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Facing the Computer Ethics Dilemma
C. Dianne Martin and David H. Martin
- Abstract
- Computer Ethics in the Social Context
- Professional Codes of Ethics and Conduct
- Proposed IFIP International Code of Ethics
- Ethics in the Context of a Profession
- Ethics Without Sanctions
- Computer Ethics Education
- Conclusions
- References
Proposed IFIP International Code of Ethics
Recently, the International Federation of Information Processing
(IFIP) has undertaken the ambitious task of developing an international
code of ethics for information technology professionals. In attempting
to cut across international boundaries in a multi-cultural arena, the
proposed IFIP ethics code goes far beyond ethics into the areas of international
law and cultural values. At the individual level it covers some of the
same issues of the four previous codes. Excerpts from the proposed IFIP
Code of Ethics is shown in Table 6.
The code promotes social responsibility through the assessment of social
consequences, stresses the protection of established cultural and ethical
norms of privacy, defines individual integrity as honesty, probity, objectivity,
and trustworthiness in human relations, promotes professional competence,
and calls for personal accountability for quality and effects of work
done. Nine of the ten common ethics themes found in previous ethics codes
are found, either directly or indirectly, in the new IFIP code as shown
in Table 7a. Eight additional ethical themes not found in previous codes
are raised in the proposed IFIP code and are shown in Table 7b. They are
(1) specific statement of social responsibility, (2) establishment of
standards, (3) emphasis on quality of life, (4) protection of intellectual
property, (5) consequences of networks, (6) basic human rights, (7) rights
of the user and (8) equity.
The second section covering International Organizational Ethics is an
aspirational statement delineating the voluntary obligations of the international
community of computer professionals related to professional standards,
certification standards, the quality of working conditions, and user participation
and feedback. The third section on Ethics for International Legal Informatics
is a call for the development of international law to protect intellectual
property rights, to establish legal obligations regarding privacy and
other public law matters, to regulate and protect telecommunications networks,
and to establish international computer crime law. The final section called
International Public Policy Ethics is a utopian statement of desirable
human values regarding freedom of communication, the privacy and dignity
of individuals, humanized information systems, universal computer literacy,
equitable opportunity for information services, and the cultural quality
of life.
Go to: Ethics in the Context of a Profession
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