Dr. Aftab Maroof & Mr.

Naveed Iqbal
FAST-NU, Islamabad
(Lecture Slides Week # 3)
 What do Professional Ethics Provide?
 Adds a level of professionalism
 Defines and promotes a standard when dealing with clients and
employers
 Protects the profession as a group
 Classifies the rights of members, clients, and employers
 Provides a guideline in questionable areas
 Problems with Professional Ethics:
 Can not cover all aspects
 Who determines violations?
 How are the rules interpreted?
 What penalties exist for violations?

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 Professional Ethics must take into account:
 Relations between professionals and clients
 Relation between profession and society
 Relations among professionals
 Relations between employee and employer
 Specialized technical details of the profession
 A computing professional must understand:
 Cultural, social, legal, and ethical issues in computing
 Responsibility and possible consequences of failure

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 Why Special Need for Ethical Conduct in Professions?
 Society has attached a special meaning to the term professional .
 A professional is expected to conduct himself or herself at a higher
level than most other members of society.
 Organizations have to bear the responsibility of actions of
professionals, thus organizations must be concerned about
professional ethics.
 Principles vs. Rules of Conduct:
 Principles: Ideal standards of ethical conduct in philosophical terms.
They are not enforceable.
 Rules of Conduct: Minimum standards of ethical conduct stated as
specific rules. They are enforceable.

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 Computer Ethics:
 Analysis of the natural and social impact of computer technology and
the corresponding formulation and justification of policies for the
ethical use of such technology. [James H. Moore]
 Ethical Problems arise because of Conflicting Interests
▪ Music Downloader vs. Music Rights Owner
▪ Spammers vs. Email Users
 As Computer Crimes and our Reliance and Dependence on Computers
and ICT increases, We are becoming more and more susceptible and
exposed to cyberspace evils and insecurity.
 Avalanche of Cyber Vandalism
 Computer Ethics vs. Other Fields:
▪ Theft is theft no matter whether it is done at the point of a gun or with a
computer.

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 Why Computer Ethics?
 To determine what should be done in ethical situations while being
part of computing profession
 Walter Maner Justifications:
▪ To make us behave like responsible professionals
▪ To teach us how to avoid computer abuse and catastrophes
▪ Technological advancements creating temporary policy vacuums
▪ Use of computing permanently transforms certain ethical issues to the
degree that their alterations require independent study
▪ Use of computing technology creates, and will continue to create, novel
ethical issues that require special study
▪ Set of novel and transformed issues is large enough and coherent enough
to define a new field.

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 Categories of Computer Ethics Issues:
 Privacy
▪ Computers create a false sense of security
▪ People do not realize how vulnerable information stored on computers is
 Property
▪ Physical property
▪ Intellectual property (in both copyright and patent)
▪ Data as property
 Access
▪ Access to computing technology
▪ Access to data
 Accuracy
▪ Accuracy of information stored

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 Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics:
1. You shall not use a computer to harm other people
2. You shall not interfere with other people's computer work
3. You shall not snoop around in other people's computer files
4. You shall not use a computer to steal
5. You shall not use a computer to bear false witness
6. You shall not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid
7. You shall not use other people's computer resources without authorization or
proper compensation
8. You shall not appropriate other people's intellectual output
9. You shall think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or
the system you are designing
10. You shall always use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect for
your fellow humans

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 Codes of Ethics for Computer Professionals:
 Central concern: the public good, including human rights and diversity
of culture
 Honesty and fairness in communication about software and related
topics
 Use client or employer property only as authorized
 High quality, reasonable cost and schedule
 Respect for privacy, intellectual property
 Disclose conflicts of interest
 Address software errors
 Lifelong learning
 Honor agreements and assigned responsibilities

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 Computer Ethics – Different Temptations:
 Speed
 Privacy and Anonymity
 Nature of Medium
 Aesthetic Attraction
 Increased Availability of Potential Victims
 International Scope
 The Power to Destroy
 …

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FAST-NU, Islamabad / PI in Computing - Spring 2011 11
 Scenario 1 – Illegal Use
 A person is using a piece of SW without the
author’s permission and says: “I’m not really using
it, I’m just evaluating it before I make a firm
decision on buying”
 That person is “evaluating” that piece of SW for 12
months now!
 Is the conduct of that person ethical?

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 Scenario 2 – Vaporware
 A small company announces a new SW product
 A larger, more established competitor hears about that product, and
starts a whispering campaign that she is also working on a similar
product that will be released soon.
 Potential customers decide to wait for the product instead of making
the more riskier purchase from the smaller company.
 The new company’s sales become sluggish, and it fails to earn back
the investment that it has put into developing that new product. That
results in her closure.
 The larger company never releases the promised product.
 Is the conduct of that large company unethical or a
reasonable business tactic?

