ECS 3361

Social Issues & Ethics in

Computer Science and
Engineering
Class 4
 ECS 3361
From Last Week

 Class 3
 Summary of Chapter 2 - Theory
 HW #2 due Thursday
 Discussion 2 complete
 Project Plan due Thursday
 Questions or comments?
 ECS 3361
Theories
 Kantianism - Duty
 Utilitarianism
◦ Act utilitarianism – Judging the benefits of a single act.
◦ Rule utilitarianism – Judging the benefits of all actions that follow the rule.
 Social Contract Theory – Rights
 Virtue Ethics

 All of these will be used in later chapters of the book to analyze

ethical questions.
 All of these are good test topics!
 ECS 3361
Life Lessons
 TINSTAFL:
◦ There Is No Such Thing As a Free Lunch
◦ There are always trade-offs
◦ Find the best overall solution (systems engineering)
 Engineers are responsible for:
1. Cost
2. Schedule
3. Performance & safety
◦ But never compromise safety
 Users will try to break your stuff
◦ Think about how they will misuse
◦ Manage Risk
 The road to hell is paved with good intentions
◦ One small step at a time
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Pricing & Profit
 Cost – what it costs you to make the product
◦ Labor
◦ Materials
 Price – what you sell the product for
 Profit – the difference between cost and price
 Cost – Engineering Labor (simulated average)

◦ Labor $50/hour
◦ Fringe 50% (benefits, vacation, etc.)
◦ Overhead50% (management, computers, etc.)
◦ G&A 8% (General & Accounting)
◦ Subtotal $121.50/hour
 Price @ 15% profit $139.73/hour
Chapter 9 – Professional Ethics
07/10/2020
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9.1 Introduction
 Informally, profession a vocation requiring…
◦ High level of education
◦ Practical experience
 We pay professionals well
◦ Doctors
◦ Lawyers
 We trust professionals to…
◦ Correctly ascertain and treat problems
◦ Take actions for the good of their clients

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Profession?
 Education
 Accreditation
 Skills development
 Certification
 Licensing
 Professional Development
 Code of Ethics
 Professional society

 Teachers? Lawyers? CPAs? Engineers? Computing people?

 ECS 3361
Certified Public Accountants
 Bachelor’s degree
◦ 150+ semester hours
◦ 24+ hours of accounting-related classes
 Two years’ experience working under
supervision of a CPA
 CPA exam
 To retain certification
◦ Continuing education
◦ Follow code of ethics

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 ECS 3361
Traditional Engineers
 Education – yes, BS in Eng.
 Accreditation – yes,
◦ Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)
 (why this class exists)
 Skills development - yes
 Certification - no
 Licensing – yes, TX Board of P.E. (TBPE)
 Professional Development – yes,
◦ 15 hrs a year with at least 1hr in Ethics
 Code of Ethics – yes
◦ Decisions have impact
◦ Act for public good, ability to harm public
 Professional society - several
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Traditional Eng. Societies
Partial List
 Civil – ASCE Join a
 Mechanical – ASME Professional
 Aero – AIAA, & SAE Society
 Electrical – IEEE
 P.E. – NSPE
 Material – SAMPE
 Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum – AIME
 Chemical – AIChE
 Many others …
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Recent
 Biomedical - BMES
 Computer – IEEE & ACM
 Systems – SEAS, NCOSE, ASEM
 Software – IEEE & ACM

Yes, these are Professions

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Attributes of a Mature Profession

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How Do Computer-Related Careers Stack Up?

 Certification and licensing not required

 College degree not required
 Apprenticeship not required
 Membership in professional society

optional
 No specific requirements for continuing

education
 Most computer programmers, system

analysts, etc. are part of teams

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Status of Certification and Licensing
 Software engineer: someone engaged in development or maintenance
of software, or teaches in this area
 Path to certification now exists: similar to path taken by engineers in
other disciplines, such as civil engineering
◦ Four years of post-college work experience
◦ Pass Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam
◦ Pass discipline-specific Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam
◦ PE exam in software available since 2013
 Only a very small percentage of software engineers will have to be
licensed
◦ Those developing software that can affect health, safety, and welfare of the public
◦ Those offering their services directly to the public

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 ECS 3361
Texas
 Texas Occupations Code, Title 6, Chapter 1001
§ 1001.301. License Required
(a) A person may not engage in the practice of engineering unless the person holds a license
issued under this chapter.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (f), a person may not, unless the person holds a license
issued under this chapter, directly or indirectly use or cause to be used as a professional,
business, or commercial identification, title, name, representation, claim, asset, or means of
advantage or benefit any of, or a variation or abbreviation of, the following terms:
(1) “engineer”;
(2) “professional engineer”;
(3) “licensed engineer”;
(4) “registered engineer”;
(5) “registered professional engineer”;
(6) “licensed professional engineer”; or
(7) “engineered.”
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Exceptions
 § 1001.406. Graduate Engineers (abrev.)
◦ (a) A graduate of a university ... ABET … the right to:
◦ (2) use the term “graduate engineer”
◦ (b) working under the direct supervision of a
◦ licensed professional engineer may use the term “engineer”
 § 1001.066. Certain NASA-Related Activities
 § 1001.054. Federal Officer or Employee Working for or under

