COMPUTER

ETHICS
I D O N ’ T O W N T H E M AT E R I A L R AT H E R T H E S L I D E S
ARE ASSEMBLED USING DIFFERENT FORUMS
COMPUTING
• The use or operation of computers.
COMPUTER ETHICS
• Ethics is a set of moral principles that govern the behavior of a group or
individual. Therefore, computer ethics is set of moral principles that
regulate the use of computers. Some common issues of computer ethics
include intellectual property rights (such as copyrighted electronic content),
privacy concerns, and how computers affect society.
• As technology advances, computers continue to have a greater impact on
society. Therefore, computer ethics promotes the discussion of how much
influence computers should have in areas such as artificial intelligence and
human communication. As the world of computers evolves, computer ethics
continues to create ethical standards that address new issues raised by new
technologies.
• Walter Maner in the mid-70s introduced the term ‘computer ethics’ which
means “ethical problems aggravated, transformed or created by computer
technology”. 
THE QUESTION OF VALUES
Too often, new technology develops with little
attention to its impact upon human values.
Blue Whale Game
Computing has become a complex and growing
part of society – with profound and deep social
and ethical implications!
Computer ethics is the analysis of the nature and
social impact of computer technology and the
corresponding formulation and justification of
policies for the ethical use of such technology. In a Computer or Internet
It raises ethical issues like Personal Intrusion, (Cyberspace) domain of
Deception, Breach of Privacy, Cyber-bullying, Information security,
Cyber-stalking, Defamation, Evasion Technology understanding and maintaining
ethics is very important at this
or social responsibility and Intellectual Property
stage. 
Rights i.e. copyrighted electronic content.
ETHICS FOR ALL
• Basic Netiquette • Dos
• Email – Respect other people's privacy
– Verify facts before reposting
– Check your email as much as possible and
– Check messages and respond promptly
respond quickly to messages you receive;
your input may be critical to someone else. • Don'ts
– Never send anything that you wouldn’t want – Name-call or express offensive opinions
someone other than the recipient to read. – Post private or embarrassing images or
comments
– Get good virus protection software and make
– Exclude people or talk behind their backs
sure it scans your incoming emails.
• Report illegal activities or offending content
– Don’t open an attachment in an email if: You
don’t know the sender, • A report on cyber bullying on 2014 gives the
• The subject line doesn’t make sense or is
following troublesome conclusions:
suspicious in any way, – 52% off young people report being cyber
bullied
• The attachment name is suspicious, or
– 95% of teens who witnessed bullying on social
• The attachment or message text doesn’t make
media report they have ignored the behavior
sense or you aren’t expecting them.
COPYRIGHT
• Software Piracy
• Public Domain: Some software is free to use, copy, and/or change, but only do so if
there is written notice that the software is in the public domain.
– Look for this notice in the “read me” files that accompany programs.
• General Public License: GPL software has the same restrictions as public domain
software, but cannot be sold for profit.
• Shareware: Using shareware programs is free, but it is illegal to copy or modify them
without permission since they are copyrighted. Most shareware programs are really
trial versions of the software, which must be paid for after the trial period has expired.
– When you purchase a copy of a software program you are actually buying a software license,
or in the case of an organization that needs many copies, a site license. A software license
can only be copied for backup purposes while site licenses let the organization make a
specific number of copies to be used within that organization only.
– Although it seems common, software piracy is a felony and shouldn’t be taken lightly
Cited: collab-lab – University Liberary
CHALLENGES:
• Why Shouldn’t I use pirated software? Who am I hurting by doing so?
– Loss of Revenue hurts everyone
– Studies found that the software industry loses approx 12 billion dollars every
year.
– All software piracy is illegal and software piracy is unethical.
PLAGIARISM
• Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work as your own; this includes
work represented in hard copy, on disk, or on the Internet.
• Do not use “paper mills” or sites that sell academic papers to students. You
can get caught and the penalties are not lenient.
– Make sure you summarize, or at least change the order of the words when using
someone else’s work as a reference.
– Also be sure to cite that work as something you have used to gain the
information you are presenting.
– Anything that is directly quoted from any source must be put in quotation marks
and cited as well. Copyright infringements can get you sued.
– They encompass anything that anyone has expressed in any way. A person does
not need to express their copyright or even actually register it, a person’s ideas
are their own and it is illegal to pretend that they are yours.
CHALLENGES: WORKPLACE
• 62% of employers monitor employees’ eMail and Internet use
• 68% cite legal liability as the reason to monitor
• 51% of employers have disciplined or terminated employees for violating
ePolicy.
• 10% of companies have been ordered by courts to turn over employee
eMail related to workplace lawsuits.
• 8.3% of organizations have battled sexually harassment or discrimination
claims stemming from employee eMail.
COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY AND
HUMAN VALUES
News stories about computer viruses, or software ownership (file sharing) law suits,
or computer-aided bank robbery, and other economical crime, harmful
computer malfunctions, or computerized weapons, etc.

