Ethics for the Computing

Professional
& BCS Code of Conduct

Mike Pickup
Aims of this Session

¢  To introduce the “Grand Theories” of Ethics

¢  to consider the BCS Code of Conduct as a guide for

examining ethical issues.

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 Ethics Definition
¢  Moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour, or
the conducting of an activity

¢  The branch of knowledge that deals with moral

principles.

From the New Oxford dictionary

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Ethics & Trust

¢  Sommerville (8th ed., p.13): a key challenge for

software engineering in 21st century is trust
l  “The trust challenge is to develop techniques
that demonstrate that software can be trusted
by its users.”
¢  … but can methodologies, tools and techniques
alone suffice to gain trust from wider society or do
we need to consider the standards of people who
apply them?

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Ethics Grand Theories
o  Aristotle (Virtue Ethics)
“Virtues are dispositions to act in ways that benefit both the person
possessing them and society.”

o  Kant (Deontological Ethics)

“Humans are bound, from a knowledge of their duty as rational
beings, to obey the categorical imperative to respect other rational
beings.”

o  Bentham et al (Utilitarian Ethics)

“An action is right in so far as it promotes happiness, and the
greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding
principle of conduct.”

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 Virtue Ethics

¢  Virtue ethics shows that business cannot be separated from

society – everyone is part of the larger community, the ‘polis’,
the corporation, the neighbourhood, the city, the country or the
world and virtues are defined by that larger community.
¢  Business is part of that community.
¢  Virtue ethics focuses on the character and motivation of the
agent and on the agent’s ability to pursue ‘eudaimonia’.

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 Deontological Ethics

¢  Kant believed that morality, in all spheres of human life,

including business, should be grounded in reason.
¢  His Categorical Imperative held that people should act only
according to maxims that they would be willing to see
become universal norms, and that people should never be
treated as a means to an end.
¢  Kant’s theory implies the necessity of trust, adherence to
rules, and keeping promises (e.g. contracts).

¢  The BCS Code of Conduct is a product of Deontological

ethics – it guides action based on a set of principles/duties.

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Utilitarianism Ethics

¢  Utilitarianism considers the majority affected by a

certain action – general welfare is important, and this is
often seen as good business policy: the general good of
the organisation is more important than that of
individuals.
¢  However, the best business transactions are the ones in
which the best result is achieved, when both business
and consumer, employer and employee, shareholders
and stakeholders are considered and benefited. This
means that when making business decisions all options
need considering – no one can just act on intuition if they
wish to maximise utility.

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Computer Ethics definition

“The analysis of the nature and the social impact of

computer technology and the corresponding formulation and
justification of policies for the ethical use of such
technology.”

James Moor 1985

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Some Computer Ethics Issues

¢  Privacy & Anonymity

¢  Intellectual Property
¢  Computer Crime
¢  Security & Control
¢  Computer Reliabilty
¢  Collection of Personal Data
¢  Integrity of Data
¢  Freedom of Information
¢  Equality of Access
¢  Authenticity

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An Ethics Model
•  Virtue Ethics

Agent – intentions
of the moral
agent

•  Deontological Ethics – do
Actions the actions follow the
moral “code”

•  Utilitarianism –
Greatest Good for
Results Greatest number
compared to
alternatives

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Four Ethical Questions

¢  Who is the agent? (including their motives, interests and

character)
¢  What action was taken or is being contemplated?
¢  What are the results or consequences of that action?
¢  Are those results fair or just?

These questions seem to be suitable for many types of

ethical decision making
(Mason et al., 1995, p115)

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The BCS
¢  As a Professional Body, BCS represents its members
and the IT Profession as a whole on issues of
importance, and liaises with other professional bodies,
the government, industry and academics to initiate and
inform debate on IT strategic issues.
¢  As a Learned Society, BCS is governed by a
Royal Charter, which defines our purpose: to promote the
study and practice of Computing and to advance
knowledge and education for the benefit of the public.
Our Charter enables us to admit qualified members.
¢  As a Nominated Body, BCS is licensed by the
Engineering Council to award Chartered Engineer status
(CEng) and Incorporated Engineer status (IEng). The
Institute also has a licence from the Science Council to
award Chartered Scientist status (CSci).