Federal Government
◦ FAA, Military, etc.
 Software & Computer NOT exempt
 ECS 3361
Software Engineer
 Texas requires licensure for those working on systems that
affect the “health, welfare or safety” of the public
 TBPE defines licensable software engineering as: “…the

application and/or study of a systematic, disciplined,

quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and
maintenance of software that has an impact on the lives,
property, economy, or security of people or the national
defense; that is, the application of engineering to software.”
Yea, there is a test for that.
 ECS 3361
Ability to Harm Public
 Many computer professionals hold responsibilities similar
to those held by members of mature professions
 Therac-25 killed or gravely injured at least six people
 Millions rely upon software rather than accountants to

prepare their tax returns

 Millions of people rely on system administrators to keep

their work-related information secure

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 ECS 3361
The Importance of Taking Personal Responsibility

The ability to cause harm to members of

the public is a powerful reason why those
in computer-related careers must act
according to ethical principles. Without
universal certification and licensing and
other components of a well-developed
profession to rely upon, those in
computer-related careers must take more
personal responsibility for developing their
ethical decision-making skills.

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 ECS 3361

9.3 Software Engineering Code

of Ethics

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Ethical Guidelines for ECS 3361

Computer Professionals
 ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
 Adopted in October 1992
 Consists of 24 imperatives formulated as statements of personal
responsibility
 IEEE/ACM Software Engineering Code of Ethics and
Professional Practice
 Adopted by IEEE-CS and ACM joint task force in 1999

More Details on SE Code of Ethics Next Week

 ECS 3361
When do you need a P.E.?
 Many Mechanical Engineering areas require licensing by the
State.
 Virtually ALL Civil Engineering and Structural Engineering
require licensing by the state.
 Electrical Engineering generally does not require licensing by
the state, unless in the field of power.
 Aerospace generally does not require licensing, HOWEVER, all
aircraft must be certified by the FAA or Military.
 Certification process involves DERs (Designated Engineering
Representative).
 DER delegation exists primarily for systems and structures
 DADT, Propulsion, Fuel, etc. are sub-delegations
 DER delegation is given by the FAA and is regional - not given by
the state.
 Based on need, not just by examination.
 Safety of the Public is key
 ECS 3361
When do you need a P.E?
 Most software systems will not require a license
 Mainly embedded systems whose failure could cause harm

◦ Q1. Does the software control a device or devices that could directly
inflict harm to a human being if there was a malfunction?
◦ Q2.  Does the software put the assets of an individual or corporate
entity at risk beyond the normal amount of risk assumed in everyday
business transactions?
◦ Q3.  Does the software expose identifying information of an individual
or a corporate entity that would violate any federal, state or local laws
(e.g. HIPPA, FERPA)?
◦ Q4.  Does the software interact with other systems in way that directly
satisfies 1-3 above?
http://www.todaysengineer.org/2011/Jul/licensure.asp
 ECS 3361
I, Robot
 Paraphrased from Issac Asimov
◦ S1.    Software may not injure a human being or, through inaction,
allow a human being to come to harm (“injure” is defined as
“significant harm to health, welfare or violation of privacy.”)
◦ S2.   Software must respond to commands given to it by human
beings, except where such inputs would conflict with S1.
◦ S3.   A software system must protect its own existence as long as such
protection does not conflict with the S1 or S2.
 But even Asimov envisioned problems with his 3 laws
 ECS 3361
Hippocratic Oath
 One of the earliest ethical pledges
 I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients

according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm

to anyone.
◦ One translation and only part of the oath
Whistleblowers
 ECS 3361
Overview of Whistle-blowing
 Whistle-blower
◦ Tries to report harmful situation through
authorized channels
◦ Rebuffed by organization
◦ Makes disclosure through unauthorized
channels
 Whistle-blowers punished for their actions
◦ Lose job or all chances of advancement
◦ Financial and emotional hardship
 False Claims Act
 Whistleblower Protection Act

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The Challenger Explosion Killed ECS 3361

Seven Astronauts

Courtesy of NASA

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 ECS 3361
Case: Morton Thiokol/NASA
 Challenger explosion
 Roger Boisjoly and Morton Thiokol
engineers documented dangers of low-
temperature launches
 Morton Thiokol executives and NASA
officials overrode and hid concerns
 Boisjoly shared information with
Presidential commission
 Morton Thiokol retaliated
◦ Boisjoly took medical leave for stress, then quit
◦ Found job as a consultant two years later

