Professionalism and Ethical Responsibilities

Nature of Professionalism

Nicole L. Mendolera

What is Professionalism?

Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics

Academic Honesty Adherence to Confidentiality Agreement Data Privacy Handling of Human Subjects Impartiality in Data Analysis Professional Accountability Resolution of Conflicts of Interests Software Piracy

Acceptable Use Policies In The Workplace

By: Brian Juba

Group 2

The Internet: A Valuable Resource?

Advantages Streamlined time-consuming business tasks. Faster communication.

Disadvantages Distractions at work – shopping,

pornography, gambling, games

Stats about the workplace

30%-40% of employee Internet usage isn’t work related.

70% of all web traffic to internet porn sites occurs between 9am and 5pm according to Sex Tracker.

92% of online stock trading occurs during work hours and 46% of online holiday shopping.

Company Complaints

Loss Of Productivity Modem connections at home, high speed at work, entices employees to use

work connection for “web leisure”.

Liability From Misuse Transferring of sexual images creates a “hostile work environment”. Emails clearly document evidence of discrimination and sexual harassment. Unauthorized access resulting in release of confidential information.

Company Misrepresentation Systems identify username with affiliation. Messages and email thought to have come from the company instead of the

individual. Employees shop online and fail to pay for goods.

Acceptable Use Policies

Used to combat the misuse and ensure

priorities are on work. Should be written down. A “living document” able to evolve. Outline “what kind of Internet usage is

permitted, what kind is not, and the consequences for violating the rules”.

Sections Of A Basic Policy

“Employment Is At Will” Disclaimer Network Limitations

– States appropriate and inappropriate acts.

Level Of Privacy To Be Expected– Logging and monitoring.

Damage To Resources– Access only through firewall. No unauthorized input

of data.

Deletion Of Material

How Does The ACM Tie In?

Section 1.4 Members should not discriminate.Section 1.7 Respect the privacy of others.Section 1.8 Maintaining ConfidentialitySection 2.6 Honor Contractual AgreementsSection 3.3 Create policies that support proper use.

Future

Controlling the Internet is no longer an IT problem. Mitigated itself into a “corporate issue”. Best dealt by Human Resources People. A survey of HR people found that monitoring

employees to make sure they are not wasting time has become an increasing problem.

Finding the appropriate balance between work time and personal time on the Internet.

Find a way to increase the bottom line without increasing liability.

Tools Available

Filtering Software Access Policies Logging Software N2H2, SurfControl, Connectotel

Ethical Dissent and Whistle-Blowing

McDonnell Douglas’s DC-10

In 1972: American Airlines Flight 96 [malfunction]– nine passenger and two flight attendants were injured.

In 1974: Turkish Airline Flight 981 [crashed]– all 335 passengers and 11 crew members were killed (the 5th worst

aviation disaster in history) In 1979: American Airlines Flight 191 [crashed]

– 275 people were killed In 1979: Air New Zealand Flight 901 [crashed] In 1989: United Airlines Flight 232 [crashed]

– 112 of its 296 passengers and crew members were killed.

McDonnell Douglas’s DC-10 Cont’d

There was mechanical and designing problem in DC-10’s cargo doors and employees knew about the problem.

No on Blew the Whistle!

Ethical Dissent and Whistle-Blowing

Ethical Dissent– Noticing the wrongdoings in the organization and attempting

to get them changed within the organization.

Whistle-Blowing– Making your dissent public by going outside the

organization.

ex) involvement of an unfolding number of agencies, lawyers, legal systems, and public proceedings.

Whistle-Blowing

First used in the early 1970’s by Ralph Nader

“An act of a man or a woman who believing in the public interest overrides the interest of the organization he serves, and publicly blows the whistle if the organization is involved in corrupt, illegal, fraudulent or harmful activity”.

The Hughes Whistle-Blowing Case

Hughes Electronics' Hybrid chips– Used in guidance system and other military programs.

ex) weapon systems in F-14, F-15, F16 and F-18 aircraft.– Needed to be tested to make sure that they can withstand

years of exposure to the extreme environmental hazards they might face.

ex) rapid changes in temperature, severe shock, changes in atmospheric pressure, etc.

– However, the tests were skipped sometimes.

The Hughes Whistle-Blowing Case

Whistle-Blowers– Margaret Goodearl and Ruth Aldred

Outcome– On June 15th, 1992, Hughes was found guilty of conspiring

to defraud the government.– In 1996, Hughes was assessed 4.05 million for their fraud.

Goodearl and Aldred were awarded $891,000 of this amount (22%). Hughes also had to pay the legal fees for Goodearl and Aldred ($450,000).

The Hughes Whistle-Blowing Case

Why would Margaret Goodearl blew the whistle?

– One account quoted Goodearl describing her motivation for whistle-blowing as follows:

“I had no choice … I’ve got three sons and a daughter, and any one of them could wind up in the military … and dead because of these bad parts”.

What would you do?

Major Codes of Ethics

In fact, the codes of ethics of our professional societies require the professional to blow the whistle in certain circumstances.

Examples:– IEEE Code– ACM Code– IEEE-CS/ACM Software Engineering Code– AITP Standards of Conduct

ACM Code of Ethics

In the work environment the computing professional has the additional obligation to report any signs of system dangers that might result in serious personal or social damage. If one's superiors do not act to curtail or mitigate such dangers, it may be necessary to "blow the whistle" to help correct the problem or reduce the risk. (item 1.2 of the ACM code)

The Decision is Yours!

