96 Professional Codes of Conduct and Computer Ethics Education

Advancements in computer technology over the past twenty years have created ethical dilemmas and raised questions, some similar to other professions and some unique to the computer field. Therefore we think there is a need to reevaluate the application of ethical principles and establish new guidelines on ethical practices for the computer science profession. Because of the questions that have been raised—and, in some in-stances, sensational news accounts of computer irregularities, including fraud—there is a growing perception that self-regulation may be the only means by which the com-puter professional associations will prevent governments from stepping in and regu-lating the computer profession. This paper discusses the problem from two perspec-tives. First, the inadequacy of ethical codes of conduct developed by computer professionals is assessed in light of recent reports of computer abuse. Second, the rela-tionship between the professional codes of conduct and computer ethics education is examined. Strategies for incorporating professional ethical codes into the core of com-puter education curriculum are proposed. Keywords computers and society, codes of conduct, computer science education, ethics, ethics education. Professional Codes of Conduct &dquo;When considering the issue of ethical... behavior in the work setting... a basis for ethical behavior can be found in the context of business as a social institution. Second, a rationale for ethical behavior can be ob-tained from guidelines implied in the notion of professionalism (Truath, 1982, p. 17).&dquo; To determine the ethical standards recognized by com-puter professionals, the ethics codes of three major computer profes-sional associations were compared. The codes of ethics shown in Ap-pendixes i, 2, and 3 are from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), which represents computer scientists; the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), which represents computer engineers; and the Data Processing Managers Association (DPMA), which repre-sents managers of computer systems and projects