Professional Ethics Professional Ethics in Computing Gordana Dodig Crnkovic IDT, Mälardalen University, Sweden http://www.idt.mdh.se/personal/gdc/ 1
Ethics in Computing 2
Ethics in Computing* - Comes as a consequence of the development of computer technology (education, business, government, commerce, security, medicine, entertainment, etc.) - Norbert Wiener 1940s named a new branch of applied ethics cybernetics (today: study of regulatory systems) Books: Cybernetics (1948); The Human Use of Human Beings (1950) * This topic is based on Axel Krings http://www2.cs.uidaho.edu/~krings/cs401/cs401-ethics-1.pdf 3
Ethics in Computing - Walter Maner 1976 studied effect of computers in medicine. Ethical problems aggravated, transformed or created by computer technology Book: Computer Ethics (1976) - Book: Bynum, Terrell Ward, ed. (1985), Computers and Ethics - Book: Deborah Johnson (1985) Computer Ethics (textbook) - The uniqueness debate : Are these really wholly new ethical problems related to computers? - James H. Moor. (1985) What is computer ethics? Metaphilosophy, 16:266-75 policy vacuums 4
Ethics in Computing - Terrel Bynum 1986 founded Research Center on Computing and Society - Core values: life, health, happiness, security, resources, opportunities and knowledge are so important to the continued survival of any community that essentially all communities do value them. (Moor, 1990) - Core values used to examine ethical issues (Moor,1999) - Value-sensitive Computer Design introduced in late 90s 5
Types of Professional Ethics Environmental Ethics (warming, pollution, resources, ) Medical Ethics (resource distribution, transplants, enhancements, ) Bioethics (gene manipulation, ) Media Ethics (consequence of global communications) Research Ethics Business Ethics Corporate Ethics 6
Ethical Questions in Computing Ubiquitous computing/ Ambient Intelligence/ Internet of things Nano-technology (production, use, ) Autonomous, intelligent, adaptive, learning systems Robotics, industrial/social Social networking via web (Second Life, Facebook, Instagram, ) Virtual worlds/ virtual economy 7
Ethical Questions in Computing Privacy/ Personal Integrity/ Databases/ Data mining/ Surveillance Have a look at Mozilla s Lightbeam Firefox tool that shows who's tracking your online movements http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/28/mozilla-lightbeam-tracking-privacy-cookies Decoding mental states from brain activity http://worldsciencefestival.com/videos/it_sounds_like_youre_talking_about_mind_reading John-Dylan Haynes research http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/04/mind_decision 8
Ethical Questions Related to Computing Medical Implants, Enhancements, Upgrades Engineering Memories, Theodore Berger "Engineering Memories: A Cognitive Neural Prosthesis for Restoring and Enhancing Memory Function http://www.usc.edu/programs/neuroscience/faculty/profile.php?fid=23 Safety critical systems Research ethics (publication, living research objects, informed consent) 9
Computing Curricula 10
Definition of Professional Ethics within Computing Curricula Swedish Computer Science and Engineering education follows in many respects an international model, the American ACM/IEEE Computing Curricula recommendations: http://www.acm.org/education/curricularecommendations The education in Professional Ethics is a compulsory part of ACM/IEEE Computing Curriculum. 11
Computing Curricula, ACM/IEEE Social context of computing Methods and tools of analysis of ethical argument Professional and ethical responsibilities Risks and liabilities of safety-critical systems Intellectual property Privacy and civil liberties Social implications of the Internet Computer crime Philosophical foundations of ethics 12
Why is Professional Ethics important? Professional Ethics is a part of education for every socially important profession (medicine, law, media/ journalism etc.) Ethics is fundamental component of the professionalism! The most important goal is to develop the ethical autonomy, i.e. the skill and the habit of thinking rationally and critically about the ethical issues. 13
Codes of Ethics ACM code of ethics http://www.acm.org/about/code-of-ethics IEEE code of ethics http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html SE code of ethics http://www.acm.org/about/se-code More codes: http://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/basics/codes/ 14
IEEE Computer Society SOFTWARE ENGINEERING CODE OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE, short version 1 PUBLIC - Software engineers shall act consistently with the public interest. 2 CLIENT AND EMPLOYER - Software engineers shall act in a manner that is in the best interests of their client and employer, consistent with the public interest. 3 PRODUCT - Software engineers shall ensure that their products and related modifications meet the highest professional standards possible. 4 JUDGMENT - Software engineers shall maintain integrity and independence in their professional judgment.
5 MANAGEMENT - Software engineering managers and leaders shall subscribe to and promote an ethical approach to the management of software development and maintenance. 6 PROFESSION - Software engineers shall advance the integrity and reputation of the profession consistent with the public interest. 7 COLLEAGUES - Software engineers shall be fair to and supportive of their colleagues. 8 SELF - Software engineers shall participate in lifelong learning regarding the practice of their profession and shall promote an ethical approach to the practice of the profession.
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING CODE OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE, examples from full version 2.06. Identify, document, collect evidence and report to the client or the employer promptly if, in their opinion, a project is likely to fail, to prove too expensive, to violate intellectual property law, or otherwise to be problematic. 3.09. Ensure realistic quantitative estimates of cost, scheduling, personnel, quality and outcomes on any project on which they work or propose to work and provide an uncertainty assessment of these estimates.
Etisk vägledning för ingenjörer (CF) 1. Ingenjören bör i sin yrkesutövning känna ett personligt ansvar för att tekniken används på ett sätt som gagnar människa, miljö och samhälle. 2. Ingenjören bör sträva efter att förbättra tekniken och det tekniska kunnandet i riktning mot ett effektivare resursutnyttjande utan skadeverkningar.
Etisk vägledning för ingenjörer (CF) 3. Ingenjören bör ställa sitt kunnande till förfogande i offentliga och enskilda sammanhang för att uppnå bästa beslutsunderlag och belysa teknikens möjligheter och risker. 4. Ingenjören bör inte arbeta inom eller samverka med företag och organisationer av tvivelaktig karaktär eller med mål som strider mot personlig övertygelse.
Etisk vägledning för ingenjörer (CF) 5. Ingenjören bör visa full lojalitet mot arbetsgivare och arbetskamrater. Svårigheter härvidlag bör tas upp till öppen diskussion, i första hand på arbetsplatsen. 6. Ingenjören får inte använda otillbörliga metoder i tävlan om anställning, uppdrag eller beställning, ej heller försöka skada kollegors anseende genom obefogade beskyllningar.
Etisk vägledning för ingenjörer (CF) 7. Ingenjören bör respektera anförtrodda upplysningars konfidentiella natur samt andras rätt till uppslag, uppfinningar, utredningar, planer och ritningar. 8. Ingenjören får inte gynna obehöriga intressen och bör öppet redovisa ekonomiska och andra intressen som kan påverka tilltron till hans eller hennes opartiskhet och omdöme.
Etisk vägledning för ingenjörer (CF) 9. Ingenjören bör enskilt och offentligt, i tal och skrift, sträva efter ett sakligt framställningssätt och undvika felaktiga, missvisande eller överdrivna påståenden. 10. Ingenjören bör aktivt stödja kollegor, som råkar i svårigheter på grund av ett handlande i enlighet med dessa regler, samt enligt bästa övertygelse avstyra brott mot dem.
http://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu Ethics in Computing "site map" 23
References http://www.idt.mdh.se/kurser/cd5590 http://ethics.sandiego.edu/ http://www2.cs.uidaho.edu/~krings/cs401/cs401-ethics-1.pdf http://www.idt.mdh.se/~gdc/work/publications.html 24