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Case: Hughes Aircraft
 Factory for military-grade hybrid chips
 Some defective chips being approved
 Ruth Goodearl reported incidents to upper
management
 Consequences for Goodearl
◦ Harassed
◦ Fired
◦ Unemployment
◦ Bankruptcy
◦ Divorce
 Goodearl and Ruth Aldred sued Hughes Aircraft
under False Claims Act and won

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Motives of Whistle-blowers
 People become whistle-blowers for different reasons
 Morality of action may depend on motives
 Good motive
◦ Desire to help the public
 Questionable motives
◦ Retaliation
◦ Avoiding punishment

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Corporate Response to Whistle-blowing
 Whistle-blowers are disloyal
 Whistle-blowing has many harms
◦ Bad publicity
◦ Disruption of organization’s social fabric
◦ Makes it hard for people to work as team
 If company causes harm, public can use legal remedies to
seek damages
 Critique: Overly legalistic view of public harm?

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Whistle-blowing as Organizational Failure
 Whistle-blowing harms organization
◦ Bad publicity
◦ Ruined careers
◦ Erodes team spirit
 Whistle-blowing harms whistle-blower
◦ Retaliation
◦ Estrangement
 Organizations should improve
communication
 Critique
◦ Is this realistic?
◦ Robert Spitzer: Organizations should return to
using principle-based ethics in decision making

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Whistle-blowing as Moral Duty
Richard DeGeorge’s questions for whistle-blowing
1. Is serious harm to the public at stake?
2. Have you told your manager?
3. Have you tried every possible inside channel?
4. Do you have persuasive documented evidence?
5. Are you sure whistle-blowing will work?
Under what conditions must you blow the whistle?
◦ DeGeorge: If all five conditions are met
◦ Others: If conditions 1-3 are met
◦ Still others: Whistle-blowing is never morally
required

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Moral Responsibility
 Exclusive Responsibilities
◦ Role responsibility
◦ Causal responsibility
◦ Legal responsibility
 Moral responsibility
◦ Must be borne by people
◦ Is not exclusive
 Michael McFarland: A team should be
held to a higher level of moral
responsibility than any of its members

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 ECS 3361
An example
Your First Engineering Job (BS ME)
◦ You graduate from UTD, get a job with a lawnmower company
◦ You work on your first lawnmower.
 Design Strong Frame
 Powerful Engine
 Lightweight
 High strength sharp blade
 Easily Maintainable
◦ Bubba buys one of your lawnmowers
 Cuts the grass
 Likes the powerful engine
 Likes it being lightweight
 Finishes lawn
 Looks at the hedges. Looks at the lawnmower.
 Picks up the lawnmower and trims the hedges, and trims his fingers off.
◦ Q: Are you Liable as an Engineer?
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Example continued
◦ After litigation, you re-design the lawnmower.
 Include a safety latch on the handle that operates a clutch, so that the blade cannot engage
unless the handle is compressed and add warning labels on the mower and in the instructions
◦ Bubba’s brother buys one of your lawnmowers
 Cuts the grass
 Likes the powerful engine
 Likes it being lightweight
 Finishes lawn
 Looks at the hedges. Looks at the lawnmower. Looks at the safety handle. Looks at the duct tape.
 Takes the duct tape and tapes the safety handle in the “griped” position
 Picks up the lawnmower and trims the hedges, and trims his fingers off.
◦ Q: Are you Liable as an Engineer?
◦ As an Engineer, you have to protect yourself against misuse, but it is impossible to protect
yourself from a persistent idiot.
 ECS 3361
A real-life Industrial Horror Story
The names have been eliminated to protect the guilty.
 An employee operated a punch press than took rectangular 1”x2” pieces of
sheet metal and punched out electrical covers.
 Had a quota to keep
 Machine had two hand-buttons on each side of press
◦ One hand had to press each button before the press would stamp sheet metal into covers
◦ Insured that operators had both hands free of the press before operation
 In order to make the quota, the operator put a lead weight on one of the
hand-buttons, so that it was always engaged. Only had to press one button
to operate machine.
 Operator Smashed off one of his fingers.
 Operator was fired for disabling a safety device.
 Discuss
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Next Week
 Homework
◦ Read Ethics code for Software Engineers
 http://www.computer.org/portal/web/certification/resources/code_of_ethic
s
◦ HW 3 to be posted
 Find your engineering code of ethics
◦ ME, EE, BmE, Computer, Software, etc.
◦ Be prepare to discuss in detail next week
 Start with SECE