Ethics of Computing
IFIP - The International Federation for Information Processing IFIP was founded in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO, following the First World Computer Congress held in Paris the previous year. An umbrella organization for societies working in information processing, IFIP's aim is two-fold: to support information processing within its member countries and to encourage technology transfer to developing nations. As its mission statement clearly states, IFIP's mission is to be the leading, truly international, apolitical organization which encourages and assists in the development, exploitation and application of information technology for the benefit of all people. IFIP is a non-profitmaking organization, run almost solely by 2500 volunteers. It operates through a number of technical committees, which organize events and publications. IFIP's events range from an international congress to local seminars, but the most important are: the IFIP World Computer Congress, held every second year; open conferences; working conferences. The flagship event is the IFIP World Computer Congress, at which both invited and contributed papers are presented. Contributed papers are rigorously refereed and the rejection rate is high. As with the Congress, participation in the open conferences is open to all and papers may be invited or submitted. Again, submitted papers are stringently refereed. The working conferences are structured differently. They are usually run by a working group and attendance is small and by invitation only. Their purpose is to create an atmosphere conducive to innovation and development. Refereeing is less rigorous and papers are subjected to extensive group discussion. Publications arising from IFIP events vary. The papers presented at the IFIP World Computer Congress and at open conferences are published as conference proceedings, while the results of the working conferences are often published as collections of selected and edited papers. Any national society whose primary activity is in information may apply to become a full member of IFIP, although full membership is restricted to one society per country. Full members are entitled to vote at the annual General Assembly, National societies preferring a less committed involvement may apply for associate or corresponding membership. Associate members enjoy the same benefits as full members, but without voting rights. Corresponding members are not represented in IFIP bodies. Affiliated membership is open to non-national societies, and individual and honorary membership schemes are also offered.
Ethics of Computing Codes, spaces for discussion and law Edited by Jacques Berleur Chair, IFIP-SIG9.2.2 'Framework on Ethics' Professor, Computer Science Faculty, University of Namur, Belgium and Klaus Brunnstein Chair, IFIP TC9 'Relationship between Computers and Society' Professor, Department of Information, University of Hamburg, Germany l~!ll SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING, CHAM
First edition 1996 1996 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing Originally published by Chapman & Hall in 1996 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1996 ISBN 978-1-5041-2912-1 ISBN 978-0-387-34914-5 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-34914-5 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the publishers at the London address printed on this page. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library t Printed on permanent acid-free text paper, manufactured in accordance with ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 and ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1984 (Permanence of Paper).
Contents Foreword Jacques BERLEUR and Klaus BRUNNSTEIN Preface Jacques BERLEUR Annex to the Preface: IFIP Technical Assembly Resolution on the 'Codes of Ethics' Project Kurt BAUKNECHT and Klaus BRUNNSTEIN xi xiv xviii Part One Promoting Discussion Within IFIP 1.1 Codes of Ethics Within IFIP and Other Computer Societies 3 Jacques BERLEUR and Marie d' UDEKEM-GEVERS I: Ethics, Law and Codes: Their Respective Roles in the Regulation of Information Processing 3 2: Comparative Study of Codes (Standards/Guidelines) of Ethics (Practice/Conduct) of Computer Societies 16 Detailed Tables (See Annex) 1.2 Codes of Ethics: Discussion Paper 42 JanHOLVAST 1.3 Why a Discussion on Ethical Issues in Software Engineering is Overdue 52 Klaus BRUNNSTEIN 1.4 A Brief History of Professionalism and its Relevance to IFIP 56 Richard SIZER 1.5 Policies of Acceptable Use at Educational and Research Institutions 61 John W CORLISS
VI Ethics of Computing Part Two Codes, Comments and Other Contributions 2.1 IFIP National Societies Codes and Comments 2.1.1 AUS - Australia Australian Computer Society Code of Ethics 75 IFIP Ethics in Australia: A Comparative Study of IT Students and Professionals 77 Julie CAMERON 2.1.2 CDN - Canada Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct 79 Comments on the CIPS Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct 83 Diane WHITEHOUSE 2.1.3 D - Germany Ethical Guidelines Issued by the Gesellschaft ftlr lnformatik (GI) 87 Comments on the Ethical Guidelines of the Gesellschaft fiir lnformatik (GI) 91 Karl-Heinz RODIGER 2.1.4 GB- United Kingdom British Computer Society Code of Conduct (1992) 93 British Computer Society Code of Conduct (Version of 1984) 97 British Computer Society Code of Practice 102 Comments on the BCS and CSZ Codes 111 Richard SIZER 2.1.5 IND- India Computer Society of India (CSI) Code of Ethics 2.1.6 IRL - Ireland 2.1.7 I - Italy 117 Irish Computer Society (ICS) Code of Professional Conduct 120 Professional Code of Conduct for AICA Members 2.1.8 NZ - New Zealand 122 New Zealand Computer Society ( NZCS) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct 123 2.1.9 SGP - Singapore Singapore Computer Society (SCS) Professional Code of Conduct 125
