June 2010 Edition
Computer Science Department, University of Cape Town
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The first task is to list all the relevant facts. The stating of facts is, as suggested by Kallman and Grillo 'As much as possible, a neutral, logical exercise'. Although interpretation is involved in selecting pertinent facts, they are not judged in this step.
The second task is to list the stakeholders in the case to determine who is affected by the action being analysed. A judgement must be made as to whether a stakeholder is important enough to be listed. There may also be a number of secondary stakeholders, and including them and their claims might not improve the depth of the case analysis.
Finally, it is necessary to consider the course of action the stakeholders have or are considering taking. This is achieved by asking whether they were or are under an obligation or duty to have done or not have done something. In addition, it is important to evaluate all the reasons that individuals give or may give to justify their actions, i.e. failing to fulfil their duty. One way to do this is to ask the question 'Does it matter....?' and then consider each of the reasons given in turn to determine which failings are significant and which are trivial.
Having established one or more of the courses of actions for each stakeholder, the principles pertaining to the following four steps (presented in sections 3.1-3.4 respectively) should be applied: Formal Guidelines, Ethical Theory, Legal Issues and Informal Guidelines.
Areas addressed by professional codes are areas of concern in computer ethics, and the professional codes provide guidance related to making ethical decisions. A professional code is a set of rules that state principal duties all professionals should endeavour to discharge in pursuing their professional lives.
The first principle under Formal Guidelines is to consult corporate or professional codes of conduct. Since reference to a specific code may be a shortcoming because it fails to take into consideration cultural differences, the guidelines referenced should be as universal as possible. The computer ethicists Martin and Martin made a comparison of the ethical codes of four computer societies:
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Data Processing Managers Association (DPMA) and
Institute for the Certification of Computer Professionals (ICCP)
They found ten common themes that emerged as the core for ethical behaviour for computer professionals:
Personal integrity/claim of competence
Personal responsibility for work
Responsibility to employer/client
Responsibility to profession
Confidentiality of information
Conflict of interest
Dignity/worth of people
Public safety, health, and welfare
Participation in professional societies
Increasing public knowledge about technology
These ten universal common themes are referenced in an ethical analysis.
The second principle to be referenced under Formal Guidelines is extracted from Confucianism. Confucianism is the ethical system of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC). Confucius's ethical system is sometimes summed up in the rule:
'What you do not want others to do to you, do not do to them.'
In ethics this is known as the Golden Rule.
Having highlighted the course of actions that stakeholders have or are considering taking, the ten universal common themes and the Golden Rule should be applied to determine whether the consequences of these actions are ethical or unethical. If a specific course of action committed by a stakeholder fails to fulfil any of these principles given in this section then the action can be defined as unethical.