to IT
 Important decisions are often left to technical experts
 General business managers must assume greater responsibility for these decisions by:
 Making decisions based on technical savvy, business know-how, and a sense of ethics
 Creating an environment where ethical dilemmas can be discussed openly, objectively, and
constructively

Ethics in Information Technology, Fourth Edition

ETHICS FOR IT PROFESSIONALS AND IT
USERS
21 Objectives
 What key characteristics distinguish a professional from other kinds of workers,
and what is the role of an IT professional?

 What relationships must an IT professional manage, and what key ethical issues
can arise in each?

 How do codes of ethics, professional organizations, certification, and licensing

affect the ethical behavior of IT professionals?

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22 Objectives (continued)
 What are the key tenets of four different codes of ethics that provide guidance for
IT professionals?

 What are the common ethical issues that face IT users?

 What approaches can support the ethical practices of IT users?

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23 Professionals
 A professional is a person in a profession that requires certain types of skilled work
requiring formal training or education
 Profession is a calling that requires
 Specialized knowledge
 Long and intensive academic preparation

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24 Are IT Workers Professionals?
 Partial list of IT specialists
 Programmers
 Systems analysts
 Software engineers
 Database administrators
 Local area network (LAN) administrators
 Chief information officers (CIOs)

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 Professional Relationships That Must Be
25
Managed

 IT professionals have many different relationships with:

 Employers
 Clients
 Suppliers
 Other professionals
 IT users
 Society at large

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 Relationships Between IT Professionals and
26
Employers

 IT professionals must set an example and enforce policies

regarding the ethical use of IT
 Ethical Issues
 Software Piracy
 Trade Secret
 Whistle blowing

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 Relationships Between IT Professionals and
27
Employers (continued)
 Software piracy
 Software piracy is the act of illegally making copies of software
or enabling others to access software to which they are not
entitled
 Software piracy is an area in which IT professionals can be
tempted to violate laws and policies
 The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is a trade group that
represents the world’s largest software and hardware
manufacturers
 Its mission is to stop the unauthorized copying of software
produced by its members
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 Relationships Between IT Professionals and
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Employers (continued)
 Trade secret
 Information used in business
 Generally unknown to the public
 Company has taken strong measures to keep confidential
 Whistle-blowing
 Attracts attention to a negligent, illegal, unethical, abusive, or dangerous act that
threatens the public interest

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 Relationships Between IT Professionals and
29
Clients
 IT professional provides
 Hardware, software, or services at a certain cost and within a given time frame
 Client provides
 Compensation
 Access to key contacts
 Work space
 Relationship is usually documented in contractual terms

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 Relationships Between IT Professionals and
30
Clients (continued)

 Ethical problems arise if a company recommends its own products and services to
solve problems they have detected
 A company is unable to provide full and accurate reporting of a project’s status

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 Fraud, Misrepresentation, and Breach of
31
Contract
 Fraud
 Crime of obtaining goods, services, or property through deception or trickery
 Fraud is proven in court
 Breach of contract
 One party fails to meet the terms of a contract

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 Relationships Between IT Professionals and
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Other Professionals

 Professionals owe each other adherence to a profession’s code of conduct

 Ethical problems between members of the IT profession
 Résumé inflation
 Inappropriate sharing of corporate information

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 Relationships Between IT Professionals and IT
33
Users
 IT user is a person for whom a hardware or software product is designed
 IT professionals’ duty is to
 Understand users’ needs and capabilities
 Deliver products and services that best meet those needs
 Establish an environment that supports ethical behavior by users

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34 The Ethical Behavior of IT Professionals

 Corporations are taking actions to ensure good business ethics among employees

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35 Professional Codes of Ethics
 A professional code of ethics states the principles and core values that are essential
to the work of a particular occupational group
 Main parts:
 Outlines what the professional organization aspires to become
 Lists rules and principles by which members of the organization are expected to abide

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 Professional Codes of Ethics (continued)
36

 Benefits for individual, profession, and society

 Improves ethical decision making
 Promotes high standards of practice and ethical behavior
 Enhances trust and respect from the general public
 Provides an evaluation benchmark

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37 Professional Organizations
 No universal code of ethics for IT professionals
 No single, formal organization of IT professionals has emerged as preeminent
 Most prominent organizations include:
 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
 Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP)
 Computer Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE-CS)
 Project Management Institute (PMI)

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 Ethical Guidelines for Computer
38
Professionals
 Professional Codes
 ACM and IEEE CS
 Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice

 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?

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39 ACM/IEEE-CS Code of Ethics
 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.

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40 ACM/IEEE-CS Code of Ethics
 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.

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41 Certification
 Indicates a professional possesses a particular set of skills, knowledge, or abilities
in the opinion of a certifying organization
 Can also apply to products
 Generally voluntary
 Carries no requirement to adhere to a code of ethics

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 Supporting the Ethical Practices of IT
42 Users
 Policies that protect against abuses:
 Establish boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behavior
 Enable management to punish violators
 Policy components include:
 Defining and limiting the appropriate use of IT resources
 Establishing guidelines for use of company software
 Structuring information systems to protect data and information
 Installing and maintaining a corporate firewall

Ethics in Information Technology, Second Edition991