Contents Vll 2.1.10 USA - United States of America ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (Version of 1992) 127 Some comments on the ACM Code (Version of 1992) 133 Dianne MARTIN ACM Code of Professional Conduct, and Procedures for the Enforcement (Version of 1972) 135 Comparison of the New ACM Ethics Code with Previous Ethics Codes 138 Dianne MARTIN The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) Code of Ethics (1990) 143 The New IEEE Code 144 William MIDDLETON 2.1.11 ZA - South Africa Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA) Code of Conduct 153 Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA) Code of Practice 159 Comments on the CSSA Codes 159 Andrew MORRIS 2.1.12 ZW - Zimbabwe CSZ Code of Professional Conduct for Registered Consultants, CSZ Code of Ethics for Institutional Members, CSZ Code of Ethics for All Individual Members, CSZ Code of Professional Conduct for Individual Corporate Members, CSZ Membership Structure, CSZ - Registered Consultants - Registration Procedure, CSZ Complaint Procedure for Unprofessional Conduct, CSZ: Accredited Training Institutes Register - Accreditation Procedure, The CSZ Training Accreditation Code of Practice 162 Comments on the CSZ Codes [See Comments on the BCS and CSZ Codes, by Richard SIZER] 2.2 IFIP Affiliate Member Societies Codes 2.2.l Regional - Europe European Informatics Skills Structure (EISS-CEPIS) Code of Professional Conduct 175 2.2.2 Regional - South East Asia South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC) Code of Ethics 177
Vlll Ethics of Computing General Guidelines for the Preparation of Codes of Ethics for Members (SEARCC) 178 2.3 Other Codes and Comments 2.3.1 E- Spain Standards of Computer Science Deontology of CITEMA 181 Comments on Standards of Computer Science Deontology ofcitema 183 Porfirio BARROSO and Maria Angeles NEVADO 2.3.2 GR-Greece 2.3.3 J -Japan Health lnformaticians' Deontology Code (HIDEC) 186 Japan Information Service Industry Association (JISA) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct 189 2.3.4 NL - The Netherlands VRI (Vereniging van Registerinformatici) Code of Ethics 191 Code of Ethics of the Dutch Association of Information Scientists. A short Comment 194 Jan HOLVAST 2.3.5 ROK - The Republic of Korea Code of Ethics of Information Processing Professionals Association of Korea (IPAK) and Standards of Conduct 197 2.3.6 USA - United States of America Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) Code of Fair Information Practices 199 Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) Code of Fair Information Practices for the National Information Infrastructure (NII) 200 Proposed Privacy Guidelines for the National Research and Education Network (NREN), (CPSR) 201 Marc ROTENBERG American Society for Information Science (ASIS) Code of Ethics for Information Professionals 207 2.3.7 International Draft Code of Ethics 209 Hal SACKMAN(l990)
Contents ix Comments on the Draft Code of H. Sackman 212 The Austrian Computer Society ( OCG) 2.3.8 Oaths An Engineer's Hippocratic Oath 217 Oath of an informatician 218 Daniel LOEFFLER 2.4 Other Contributions 2.4.1 Suggested Guidelines for Codes of Ethics and Professional Conduct in the Field of Computing and Information Technology 221 The Egyptian National Committee for Information Processing 2.4.2 Comments on 'Ethics of Computing: Information Technology and Responsibility' 223 Gonzalo LEON (IFIP-WG2.4) 2.4.3 Integrating Social, Ethical and Equity Issues of Informatics into Secondary Education 226 Tom J Van WEERT ( IFIP- WG3. l) 2.4.4 Ethics and Systems Design. The Politics of Social Responsibility 231 Andrew CLEMENT and Ina WAGNER (IFJP-WG9.l) 2.4.5 WG9. l Ethics Workshop Contribution (Havana, 1994) 237 3. Conclusion 3.1 Final Remarks: Ethics, Self-Regulation and Democracy 241 Jacques BERLEUR 3.2 Recommendations Regarding Codes of Ethics/Conduct for IFIP Computer Societies 257 IFIP General Assembly, Hamburg, September 6th, 1994 Annex: The Toronto Resolution 266 Selected Bibliography 269 Annex: Detailed Tables of the Comparative Study of Codes (Standards/Guidelines) of Ethics (Conduct/ Practice) of Computer Societies 277 Index 321
Foreword As Information Processing continues to spread into new application areas, and with rapidly evolving integration of many millions of client and server systems into local networks, 'National Data-Highways' and 'Global Information Infrastructure', dependencies of enterprises, economies, governments and individuals on well-behaving systems will further grow significantly. As a growing number of examples demonstrate, roles of human actors in complex information and communication systems will become yet more difficult when misunderstandings of inherent technical features lead to unforeseen control problems with impact on human life, society, environment or organizations. In some sense, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a new form of artifacts, significantly more complex than in the industrial age, and therefore bears both more opportunities and larger risks. Mankind has used artifacts from ancient times, from initially primitive ones to complex machines. While so far even the most complex artifacts (like satellites, airplanes, chemical or nuclear reactors) are somehow 'comprehensible', ICT based artifacts (e.g. systems, programs) lack comprehensibility and are therefore harder, if at all, to understand and to control. Even with traditional artifacts, questions of responsible design and