Ethics and computing discusses that ethics is about making choices between right and wrong both personally and professionally. Unethical decisions can have legal and career consequences, and caring about ethics is important for a civilized society. Ethical decisions are complex, as there may not be a clear right or wrong, and consequences of decisions can negatively impact people. Codes of practice like the ACM code of ethics provide guidance for professionals to contribute to society, avoid harm, be honest and respectful of others. Informal guidelines for ethical decisions include considering the effects on others, doing the greatest good or least harm, and avoiding actions that could lead down a slippery slope.

1. Codes of Practice

2. Ethics and computing
• Ethics is the science of morals
• Making a choice between right and wrong
• Personally and professionally - should we care?
▫ Unethical decisions may be illegal
▫ May have drastic effects on our lives or careers
• Ethics are important as a matter of self-interest
• Further, we must care about making ethical
decisions if we want to live in a civilised society

3. Factors in ethical decisions
• Ethical decisions – IT or otherwise - are rarely
straightforward
• May not be a choice between right and wrong
▫ May have to be the lesser of two evils
• A poor decision can have undesirable consequences
▫ People may be hurt or offended
▫ Employee morale may be adversely affected
▫ Customers may be lost
• An ethical principle is often the basis of Law
▫ e.g recognition of ownership of original work led to
copyright laws being enacted

4. Codes of practice
• The ACM code of Ethics and Professional
Conduct lays out a general code of practice for I.T.
professionals. Here is a summary:
▫ Contribute to society and human well-being
▫ Avoid harm to others
▫ Be honest and trustworthy
▫ Honour property rights including copyrights and
patents
▫ Give proper credit for intellectual property
▫ Respect the privacy of others

5. The Industry Structure Model
• BCS has produced a comprehensive set of
standards for the training and development of all
those in ICT field
• 200 functions in information systems at 10 levels of
responsibility and technical expertise.
• The model can be used to:
▫ compose customised job descriptions from standardised
roles/tasks
▫ assess the competence of Information Systems staff
▫ establish training needs for individuals and organisations
▫ provide training to recognised standards
▫ plot career and development paths
▫ establish staffing and recruitment needs
▫ identify skills shortages

6. Using informal guidelines to make ethical
decisions
• The Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them
do unto you. Think about the effects of your actions, and put
yourself in the position of someone who would be affected.
• The Greatest Good/Least Harm. When choosing between
courses of action, choose the one which achieves the
greatest good for the greatest number of people, and
causes the least harm.
• Kant’s Categorical Imperative. If the action is not right for
everyone to take, then it’s not right for anyone to take. Think
about what would happen if everyone acted as you propose
to do.
• The Slippery Slope Rule. Actions that bring about a small,
acceptable change but that, if taken repeatedly, would lead
to unacceptable changes, should not be taken in the first
place.