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 Scenario 3 – Whistle Blower
 SW bugs, at times, have catastrophic consequences
 While Bhola sahib was working for a contractor at NASA,
he found such a bug and reported it to his boss, Murphy
sahib, who ordered him to never mention it to any one, or
he will get fired
 Bhola sahib got scared, and did as he was told
 Did Bhola sahib behave in an ethical manner? Would
you hire him in your company?
▪ Truth (Disclosure) vs. Loyalty (Confidentiality)
▪ Missing Degree Case

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 Scenario 4 – Trade Secrets
 Bhola sahib was working at BholiSoft
 He leaves it to work for a competitor, SuperSoft
 Even before starting at SuperSoft, he already has divulged
many of the trade secrets of BholiSoft during his
interviews at SuperSoft, giving them an advantage over
BholiSoft
 Do you agree with Bhola Sahib’s ethics? Would you hire
him in your company?

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 Scenario 5
 You are asked to develop software that stores and
manages customers financial data.
 You find a security flaw days before its delivery to the
client.
 Your boss tells you to sit on it and will be fixed with a patch
after the delivery.
 If you bring the flaw to the foreground it will delay the
release and cost your company millions.
 What do you do?

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 Scenario 6
 You work for a small software firm that is
contracted to write a program that can predict the
spread of radiation of a dirty bomb with 75%
accuracy.
 The best you have been able to achieve is 74.6%
accuracy.
 You boss says close enough and rounds up the
test data.
 What will you do?

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 Scenario 7
 You worked for a software firm developing countless
programs for many years.
 Over those years you have made several software libraries
that help you do your job.
 You decided to move on to a new company.
 After a few weeks you realize that you can use the libraries
from your old job to help with your new job.
 What do you do?

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 Ethical Decision Making:
 Who is affected? What are their rights?
 What are risks or issues?
 What are benefits?
 What actions are possible?
 What are responsibilities of actors?
 What are ethically acceptable choices?

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 Why Ethical Models / Theories?
 No formula to solve Ethical Problems
 Ethics helps us not only in distinguishing between right
and wrong, but also in knowing why and on what
grounds our judgment of human actions is justified
 Ethical theories help:
▪ How to decide what is right, what is wrong
▪ To identify important principles or guidelines
 You as a computer professional must consider trade-offs
and make a decision!
▪ Right, Wrong, and Okay: acts may be ethically obligatory,
ethically prohibited, or ethically acceptable

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 Why Ethical Principles?
 Ethical principles are Ideas of behavior that are commonly
acceptable to society
 Relying on ethical principles for decision making prevents
us from relying only on intuition or personal preference
 Knowing ethical principles of decision making is cultural
survival skill
 Each person who benefits from living in a society has an
obligation to uphold principles on which that society is
based
 Ethical decision making is vital to creating a world in
which we want to live

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 Factors Affecting our Behavior:
 At biological level, behavior is directed by the drives for food, shelter, and
care / love.
 At social level, we behave according to a variety of rules that flow from
Government, Religious Institutions, or Family.
 At a higher and more abstract level, our behavior is modified by our
understanding of what is good, right, proper, moral or ethical.
 Competing Factors:
 Human action is rarely simple and straightforward.
 At any time, influences from several levels affect our behavior.
 The influences often lead to competing outcomes, so an individual must
weigh risks and consequences before making an independent value
judgment about how to act.
 Ethical Decision involving computer technology typically involves many
shades of grey—possibilities that, by social standards, are not exclusively
right or wrong.

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 Value Judgment:
 Value Judgment is at the heart of personal and business decisions.
 The objective is to make a judgment based on a combination of your values
and those of others, to arrive at a defensible principled choice.
 Poor judgment or a low-quality decision can result from
▪ Inadequate examination of facts
▪ Failure to apply appropriate ethical principle, or
▪ Failure to consider all perspectives of an issue.
 A low-quality decision can
▪ Heart people’s feelings,
▪ Lower employee’s morale
▪ Cause business lose customers
▪ Decrease profits
▪ Firm to sued or go bankrupt.
 One way to achieve a high-quality ethical value judgment is through a
structured-analysis and decision making process.

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 Ethical Choices:
 Choosing right from wrong
▪ E.g. stealing, lying and cheating actions
 Choosing right from right
▪ It become difficult when things are not as black and white
▪ Usually involve competing interests and become difficult to
handle
 Making Ethical Decisions:
 First step is to recognize that an ethical dilemma exists
and an ethical decision making is called for
 A high-quality ethical decision is based on reason and can
be defended according to ethical concepts
 It is not a science, people approach differently

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 Rights and Duties:
 Rights are inherent universal privileges:
▪ Right to know, Right to Privacy, Right to Property
 Rights have their corresponding duties and responsibilities
 Rights give you freedom and Freedom puts responsibility upon you and
restricts you
 My rights impose duties on you and yours on me
 Personal Duties:
 To foster Trust
 To act with Integrity
 To be Truthfulness
 To do Justice
 To practice Beneficence and Non-Maleficence
 To act with appropriate Gratitude
 To work towards Self-Improvement (Learning Curve)

