Facing the Computer Ethics Dilemma - Ethics in the Context of a Profession - The Research Center on Computing & Society

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C. Dianne Martin and David H. Martin

Ethics in the Context of a Profession

Other sciences and professions that have had hundreds of years to develop ethical concepts continue to wrestle with new and troublesome ethical problems raised by technological advances. Therefore, it is not surprising that a comparatively new field of knowledge, such as computer science, will experience problems in developing ethical concepts and practices. For example, medicine and law are well-defined professions with limited membership. Although they both contain several highly visible public issues, ethical decisions involving their practitioners are made out of the public view for the most part. Some would argue that this process takes place in a self protective manner for the good of the profession.

The computer field, on the other hand, involves many more people and professions from widely diverse situations. The application of computer ethics is made more complicated because there are computer users at all levels throughout our society. Twenty years ago computers were not nearly so numerous or networked together as they are today. Individuals who controlled computers functioned strictly as computer professionals or computer scientists serving other people by providing them with computer output. Now, because of the widespread use of computers, distinguishing between specialists who work only with computers and those who use them as tools for other disciplines lacks significance. “Computers have become as commonplace as telephones. The related ethical issues have thus become more democratically defined. More people have more to say about computer ethics simply because so many… people are computer-literate… the diffuseness of the impacts and the wide distribution of the technology mean that recognizing impacts, let alone solving an ethical dilemma, is much more difficult… Ethical principles applied to millions of computer users effectively become the equivalent of common law (Parker, et al., 1988. p. 3).” For this reason Parker et al has identified four computer specific ethical issues related to new ways of viewing information processing, assets, instruments of acts and symbols of intimidation that need to be addressed in computer ethics codes. These issues are described in Table 9.

An example of a code of ethics that is both computer and profession specific is the Code of Ethics of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), the society that represents over 12,000 computer-using educators at all levels of education. The ISTE Code of Ethical Conduct is based upon principles in nine areas related to use of computers in education and provides rules of conduct in each area. The preamble to the Code of Ethics shown in part in Table 8 reiterates the “importance of people” theme: “Educators should believe in the essential importance of knowledge, morality, skill, and understanding to the dignity and worth of human beings, individually and collectively. As an educator using computers… I will use computers… only in ways that promote the dignity and worth of the learners (ISTE, 1987, p. 51).”

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