Kirkland Keith

Cpr_E 394

Ethics

In everything you do, whether it be working, driving, or even just living, there is typically some
kind of set of morals or ethics that must be followed. These morals and ethics are important in defining
your behavior and gives you a sense of what is right and wrong. As such, there is an important purpose
to having a Code of Ethics, otherwise known as a Moral Code. This Code acts as a policy to protect the
public as well as the reputation of those following the Code.

There are many times in one’s life, you are forced to face a situation where an ethical decision
must be made. For myself, there are many factors I would need to consider finding a full solution. It
would, of course, depend on the situation. Related to working as an engineer, the most important factor
to be considered would be the IEEE Code of Ethics. This code of ethics clearly describes a set of rules
that can and should be followed in most all situations and even seems to apply to situations outside of
the engineering career. You must use this code to think from all perspectives, whether it be culturally,
ethically, or any of the other perspectives we have talked about in our group discussions.

In class, we talked about an article that referenced the use of an Amazon Echo being key in
solving a murder case. This is an issue because despite the Echo having saved data concerning the case,
Amazon does not want to share said information. On one hand, they are keeping information that could
help solve this murder case, putting the murderer behind bars. On the other, they would be breaching
the privacy of someone who bought their item, thus breaching their trust. Since the suspected murderer
is the owner of the device, most would think it’s a no brainer.

However, Amazon is looking past this incident. If they give away the information from the Echo,
they could possibly incriminate their customer. While not all customers are suspected felons, it does
affect the average customer’s piece of mind. Our class essentially agreed with this statement, believing
that while it would be good to solve this murder, it would heavily damage the company. We
unfortunately did not come to a consensus on a solution, due to the nature of the talk. Unfortunately,
both sides seem to confirm a breach of ethics. Hurt the trust of many people or let a murderer have a
chance at going free.

When it comes to this particular scenario, three virtues really stood out to me. Those virtues are
responsibility, fidelity, and integrity. Responsibility is important because Amazon must be accountable in
this situation, knowing they’re information is what plays a big role. They must also be trustworthy and
dependable, however, and that brings responsibility to the foreground of the topic. This also has to do
with faithfulness and fidelity. While being trustworthy and dependable, they are being loyal and
supporting of their customers. As such, their moral integrity come into question. By choosing not to
share their information, they’re choosing to stick with their morals, or their code of ethics, to ensure
that their customer trust and continue supporting them.

The other virtues are tad less relevant in this situation. By withholding the information that they
should be sharing with the police, honesty doesn’t really come to mind. This situation also ignores the
virtue of charity, having very little to do with helping the situation and preferring to protect their other
customers’ security. Self-discipline’s role in this situation also lacks greatly as by choosing to not help the
police, they are strongly going against them. Though it is not entirely Amazon’s fault, there is not a
middle ground that can be taken here.

In this situation, another interesting virtue that could be applied is that of understanding.
Amazon understand their customers. They know what they want from them, at least to a degree, and
they understand the importance of it.

Ethics are important in our daily lives, both at work and outside of it. By having a Code of Ethics,
people are able to prosper and fully understand what must be done to ensure an ethical solution to
everyday problems.