Various Forms of Professional Credentialing

By David Hockenberry

Two Types of Professional Credentialing:

Certifications Licenses

Certifications

Voluntary process. Administrated by a

professional society or manufacturer.

Many Computing Certifications:

General – – Certified Software Development Program (CSDP)

administrated by the IEEE.

Manufacturer specific –– Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD)

administrated by Microsoft

Survey of Certified Computing Professionals Found:

Value of Certification

0102030405060

Very Valuable Fairly Valuable Somew hatValuable

Not Valuable

%

• Handouts

Survey of Certified Computing Professionals Found: (Continued)

Reasons for Seeking Certification

Advancement in Profession

Advancement in CurrentJob

Prepare for New Job

Secure Employment

Job Requirement

Improve Job Security

Assess Current Expertise

Increase Compensation

Attain Access to VendorSupport

Other

Survey of Certified Computing Professionals Found: (Continued)

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00%

More Credibility Within Organization

More Credibility with Customers

Greater Self-Esteem

Solve Problems Quicker

Increase in Salary

Primary Achievements Resulting from Certification

Licenses

Mandatory, legal process.

Administrated by the state or federal government.

Software Engineering Licensing

Fairly new -– First professional software engineer was licensed

in 1998 in Texas.

Advantages -– Same as certification.

Disadvantages -– Can be held legally responsible.

Dealing With Harassment and Discrimination

History

Equal Pay Act of 1963 civil rights act of 1964, Title VII Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Disabilities act of 1990 Nineteenth Century Civil Rights Acts, 1993

– Ensures equality– Specifies damages

Harassment- Based on discrimination laws

Harassment-Definition

Speech, actions are workplace harassment if:– severe or pervasive– create a hostile or abusive work environment– based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age,

disability, military membership – for the harassed and for a reasonable person.

Sexual Harassment

Most common type of harassment Definition: any unwanted activity of a sexual nature

that affects an individual’s employment – Unwanted touching– Unnecessary Requests for dates– Coercive threats

Gray Area– Looks, comments, jokes, nude calendars, etc.

Other Types of Harassment

Religious– Company newsletter– Prayer– Anti-religious talk

Political/social– Political Beliefs– Construction workers

“Men at Work”

Discrimination-Definition

discrimination is bias based on race, sex, religion, national origin, physical disability, and age by employers. There is a growing body of law preventing or occasionally justifying employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Discriminatory practices include bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, compensation, and various types of harassment.

Types of Discrimination

Hiring– Must give an equal opportunity to those of all religions, races, genders– Disability:

If only reasonable accommodation is necessary, you cannot discriminate– Age

Must consider people of any age– Affirmative action

Job Assignments– Must Give equal job assignments to employees of same experience/skill– Cannot promote people of a certain race/gender over others

Pay– Must pay all equally experienced and talented employees equally– Cannot give more/less money because of gender/race– Pay Gap

Still exists, Hopefully will change soon

Dealing with Harassment

Training– Mandatory for all employees and managers– Helps employees to understand what exactly harassment is– Reduce accidental harassment, increases understanding of it

Harassment Reporting/staff– Allows employees to easily report harassment

Managers Harassment Hotline Harassment staff

– Help remedy situation in best way possible Policies

– Zero Tolerance policy– Amiable Solution

Parties meet Discuss friendly terms, misunderstanding

– Remedies Firing Docking vacation days

Stopping Discrimination

Education– Discrimination Training– Diversity Training– Working with Diverse people

Reporting– Similar to harassment– Investigate claims– Keep track of Employment

Stopping Discrimination

Remedies– Zero Tolerance policy– Amiable Solution

Parties meet Discuss friendly terms, misunderstanding

– Punishment Firing Docking vacation days

False Claims– Perceived Discrimination– No actual Discrimination

Sit down talk with both parties– False claims to make money

Some remedies against false claims

The Future

Harassment and Discrimination will be more prominent in our lives

New Issues– Sexual Orientation– Affirmative Action

Harassment and Discrimination are bad for society

Laws against them help make society better

The Role of Professionals in Public Policy

By Di Zhang

History

Computer Ethics– Didn’t exist– Policy vacuum

Norbert Wiener– Social and ethical consequences– The Book: Cybernetics:or control and

communication in the animal and the machine

Focuses

Computers in the workplace Computer crime Privacy and anonymity Intellectual property

Computers in the Workplace

Health and safety– US Department of Labor– Stress– Physical damage– Radiation

Computer Crime

Viruses– Trojan Horse– Worms

Hackers

Privacy and Anonymity

Privacy– Sensitive data– Personal information

Anonymity– Protection

Laws– Information Disclosure Act of 1997

Legal Charges

Intellectual Property

Software and Algorithms– Duplications– Illegal Modifications

Patents– Pros– Cons– Patent Searches– IBM Patent Against Linux World

Organizations

ACM & IEEE– Enforce the Codes of Ethics– Moral guidlines– Specific professional responsibilities

CSAC/CSAB– Ethics adoption in Computer Science Degree

The Future

Responsibilities to ensure that computing technology is being used for the good of the public.