usage have often been dealt with. With less comprehensible technology like ICT, ethical questions are both more difficult to answer and more urgent to discuss. Otherwise, ill-designed or badly implemented systems may produce unforeseen risks including hazards for life, health and environment, as it may also result from inadequate usage, not to speak of deliberate misuse. To provide and maintain technical solutions of assured quality and controllability as well as to contribute to public and individual understanding of such systems and their design, responsibility of ICT professionals and scientists grows likewise. As it is generally difficult to understand adverse effects of technical developments beforehand, legal measures aiming at shaping their use are often developed only after availability and application of new concepts and systems. Consequently, ICT professionals and scientists are ever
xii Ethics of Computing more confronted with situations which appeal to their responsibility and proper ethical behaviour. To improve the understanding and consciousness of JCT community, IFIP as the international organization of information and communication professionals and scientists has undertaken an in-depth investigation of Codes of Ethics and of Professional Conduct as being developed by its Member Societies and in other selected organizations. This IFIP Handbook on Codes summarizes the findings of a Task Group, mandated by IFIP. This Handbook intends to offer references to existing Codes of Ethics/Conduct as being practised in living communities, and to analyze them from different points of view, including philosophical, methodological as well as organizational dimensions. As such, it attempts to develop some understanding of the foundations of ethics with specific view on JCT, and to see how codes have to interact with ethics and the law. This Handbook may then be helpful not only for computer societies or organizations but also for teachers and students. Moreover, we hope that it may also help those who have to solve real forthcoming problems in cooperation with all JCT personnel. In comparing related standards and suggestions from several codes, this Handbook may help to develop new ways and suggestions of how responsible people from different cultures and traditions may understand the respective partners' thoughts and values, and it may even help to develop new ideas and concepts in cross-cultural cooperation. The Handbook is deliberately limited essentially to the presentation and analysis of codes existing in JCT communities world-wide. It does not ignore that there are other ways to tackle ethical computer-related issues. There are guidelines, policies, etc. issued by national or international organizations. But, it was not the goal of the underlying project to discuss specific cases (though few cases are discussed at various locations to demonstrate specific concepts) or to examine such guidelines or policies. As we are sure that hitherto unknown problems and conflicts will arise in further development of JCT, we are aware that the work has to be developed in analyzing new issues and conflicts. The ethical debate of today is dominated by the question of the foundation of ethics. Along the line of contemporary ethical theory, this Handbook is urging the creation of 'spaces for discussion' where the different experiences may be shared and from which some principles could progressively emerge and be derived about specific computer-related issues. Maybe these principles could then result in institutional terms, as in the law. More theoretically, these spaces for discussion could be places where life-world and horizon of universalization may reconcile, maintaining the capacity of thinking of ethics in terms of 'deotological statements', through argumentative procedures. If ICT is considered as an indispensable component of the societal life, it is not simply for quantitative reasons, but for qualitative ones. It is because JCT and JCT impacts are measured according to some set of
Foreword xiii values which judges their support to a social project of development which is related to a collective project of identity reshaping. The ethical question about ICT is to assess how it interacts positively, as a component of the social life, with the values which guide the social creation. IFIP has opened such 'space for discussion', creating a Special Interest Group (SIG 9.2.2 'Framework on Ethics') which will especially analyze issues and conflicts that may arise in the cooperation between, namely, IFIP members of societies with different Codes of Ethics. It aims at improving understanding and formulation of ethical issues. But it will also increase the international cooperation which, in specific questions such as personal liberties and privacy or in the domain of security, has proven its valuable approach in providing general guidelines now enacted by law in many countries. Chicago- Namur, March 25, 1995 Hamburg, March 25, 1995 Jacques BERLEUR Chair, IFIP-SIG9.2.2 'Framework on Ethics' Klaus BRUNNSTEIN Chair, IFIP TC9 'Relationship between Computers and Society'
