ETHICS, TECHNOLOGY AND VALUE

Ethics is a study of right and wrong in human conduct. Ethics

can also be defined as a theoretical examination of morality and
as an equivalent of the “theory of morals.”

Ethics is a set of “theories of value, virtue, or of right

(valuable) action.”

Ethics is set of theories “that provide general rules or principles

to be used in making moral decisions and, unlike ordinary
intuitions, provides a justification for those rules”
THE PURPOSE OF ETHICS
The word “ethics” comes from an ancient
Greek word eché, which means character.
The purpose of ethics is to interpret human
conduct, acknowledging and distinguishing
between right and wrong. The interpretation is
done based on a system
 CODES OF ETHICS
The main domains in which ethics is defined are governed
by a particular and definitive regiment of rules called
“codes of ethics.”

Depending on the domain, ethical codes can take any of

the following forms:
1. Principles, which may act as guidelines, references, or
basis for some document.
2. Public policies, which may include aspects of
acceptable behavior, norms, and practices of a society or
group.
3. Codes of conduct, which may include ethical principles
4. Legal instruments, which enforce good conduct
through courts.
 ASSOCIATION OF COMPUTING MACHINERY
(ACM) CODE OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL
CONDUCT

ACM Code, consists of 24 imperatives formulated as statements

of personal responsibility, identifies the elements of such a
commitment.
1. Section 1 outlines fundamental ethical considerations,
2. Section 2 addresses additional, more specific considerations
of professional conduct.
3. Statements in Section 3 pertain more specifically to
individuals who have a leadership role, whether in the work
place or in a volunteer capacity, for example with
organizations such as ACM.
4. Principles involving compliance with this Code are given in
Section 4.
 GUIDELINES FOR CODE
OF ETHICS
•The Code is supplemented by a set of Guidelines, which
provide explanation to assist members in dealing with
the various issues contained in the Code.
•It is expected that the guidelines will be changed more

frequently than the Code.

•The Code and its supplemented Guidelines are intended

to serve as a basis for ethical decision making in the

conduct of professional work.
•They may serve as a basis for judging the merit of a

formal complaint pertaining to violation of professional

ethical standards.
 1. GENERAL MORAL IMPERATIVES
As an ACM member I will . . .
1.1 Contribute to society and human well-being.
1.2 Avoid harm to others.
1.3 Be honest and trustworthy.
1.4 Be fair and take action not to discriminate.
1.5 Honor property rights including copyrights and patents.
1.6 Give proper credit for intellectual property.
1.7 Respect the privacy of others.
1.8 Honor confidentiality.
 2. MORE SPECIFIC PROFESSIONAL
RESPONSIBILITIES
AS AN ACM COMPUTING PROFESSIONAL I WILL . . .
2.1 Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness, and dignity
in both the process and products of professional work.
2.2 Acquire and maintain professional competence.
2.3 Know and respect existing laws pertaining to professional work.
2.4 Accept and provide appropriate professional review.
2.5 Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of computer
systems and their impacts including analysis of possible risks.
2.6 Honor contracts, agreements, and assigned responsibilities.
2.7 Improve public understanding of computing and its
consequences.
2.8 Access computing and communication resources only when
authorized to do so.
 3. ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP IMPERATIVES
AS AN ACM MEMBER AND AN ORGANIZATIONAL
LEADER, I WILL . . .
3.1 Articulate social responsibilities of members of an organizational
unit and encourage full acceptance of those responsibilities.
3.2 Manage personnel and resources to design and build information
systems that enhance the quality of working life.
3.3 Acknowledge and support proper and authorized uses of an
organization’s computing and communications resources.
3.4 Ensure that users and those who will be affected by a system have
their needs clearly articulated during the assessment and design of
requirements; later the system must be validated to meet requirements.
3.5 Articulate and support policies that protect the dignity of users
and others affected by a computing system.
3.6 Create opportunities for members of the organization to learn the
principles and limitations of computer systems.
 4. COMPLIANCE WITH THE CODE
AS AN ACM MEMBER, I WILLL . . .

4.1 Uphold and promote the principles of this Code.

4.2 Treat violations of this code as inconsistent with
membership in the ACM.
GUIDELINES
 OBJECTIVES OF CODES OF ETHICS
Most codes of ethics have the following objectives:
1. Disciplinary: By instilling discipline, the group or profession ensures
professionalism and integrity of its members.
2. Advisory: The codes are usually a good source of tips to members and
offer advice and guidance in areas where there are fuzzy moral issues.
3. Educational: Ethical codes are good educational tools for members of the
domain, especially the new ones who have to learn the do’s and don’ts of
the new profession. These codes are also a good source of renewal for the
older members needing to refresh and polish their possibly waning morals.
4. Inspirational: Besides being disciplinary, advisory, and educational, the
codes should also carry subliminal messages to those using them to inspire
them to be “good.”
5. Publicity: One way for professions to create a good clientele is to show
that they have a strong code of ethics and, therefore, their members are
committed to basic values and are responsible.
 HOW DO COMPUTER ETHICS
COMPARE TO TRADITIONAL
ETHICS?