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BCS Code of Conduct
¢  sets out the professional standards required by BCS as a
condition of membership;
¢  applies to all members, irrespective of their membership
grade, the role they fulfil, or the jurisdiction where they
are employed or discharge their contractual obligations.
¢  governs the conduct of the individual, not the nature of
the business or ethics of any Relevant Authority.
¢  Members are expected to exercise their own judgement
(which should be made in such a way as to be
reasonably justified) to meet the requirements of the code
and seek advice if in doubt.

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BCS: 1.Public Interest
You shall:
a) have due regard for public health, privacy, security and
wellbeing of others and the environment.
b) have due regard for the legitimate rights of Third
Parties.
c) conduct your professional activities without
discrimination on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation,
marital status, nationality, colour, race, ethnic origin,
religion, age or disability, or of any other condition or
requirement
d) promote equal access to the benefits of IT and seek to
promote the inclusion of all sectors in society wherever
opportunities arise.

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BCS: 2.Professional
Competence and Integrity
You shall:
a) only undertake to do work or provide a service that is within your
professional competence.
b) NOT claim any level of competence that you do not possess.
c) develop your professional knowledge, skills and competence on a
continuing basis, maintaining awareness of technological
developments, procedures, and standards that are relevant to your field.
d) ensure that you have the knowledge and understanding of
Legislation and that you comply with such Legislation, in carrying out
your professional responsibilities.
e) respect and value alternative viewpoints and, seek, accept and offer
honest criticisms of work.
f) avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by
false or malicious or negligent action or inaction.

g) reject and will not make any offer of bribery or unethical inducement .
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BCS:3.Duty to Relevant
Authority
You shall
a) carry out your professional responsibilities with due care and
diligence in accordance with the Relevant Authority’s requirements
whilst exercising your professional judgement at all times.
b) seek to avoid any situation that may give rise to a conflict of interest
between you and your Relevant Authority.
c) accept professional responsibility for your work and for the work of
colleagues who are defined in a given context as working under your
supervision.
d) NOT disclose or authorise to be disclosed, or use for personal gain or
to benefit a third party, confidential information except with the
permission of your Relevant Authority, or as required by Legislation
e) NOT misrepresent or withhold information on the performance of
products, systems or services (unless lawfully bound by a duty of
confidentiality not to disclose such information), or take advantage of
the lack of relevant knowledge or inexperience of others.

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BCS: 4.Duty to the
Profession
You shall:
a) accept your personal duty to uphold the reputation of the profession
and not take any action which could bring the profession into disrepute.
b) seek to improve professional standards through participation in their
development, use and enforcement.
c) uphold the reputation and good standing of BCS, the Chartered
Institute for IT.
d) act with integrity and respect in your professional relationships with
all members of BCS and with members of other professions with whom
you work in a professional capacity.
e) notify BCS if convicted of a criminal offence or upon becoming
bankrupt or disqualified as a Company Director and in each case give
details of the relevant jurisdiction.
f) encourage and support fellow members in their professional
development

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 Review of the Session
¢  Ethics form the basis of trust
¢  The “Grand Theories” of Ethics
l  Virtue Ethics,
l  Deontological Ethics
l  Utilitarianism Ethics.
¢  Codes, like the Highway code lead to consistent
behaviour.
¢  BCS Code of Conduct:
1)  Public Interest
2)  Professional Integrity
3)  Relevant Authorities
4)  Duty to Profession
¢  Standards enable effective interaction and cooperation
between parties in achieving professional outcomes.

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Reading
¢  BCS code of conduct
l  http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/conduct.pdf

¢  Mason, R. O., Mason, F. M., Culnan, M. J. (1995), Ethics

of Information Management, Sage Series in Business
Ethics, Sage, pp.109-148

¢  Moor, J. H. (1985), “What is Computer Ethics?”, available

at: http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/classes/188/
spring06/papers/moor.html

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