Ethics §
- Being ethical generally means:
- A person’s own personal code of conduct and their moral compass
- A person’s own informal code of ethics
- A person’s formal code of ethics as laid down by their professional bodies
- BCS (British Computer Society)
- Founded in 1957, BCS is a society dedicated to supporting careers, sharing expertise, improving education, influencing practice and driving standards while tackling ethical challenges on the way.
- By joining “…you signal your dedication to delivering high ethical standards of practice to current and future employers as well as your commitment to your own professional development”
- IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers)
- “a professional association that develops, defines, and reviews electronics and computer science standards. Its mission is ‘to foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity.‘”
- Codes of Conduct
- A code of conduct is a set rules or practices defining how a group or organisation should behave
- Organisations such as businesses, schools, and hospitals have code of conduct
- Many codes contain rules that seek to protect the organsiation from the behaviour of individuals, as well as protecting the individuals within the organisation
- g. Mill Hill’s code of conduct includes rules about about behaviour, dress codes, bullying and respect for others and their property
- Codes of conduct are also applied to computers and their use
- They seek to make sure that computers are used safely and lawfully, and to protect the interests of organisations and individuals
- ACM/IEEE Code of Practice
- There are Eight Principles in the Code of Ethics Practice:
- 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.
- Judgement: 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
- Applying ACM/IEEE Code of Ethics
- The introduction of smartwatches has raised privacy concerns that developers have had to address. Many smartwatches have health-monitoring facilities such as detection of heart rate and the amount of exercise the user has undertaken. The data from this monitoring is often sent over the internet to third-party applications, to help users monitor their fitness.
- Developers have an ethical duty to make sure that this data remains private: developers of the watch need to make sure that the data is transmitted securely, and developers of the third-party applications have to make sure that the data remains private.