Computer Ethics are a subset of set A in the functional

definition of ethics. There are some likely differences
between the set A in the traditional definition and set A
in the functional definition, which now includes
computer ethics. Although the overall picture remains
the same, there are differences in the overall
implementation of the models because of the changes in
set A of the functional definition.
THE UNIQUE THREAT ON
COMPUTER ETHICS
Changing Premises
Different Temptations
Complacent Society
Ethical Muddles
 CHANGING PREMISES

Although it is true that the outcome of the

ethics value function remains the same, the
domain set itself has changed and will keep
changing. The number of input possibilities
for every human action keeps on growing
with new advances in computer technology.
For example, take the act of forgery,
 DIFFERENT TEMPTATIONS
WHY ARE PEOPLE NOW BADLY
TEMPTEPTED
1. Speed:
2. Privacy and anonymity:
3. Nature of medium:
4. Aesthetic attraction:
5. Increased availability of potential victims:
7. The power to destroy:
6. International scope:
 COMPLACENT SOCIETY
A majority of computer-related actions are either
deliberately ignored by society for fear of publicity
or they are hailed as novel science. This says that
either members of society are still caught in the
spell of the new wonder machine or that they have
gotten so comfortable with the new wonder
machine that they let their moral and ethical
standards slide
 TECHNOLOGY AND VALUES
•Every now and then, a new technology is
introduced in our midst, intended to make our
lives easier.
•There are many new situations resulting from the

computer revolution that are outdating our basic

sets of values.
•Successful technological revolutions tend to create

tempting situations often resulting in a loosening

of individual moral values, and the computer
revolution tops that list.
 ARRESTING THE THREAT OF THE
COMPUTER REVOLUTIONS

1. Formulate new laws to strengthen our basic

sets of values, which are being rendered
irrelevant by computer technology.
2. Construct a conceptual model in which the
new laws can be applied successfully.
3. Launch a massive education campaign to
make society aware of the changing
environment and the impact such an
environment is having on our basic values.
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONS
THE FOUR THEMES
(1) Evolution of professions,
(2) The making of an ethical
professional,
(3) The professional decision-making
process, and
(4) professionalism and ethical
responsibilities.
 REQUIREMENTS OF A
PROFESSIONAL
.

There are three basic professional

requirements, namely:
1. A set of highly developed skills and deep
knowledge of the field
2. Autonomy.
3. Observance of a code of conduct.
OBSERVANCE OF A CODE OF CONDUCT.
A WORKING PROFESSIONAL USUALLY OBSERVES THESE
FOUR TYPES OF CODES:

• The professional code: a set of guidelines provided to the

professional by the profession spelling out what a professional
ought to do and not do.
• A personal code: a set of individual moral guidelines on which
professionals operate.
• The institutional code: a code imposed by the institution for which
the professional is working. This code is meant to build and
maintain the public’s confidence in the institution and its
employees.
• The community code: a community standard code developed over
a period of time based on either the religion or culture of the
indigenous people in the area.
Professionalism is .supported by four
PILLARS OF PROFESSIONALISM

pillars:
commitment,
integrity,
responsibility
accountability
 COMMITMENT
Commitment, according to Humphreys, has these six
characteristics:
1. The person making the commitment must do so
willingly without duress.
2. The person responsible must try to meet the
commitment, even if help is needed.
3. There must be agreement on what is to be done, by
whom, and when.
4. The commitment must be openly and publicly stated
5. The commitment must not be made easily.
6. Prior to the committed date, if it is clear it cannot be
met, advance notice must be given and a new commitment
negotiated.
 INTEGRITY
Integrity means a state of undivided
loyalty to self-belief. It is honesty,
uncompromising self-value, and
uncorruptibility. The word “integrity”
comes from the Latin word integratas,
which means entire, undivided, or
whole.
 THREE MAXIMS OF
INTEGRITY:
•vision

•love
of what one is doing and
•commitment to what one has to do.
 RESPONSIBILITY
RESPONSIBILITY DEALS WITH ROLES, TASKS, AND
ACTIONS AND THEIR ENSUING CONSEQUENCES.
 RESPONSIBILITIES OF A
PROFESSIONAL AS A PROVIDER

