Rosenhamer 1

Daniel Rosenhamer

Tina Prouty

CPRE 394

December 11, 2021

The Ethical Obligations of an Engineer

The purpose of having a code of ethics is to provide a group with moral guidelines that

encourage integrity and honesty in the individual. Establishing and implementing a code of

ethics within a group creates a healthy atmosphere for individual growth, reduces the possibility

of conflict, and provides a guideline when conflict arises.

When I face ethical situations I think of all the parties involved and of their different

perspectives on the situation. Often looking at these situations from multiple perspectives gives a

better understanding of how each party could be affected by my actions. Understanding the

potential consequences of my actions enables me to make decisions that respect all parties

involved and lead to the resolution of the situation.

Throughout this semester, we covered a variety of ethical dilemmas. Each dilemma

focused on a few moral principles, virtue ethics, and the IEEE Code of Ethics. Specifically, there

were three major events discussed, a car manufacturer used advanced software to falsify and pass

emissions tests, another car manufacturer cut costs that resulted in safety hazards that led to

hundreds of deaths, a company refused to release personal data without legal demand, and lastly,

the Big Data Issue, a computer scientist's boss violates customers personal data privacy and asks

the computer scientist to skew the accuracy of a database.

 Rosenhamer 2

The case study that I analyzed in class was the Big Data Issue. This case had several

underlying ethical dilemmas. Firstly, the boss asks the computer scientist to include data in a

database that was not found in a study. Adding that data to the database would effectively

invalidate the results of the study. Secondly, the boss violates customers' data by sending

unnecessary personally identifiable information to the computer scientist. The computer scientist

did not need the personally identifiable information to complete the database, therefore the

computer scientist didn't have to receive it in the first place.

After reviewing the IEEE Code of Ethics, the 5 P's of ethics, and the six Virtue Ethics, I

determined that it would be unethical for the computer scientist to include the data in the study

and similarly unethical to allow his boss to continue to violate the customer's right to private

data. The Big Data case study also presents two different interests in the workplace. The boss is

more interested in adding information that he finds personally important to the database rather

than information that came directly from the study. Furthermore, the boss goes out of his way to

send private data to the computer scientist with the expectation that it will get added to the

database. On the other hand, the computer scientist is more interested in protecting customer data

and the legitimacy of the database. From the Virtue Ethics, I found three main virtues applied to

this case, integrity, honesty, and responsibility. It would be dishonest to include information in

the database that was not found in the study. Additionally, the computer scientist is responsible

for creating an accurate database, reporting his boss's violation of customers' data, and protecting

the customer's data. Since the computer scientist is aware of his boss's misuse of customer data,

it would be dishonest for him to follow his boss's directions. The computer scientist must

exercise integrity to make the morally right decision to refuse his boss's requests and report the

mistreatment of data even though it may directly lead to his termination.

 Rosenhamer 3

On a separate note, the IEEE Code of Ethics also encourages the computer scientist to

make the morally right decision. Numerous overlapping elements of the code apply to this case.

Namely, disclosing real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible and being honest and

realistic in claims based on available data. Responses to my analysis showed that the class came

to similar conclusions for this case study. Fortunately, the class was not an echo chamber of ideas

but rather added constructive criticism to each post. In my case study, one student recommended

that the computer scientist talks with his boss prior to reporting him. This would allow the

computer scientist to explicitly inform his boss of his wrongdoing and align with the IEEE Code

of Ethics mentioned above.

The computer scientist should meet with his boss to explain that it is not honest to alter

the results of the study for the database and it would be dishonest to present the database as being

based on a study if the data were altered. Likewise, the computer scientist should also explain

that customer data should not be shared freely and that the boss's actions violated the U.S.

Privacy Act. The computer scientist could then refer his boss to a code of ethics and virtues to

follow to prevent ethical dilemmas from arising in the future. After meeting with his boss, the

computer scientist should reach out to the HR department to ensure that the event is documented

and to ensure that HR provides employees with an appropriate code of ethics to follow.