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 Rights vs. Duties:
 A’s right --- B’s Duty
 A’s Duty --- B’s Right

A’s Duty A’s Right

(Provide good Software) (Fair Monitory
Return)
B’s Right B’s Duty
(Expect quality Software) (Pay the price)

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 Ethical Theories:
 For centuries in different societies, human actions have been judged good or
bad, right or wrong, based on theories or systems of justice developed,
tested, revised, and debated by philosophers and/or elders in that society
 Such theories are commonly known as Ethical Theories
 Codes of ethics have then been drawn-up based on these ethical theories
 The processes of reasoning, explanation, and justification used in ethics are
based on these theories
 Many ethical theories
 Most widely discussed and used:
▪ Consequentialism
▪ Deontology
▪ Human Nature
▪ Relativism
▪ Hedonism
▪ Emotivism

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 Consequentialism Theory:
 Human actions are judged good or bad, right or wrong, depending on the
results, outcomes, ends, consequences of such actions
 Harm minimization (actual or potential) is used as standard for deciding right vs.
wrong. It leads to less unsatisfactory ethical decisions.
 Greater good may also be considered; It leads to a more satisfactory decisions.
 Three Types: Egoism, Utilitarianism, Altruism
 Egoism:
▪ Puts an individual’s interests and happiness above everything else
▪ Any action is good as long as it maximizes an individual’s overall
happiness
▪ Good for me / Least harm to me
▪ It is operating when you wish to maximize benefit to yourself, or
minimize harm to yourself, with less consideration given to others

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 Consequentialism Theory / Egoism:
▪ Two kinds of Egoism: Ethical, and Psychological
▪ Ethical Egoism:
▪ States how people ought to behave as they pursue their own
interests
▪ Psychological Egoism:
▪ Describes how people actually behave
▪ E.g. if a family wanted to be happier, an ethical egoism theorist
would prescribe to each family member how he or she ought to
behave in order to achieve individual happiness first before
considering the happiness of the family.
▪ A psychological egoism theorist, however, would describe how
each individual family member actually was behaving in order to
achieve his or her happiness and hence the happiness of the
family as a whole.

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 Consequentialism Theory:
 Utilitarianism:
▪ Unlike egoism, this theory puts a group’s interest and happiness above those of an
individual, for the good of many
▪ Thus, an action is good if it benefits the maximum number of people
▪ Good for the group, Least harm for the group
▪ It allows you to consider primarily the good (or harm) to others affected by your decisions.
Your reasoning is not self-centered but group centered, seeking the maximum good for the
group. You are usually part of the group.
▪ Act Utilitarianism:
▪ Tells one to consider seriously the consequences of all actions before choosing
the one with the best overall advantage, happiness in this case, for the
maximum number of people.
▪ Rule Utilitarianism:
▪ Tells one to obey those rules that bring the maximum happiness to the greatest
number of people. Rule-utilitarianism maintains that a behavioral code or rule is
good if the consequences of adopting that rule are favorable to the greatest
number of people

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Consequentialism Theory:
 Altruism:
▪ An action is right if the consequences of that
action are favorable to all except the actor.
▪ Good for all, Some harm to me
▪ It is invoked when you sacrifice something for the
benefit of others. You may suffer some harm, but the
interests of others are advanced.

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 Deontological Theory:
 Does not concern with the consequences of the action but rather
with the will of the action
 An action is good or bad depending on the will inherent in it
 According to deontological theory, an act is considered good if the
individual committing it had a good reason to do so
 This theory has a duty attached to it
 In fact, the word “deontology” comes from two Greek words, deon
meaning duty, and logos meaning science
 E.g. We know that killing is bad, but if an armed intruder enters your
house and you kill him or her, your action is good, according to
deontologists. You did it because you had a duty to protect your
family and property.

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 Human Nature Theory:
 Considers human beings as endowed with all faculties and capabilities to live
in happiness.
 We are supposed to discover and then develop those capabilities.
 In turn, those capabilities become a benchmark for our actions, and our
actions are then gauged and judged on how much they measure up to those
capabilities.
 According to the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle, an individual
committing an evil action is lacking in some capabilities.
 Relativism Theory:
 Negatively formulated, denying the existence of universal moral norms.
 It takes right and wrong to be relative to society, culture, or the individual.
 Relativism also states that moral norms are not fixed in time.

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 Hedonism Theory:
 One of the oldest ethical theories.
 It claims that pleasure / happiness is the only good thing in human life, the
end of life as the highest good.
 A hedonist acts only for maximum pleasure and whatever he or she does, it
is done to maximize pleasure or minimize pain.
 Two Types:
 Psychological Hedonism:
▪ Claims that in fact what people seek in their everyday actions is pleasure,
 Ethical Hedonism:
▪ Claims that people ought to seek pleasure, and that pleasure is the moral good.
 Emotivism Theory:
 This theory maintains that ethical statements are neither true nor false and
cannot be proven; they are really only statements about how someone
understand / feel
 Owing Gun vs. Not Owing Gun

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