GCPR 32041 Professional Ethics and

Practices
Session 3 – Ethics – Part 2

Dr. Chamli Pushpakumara

Department of Applied Computing
Discussion on last week’s lecture

• Go to www.menti.com and use the code 5104 1674

Discussion on last week’s lecture

• Go to www.menti.com and use the code 1048 7583

Learning outcomes for the session

• At the end of this session, you should be able to:

• Describe what is meant by ‘ethics’
• Differentiate between different principles related to ethics
• Demonstrate an understanding on the application of ‘ethical principles’ in
your professional life
Ethics and the law

Ethics

grey
area

Law
Areas of Ethical Problems

• Safety
• Personal intrusion
• Privacy
• Deception
• Security
• Hacking
• Reliability/goodness of fit
• Intellectual property
• Inappropriate use/abuse of technology
• Social responsibility
In class activity
• Nimal, a data analyst for a major stock brokering firm, is working after
normal business hours to finish an important task. He realizes that he is
missing data that had been sent to his coworker Sunil. Nimal had
inadvertently observed Sunil typing his password several days ago and
decides to log into Sunil’s computer and resend the data to himself. Upon
doing so, Nimal sees an open email regarding some illegal activities Sunil has
been doing that might seriously affect the credibility of the company if
discovered by the customers. This might even lead to the cancellation of the
license of the company thereby risking the jobs of over 200 employees.
• Nimal knows he should report this but would have to admit to violating the
company’s information technology regulations by logging into Sunil’s
computer. If he warns Sunil to stop these activities, he will also have to
reveal the source of his information.
• What should Nimal do in this situation?
Professional practice

• Normally draw comparisons from established professions…

• Medical, law, accountancy, engineering

• What makes them different?

• What are you paying for?
Codes of Ethics

Codes of ethics are voluntary statements that commit

organizations, industries, or professions to specific beliefs,
values, and actions and/or set out appropriate ethical behaviour
for employees

4 main types of ethical codes

◦ Organizational or corporate codes of ethics
◦ Professional codes of ethics
◦ Industry codes of ethics
◦ Programme or group codes of ethics
The Top Ten Rules of Computer Ethics

1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.

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

(From the Computer Ethics Institute)

What is Ethics?

"What does ethics mean to you?"

Some answers from a group of businessmen
surveyed
• "Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right
or wrong.“
• "Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs.“
• "Being ethical is doing what the law requires.“
• "Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society
accepts.“
• "I don't know what the word means."
"Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell
me is right or wrong.“

• Being ethical is clearly not a matter of

following one's feelings.
• A person following his or her feelings
may not be doing what is right.
• In fact, feelings frequently deviate
from what is ethical.
"Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs.“ 17

• Religion can set high ethical standards and can

provide intense motivations for ethical behavior.
• Ethics, however, cannot be confined to religion
nor is it the same as religion.
"Being ethical is doing what the law
requires.“

• Being ethical is also not the same as following the law.

• The law often incorporates ethical standards to which most
citizens subscribe.
• But laws, like feelings, can deviate from what is ethical.
• E.g. Apartheid laws of South Africa previously are obvious
examples of laws that deviate from what is ethical.
“Doing whatever society accepts." 19

• Being ethical is not the same as doing "whatever

society accepts."
• In any society, most people accept standards that are,
in fact, ethical.
• But standards of behavior in society can deviate from
what is ethical.
• An entire society can become ethically corrupt.
• Nazi Germany is a good example of a morally corrupt
society.
What is ethics, then?
• Ethics is two things.
• First, ethics refers to well based standards of right and wrong that prescribe
what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to
society, fairness, or specific virtues.
• Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the reasonable
obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud.
• Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion,
and loyalty.
• And, ethical standards include standards relating to rights, such as the right to
life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy.
• Such standards are adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by
consistent and well-founded reasons.
What is ethics, then?

• Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of

one's ethical standards.
• As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms
can deviate from what is ethical.
• So, it is necessary to constantly examine one's standards
to ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded.

Source: Issues in Ethics IIE V1 N1 (Fall 1987)

How are ethics and law related?

Illegal & Legal &

Ethical Ethical

Illegal & Legal &

Unethical Unethical
Wrong??

• Why do we do wrong things?

• Why do we disagree on what is right?

• How do we justify doing wrong things?

Ethical theories 24

• Relativism
• Utilitarianism
• Deontology
• …
Relativism
• Ethical relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to
the norms of one's culture.
• That is, whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral
norms of the society in which it is practiced.
• The same action may be morally right in one society but be morally
wrong in another.
• For the ethical relativist, there are no universal moral standards --
standards that can be universally applied to all peoples at all times.
• The only moral standards against which a society's practices can be
judged are its own.
• If ethical relativism is correct, there can be no common framework
for resolving moral disputes or for reaching agreement on ethical
matters among members of different societies.
 Utilitarianism

• The utilitarian ethical theory is founded on the ability to predict the consequences
of an action.
• To a utilitarian, the choice that yields the greatest benefit to the most people is
the choice that is ethically correct.
• There are two types of utilitarianism: act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism.
• Act utilitarianism adheres exactly to the definition of utilitarianism as described
above. In act utilitarianism, a person performs the acts that benefit the most
people, regardless of personal feelings or the societal constraints such as laws.
• Rule utilitarianism takes into account the law and is concerned with fairness. A
rule utilitarian seeks to benefit the most people but through the fairest and most
just means available.
.
 Deontology
• Deontological (duty-based) ethics are concerned with what people do, not with the consequences of their actions.

• Do the right thing.

• Do it because it's the right thing to do.

• Don't do wrong things.

• Avoid them because they are wrong.

• The word 'deontological' comes from the Greek word deon, which means 'duty'.

• Duty-based ethics are usually what people are talking about when they refer to 'the principle of the thing'.

• Duty-based ethics teaches that some acts are right or wrong because of the sorts of things they are, and people have
a duty to act accordingly, regardless of the good or bad consequences that may be produced.

• Deontologists live in a universe of moral rules, such as:

• It is wrong to kill innocent people, It is wrong to steal, It is wrong to tell lies, It is right to keep promises

• People have a duty to do the right thing, even if it produces a bad result.
In class activity – Continued…

• Nimal, a data analyst for a major stock brokering firm, is working after
normal business hours to finish an important task. He realizes that he is
missing data that had been sent to his coworker Sunil. Nimal had
inadvertently observed Sunil typing his password several days ago and
decides to log into Sunil’s computer and resend the data to himself. Upon
doing so, Nimal sees an open email regarding some illegal activities Sunil has
been doing that might seriously affect the credibility of the company if
discovered by the customers. This might even lead to the cancellation of the
license of the company thereby risking the jobs of over 200 employees.
• Nimal knows he should report this but would have to admit to violating the
company’s information technology regulations by logging into Sunil’s
computer. If he warns Sunil to stop these activities, he will also have to
reveal the source of his information.
• What should Nimal do in this situation?
Credits 29

• Department of Computer Science, Keele University, UK (MSc in IT)

• Prof. Andy Phippen, University of Plymouth UK
Questions?

• Thank you.