A professional in either a provider–client or

provider–customer relationship plays the
role of provider of either a service or a
product. This relationship, as we pointed
out earlier, is a contract between the two
parties. The relationship consists of three
major types of responsibilities: service,
product, and consequential.
 SERVICE
RESPONSIBILITIES.
In order for a professional to provide a service
to a client, there must be a contract binding the
professional and the client. In this contract, as in
any other contract, the professional has specific
responsibilities regarding the time of delivery of
the service, the quality of the service, and the
consequences after the service has been
rendered.
 PRODUCT
RESPONSIBILITIES.
If the contract between the provider
and the client involves a product, the
provider has the responsibility to
deliver the product agreed upon on
time, in good shape and of quality, and
to provide documentation for safe use
of the product.
 CONSEQUENTIAL
RESPONSIBILITIES.
Whether a professional has provided a service or a
product, there are always after-effects of that action.
In the worst-case scenario the service or product
may cause physical or financial harm to the client
Remorse and anger are after-effects of an action
gone wrong, in this case a professional service.
 ACCOUNTABILITY
Accountability is the obligation to answer for
the execution of one’s assigned
responsibilities.
This process involves the “cycle of setting
measurable goals, planning what needs to be
done to meet those goals, reporting progress
towards goals, evaluating the reports, and
using that feedback to make improvements”
ACCOUNTABILITY: 3 KEY ELEMENTS

1. A set of outcome measures that reliably and

objectively evaluate performance:
2. A set of performance standards defined in
terms of these outcome measures:
3. A set of incentives for meeting the standards
and/or penalties for failing to meet them:
 THE MAKING OF AN ETHICAL
PROFESSIONAL: EDUCATION AND LICENSING
• For formal education to be effective in teaching and
enforcing the pillars of professionalism, it must be
targeted and incremental.
• In elementary school, as students are introduced to
information technology, they should be told not to use
machines to destroy other people’s property or to hurt
others.
• They should be told not to visit certain web pages, to
avoid getting involved into relationships online, not to
give personal and family information online, and not to
arrange for a rendezvous on or offline.
• In addition, they should be told to respect others’ work
and property, whether they are online or off.
 ETHICS BEYOND THREATS
There are several approaches to bring the message across:
(i) Students take formal courses in professional ethics in a
number of professional programs in their respective colleges.
(ii) Without taking formal courses in their curriculum, students
are taught a good amount of the information ethics sprinkled
throughout their courses, either in general education or in their
major.
(iii) Using a capstone course in the general education
requirements and in that course add information ethics content.
Many colleges now require computer literacy as a graduation
requirement. Use that course to add ethics content.
(iv) Require an exit one-hour information ethics course which can
be taken online.
v.)Once they join the workplace environment, these professionals
should be required to attend informal refresher sessions,
seminars, and in-service workshops periodically.
 LICENSING
AUTHORITIES
Licensing grants individuals formal or legal
permission to practice their profession, which tips
the balance of power in the giver–receiver equation
in favor of the giver.
The are certain conditions where licenses may not
be given or if already given may not be renewed
Licenses can be (and have been) used as both
control and educating instruments to enforce rules,
laws, and certain group or society norms.
 PROFESSIONAL CODE OF CONDUCT
The primary purpose of professional codes of conduct is to promote the
public image of the profession by specifying and enforcing the ethical
behavior expected of its members. Accordingly, and in most cases,
professional codes consist of standards, canons, and rules of conduct that
address the following areas:
• Moral and legal standards
• Professional–client relationship
• Client advocacy
• Professional–public relationships
• Sanction mechanics
• Confidentiality
• Assessment
• Compliance
• Competence
• Certified professional credentials for those professions that use
certification
 ENFORCEMENT
Experience and studies have shown that professions
with enforceable codes have fewer discipline
problems among their members than those with no
codes or those with codes but without enforcement
mechanisms.
Those professions with fewer disciplinary problems
naturally have better images. Because the purpose of
codes for any profession is to create and maintain a
good image, those professions without codes should
come up not only with codes, canons, and guidelines,
but also with enforcement mechanisms, and those
with codes but with no enforcement system should
add them.
TECHNIQUES OF ENFORCEMENT
The most widely used are professional ethics boards,
standing committees, or review boards charged with:
• drawing up the codes of ethics for the profession if
none exist
• revising codes if and when necessary
• conducting education campaigns at the membership
level
• distributing copies of the codes to every member
• developing disciplinary procedures
• receiving complaints, conducting hearings,
counseling members, and sanctioning
members found guilty