Computer Ethics: Power and Responsibility

Computer technology is empowering. It gives us access to data, information, and tools that have a positive impact on our lives. However, computer technology can also be used to harm other people. Here are some examples:

• A college student decides to humiliate a former friend by posting embarrassing photos on a social media site
• An information technology specialist violates the privacy of a fellow employee by viewing her confidential personnel files
• An engineering team endangers the lives of hospital patients by releasing a software product before it has been thoroughly tested
• A high school student hacks into her school’s academic records database and changes the grades of fellow classmates
• The information technology staff at a hospital shares genetic information about specific patients with a life insurance company

Ethical Standards

Ethics are personal behaviors that build responsibility and trust. Computer ethics requires you to do more than simply avoid unlawful acts. It upholds ethical standards such as:

• Confidentiality: protecting confidential data and information
• Human Dignity: respecting the privacy and dignity of other human beings
• Civility: observing rules of «netiquette» that promote online civility
• Property Rights: refusing to violate the intellectual property rights of others

Personal Code of Ethics

A code of ethics is a set of rules or standards you adopt that dictate how you act. As you work with computers, you will be required to make moral decisions in a variety of situations with many degrees of complexity.

(ISC)² Code of Ethics