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Sergio Sanchez Gomez

EE 394

March 5, 2023

Ethics Essay

Having, understanding, and following a code of ethics is important in every career. Ethics has

become undeniably essential; however, it is sometimes overlooked and not related to success in life in

the current society.

A code of ethics aims to define best practices and provide a common set of rules or standards

for all in the profession to adhere to. A code of ethics is a set of written guidelines or principles about

good and bad behavior.

Every time we face an ethical situation, such as discrimination or toxic workplace culture, a

person's behavior differs. When I have to make a decision involving an ethical situation, I usually try to

understand what the problem is and what motivates the unethical action. Second, I generate

alternatives and finally decide and implement an action.

Several ethical issues were discussed during class: First, how to handle data qualifies as

personally identifiable information (PII) under the United States General Services Administration Privacy

Act. Second, wrong placement of the fuel tank for the Ford Pinto. Third, the emissions issue with

Volkswagen, and finally, if Amazon Echo could help to solve murder cases. Regarding handling

personally identifiable information data, an employee, Marcus, is working on a database project that

includes job-related injury information but also personal information. The issue is telling his boss that he

should protect PII and that personal information should not be included without losing the project. In

the case of Ford, they tried to build an affordable car, but they placed the fuel tank in the wrong

position, making it susceptible to being smashed and catching fire in a collision. Even though they knew
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the defect, they went ahead without taking customers' security and putting profits first. The Volkswagen

issue was that they were caught deploying software to cheat emissions tests, leading to 40 times more

pollution than allowed. For example, their diesel cars pump out 900,000 extra tons of nitrogen oxide

emissions annually, with a huge implication for Public Health. Regards to Amazon Echo, since this kind of

device record data constantly, police want to use that data to prove innocence or guilt, but this inquiry is

hard to carry out because all the parties must consent to record a conversation.

The ethical considerations introduced by any member of the group did not differ from my own

too much. For the first case, we all believed that governments should make laws that reasonably restrict

the usage of big data. Regarding Ford and Volkswagen issues, we agreed that governments should

enforce regulations and punish flagrant violations, especially for large corporations, to stop putting

profits in the first place instead of the environment and the population's wellbeing. In the last case, we

all believed that is a complex issue that, on the one hand, brings conflict of interest, but on the other

hand, it is hard to balance between privacy and law enforcement. The privacy data should be public for

the Amazon Echo issue if they involve murders.

The virtue of Ethics was used while discussing the different issues. For the case of PII, I chose

fidelity, integrity, and responsibility. They are relevant because we have to be ethical in practice,

recognize moral obligations to act for the good of others, and also be faithful to our principles. I chose

integrity, honesty, and responsibility for the cases of automotive companies Ford and Volkswagen. They

are relevant because every company should have an ethical judgment in practice, be honest when

launching products, and take responsibility when making a mistake. In the case of Amazon, I chose

responsibility, charity, and integrity because the police are taking responsibility for discovering a murder

case, and they are doing well in practice, so Amazon should provide them with the data recorded.

Charity relates to how we would feel if the case were linked to a friend. I don't think self-discipline could

be applied to any of the case studies. For the case of PII, honesty is not relevant either, but charity
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should be applied if we consider how people would feel if others knew about health issues. Charity is

irrelevant from my point of view in the Ford and Volkswagen issues, but fidelity could be applied

because employees went ahead with the design, despite knowing it was a wrong and dangerous design

for customers and the environment. Honesty and fidelity are not relevant to Amazon Echo's issue.

I think that there is no other ethical virtue not included in the Virtue of Ethics that could be

applicable because the Virtue of Ethics covers the essentials. Ethics is crucial and tells us how to deal

with ethical issues.