As the social impact of information technology grows, such misuses of computers

proliferate.
How can we work to make computing technology advance human values?
To integrate computing technology and human values in such a way that the
technology advances and protects human values, rather than doing damage to
them.
WORK TO DO!!!
• http://sce2.umkc.edu/BIT/burrise/it222/notes/ip.html
• Please check this link for exclusive material about the “Legal and Ethical Issues
with Intellectual Property”.
• Understand it completely and write a summary of your findings.
 POLICY VACUUMS – ETHICS OF PRESENT DAY
TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPING SOCIETY –
EXAMPLE OF COMPUTER ETHICS
“A typical problem in computer ethics arises because there is a policy vacuum about how
computer technology should be used. Computers provide us with new capabilities and these in
turn give us new choices for action. Often, either no policies for conduct in these situations exist
or existing policies seem inadequate. A central task of computer ethics is to determine what we
should do in such cases, i.e., to formulate policies to guide our actions. Of course, some ethical
situations confront us as individuals and some as a society. Computer ethics includes
consideration of both personal and social policies for the ethical use of computer technology.”

Moor, J, 1985. “What is Computer Ethics”, Metaphilosophy 16(4): 266-75.

http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/classes/188/spring06/papers/moor.html
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
• The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics were created in 1992 by the Computer
Ethics Institute.
– Thou shall not use a computer to harm other peoples.
– Thou shall not interfere with other people's computer work.
– Thou shall not snoop around in other people's computer files.
– Thou shall not use a computer to steal.
– Thou shall not use a computer to bear false witness.
– Thou shall not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid (without permission).
– Thou shall not use other people's computer resources without authorization or proper
compensation.
– Thou shall not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
– Thou shall think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you
are designing.
– Thou shall always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for your fellow
humans.
SEVEN ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF A
PERSONAL CODE OF COMPUTER ETHICS
• Honesty
• Respect
• Confidentiality
• Professionalism
• Responsibility
• Communication
• Obeying the law
CASE STUDY
• The past several months, George, an electrical engineer working for an aerospace
contractor, has been the quality control manager on a project to develop a
computerized control system for a new military aircraft. Early simulations of the
software for the control system showed that, under certain conditions, instabilities
would arise that would cause the plane to crash. The software was subsequently
patched to eliminate the specific problems uncovered by the tests. After the repairs
were made, the system passed all of the required simulation tests.
• George is convinced, however, that those problems were symptomatic of a
fundamental design flaw that could only be eliminated by an extensive redesign of
the system. Yet, when he brought his concern to his superiors, they assured him that
the problems had been resolved, as shown by the tests. Anyway, to reevaluate and
possibly redesign the system would introduce delays that would cause the company
to miss the delivery date specified in the contract, and that would be very costly.
• Now, there's a great deal of pressure on George to sign off on the system and allow
it to be flight tested. It has even been hinted that, if he persists in delaying release
of the system, the responsibility will be taken away from him and given to someone
who is more compliant. . . .
• What makes the situation so difficult for George is that he must choose between
conflicting duties: loyalty to self, family, employer, and superiors versus the
obligation to tell the truth and to protect others from harm. . .
OBLIGATION RELATIONS
ACM – CODE OF ETHICS AND
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
1. General Moral Imperatives or Fundamental ethical considerations
addresses ethical issues of honesty, individual contribution to the well
being of society, non-discrimination, property rights, intellectual property,
privacy, and confidentiality.
1. Obligation to protect fundamental human rights and to respect the diversity of all
cultures.

2. Specific Professional Responsibilities addresses issues of

effectiveness of process and products, maintaining professional
competence, respecting existing laws, accepting professional review,
comprehensive evaluations of computer systems to assess impacts and
risks, honoring contracts, improving understanding of computing,
accessing computer communication only when authorized.
1. While the first six items in this section can be applied generally to other
professions, the last two items address computing specifically. Improve public
understanding of computing and its consequences. Access computing and
communication resources only when authorized to do so.
3. Organizational Leadership for people in leardership roles addresses
encouraging members to accept full social responsibility, design and build
systems that enhance working lives, thorough assessment of user needs when
analyzing and designing systems, protecting the dignity of users, promote the
learning of principles and limitations of computing.
This section is extremely important because it places some obligations on
management to create an environment where a computer professional can be
ethical. Without these management responsibilities the preceding two sections
could become impossible to obtain.

4. Compliance with the Code contains 2 items. The first item directs
members to be supportive of others. The second item indicates that gross
misconduct is grounds for dismissal. It also makes a major point: "Adherence of
professionals to a code of ethics is largely a voluntary matter."
IEEE CODE OF
CONDUCT
IEEE_CODE (1).PDF
`REFERENCES

• Computers, Ethics, and Social Values – Slides By Christina Schweikert

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNYf6HhsgdA