Preface Jacques BERLEUR IFIP Ethics Task Group Chairman The history of Codes of Ethics in IFIP in recent years dates back to 1988, when the idea of drafting an International IFIP code originated. The IFIP 12th World Computer Congress in Madrid (September 1992) devoted a full afternoon session to debating a proposal for a 'Draft IFIP code'. Discussion about the differences among cultural, legal, historical, and social approaches followed. Subsequent Technical and General Assemblies, at the Toledo Meeting, preferred to propose to IFIP national Societies IFIP Guidelines rather than an international code'. An IFIP Ethics Task Group was set up of which this book is the outcome. We would just mention briefly the process undertaken in gathering the material presented here. In December 1992, all the IFIP national Societies and all the Chairpersons of all Technical Committees (TC) and Working Groups (WG) were invited to send to the Task Group any official or unofficial document on ethics used by their Society or TC or WG. They were also asked, if possible, to establish a national or regional Task Group to discuss a brochure prepared by WG9.i2, to offer their suggestions about future Guidelines, to comment on the procedures, and to suggest additional members for the IFIP Task Group. A time schedule was fixed. Our correspondents were reminded of this schedule several times, one month before the proposed 'deadline'. Nearly thirty IFIP national Societies responded, and about sixteen TCs and WGs showed their interest, and forwarded the questions to their member{ Some started a process of discussion. We would like to thank warmly all those persons who helped us in this process. The contributions of the Austrian and Egyptian national Societies and WGs 2.4, 3.1 and 9.1 are included in this book. The Ethics Task Group met three times in July 1993, January 1994 and May 1994 to review all the responses and proposed analyses. In the meantime, extensive contacts among the members enabled the resolutions to be refined and provided complementary papers and insights. Our collection now covers nearly forty codes. The majority of them, thirtyone, are compared here in an in-depth analysis: twenty-one pertain to IFIP
xvi Ethics of Computing national Societies, representing twelve countries; two to affiliate Member Societies representing two regions of the world; the eight others belong to Societies which are not IFIP members and represent six countries. The analysis has been done in order to provide readers with an instrument which can help anyone who is interested in referring to the original code to do so - the detailed tables, in an annex, give reference to the exact place in the text of the codes, which are all reproduced in this book. It also casts light on the content of the existing codes. The analysis clarifies the distinction among ethics, law and codes, a distinction which has to be faced when considering or writing a code. Finally, an analysis of what we have called the 'environments' of the codes - Status of the Society, membership structure, enforcement rules, sanctions, etc. - is also included: it is complemented by comments, when available, which are generally placed immediately after the Code, and illustrate the diversity of national backgrounds. In addition to the codes, and their commentaries, a number of papers have been added, which we feel clarify the various questions and issues at stake. These include: a revised version of the 'Position paper', originally presented in Madrid WCC'92, which outlines the different ethical schools and traditions in which ethical reflection is embedded or raised, as well as the functions and options of ethical norms; case studies which show the relevance of codes of conduct in software engineering; a short historical note on 'professionalism'; an analysis of Universities' policies, mainly in USA, performed to assess their capacity to anticipate ethical issues; comparisons between old and new versions of Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and British Computer Society (BCS) codes, so as to help us understand better the reasons and ways to proceed in updating the codes, etc. We have also included the texts of two 'oaths for computer scientists', which according to some, could offer an alternative to codes. One oath was already included in the Madrid brochure. Another oath was provided to us without being solicited. These are items to be placed in IFIP's dossier of ethics. Finally, we include our own 'Final Remarks' and the 'Recommendations from IFIP', adopted by IFIP General Assembly of September 6th, 1994 in Hamburg, as a Conclusion to this book. They are the result of the work done. The main goal of IFIP's endeavour, and of its Ethics Task Group, was to clarify how to handle the question of Ethics within IFIP, starting from the way its national Societies, TCs and WGs members viewed the question. We have added our own point of view on the place of self-regulation in democracy. Bibliographical references are also provided. We do not pretend that they are exhaustive, since the literature in this field is proliferating! After all our work, we remain convinced that the main task inside IFIP is to create 'spaces for discussion', and to promote national, regional, and international fora where the process of discussion is open and ongoing, so as to ensure that ethical questions are not obliterated. Suggestions have been made about giving more permanent status to such 'spaces for discussion'. IFIP
Preface xvii General Assembly 1994 asked us to set up a Special Interest Group (SIG 9.2.2) within IFIP-TC9 and, more specifically, IFIP-WG9.2. The work to be done now is to identify what are the computer-specific ethical issues which are not covered by any regulation. The initiative of IFIP deserves serious treatment for ethics is a very important topic. On behalf of the Ethics Task Group, I would like to express once again our gratitude to everyone who has contributed to our work, and to IFIP Technical and General Assemblies for their confidence in us. Let us hope that the task which is now being completed will bear its fruits in the computing community. I would also like to thank personally all the members of the Task Group who have participated so actively in this enterprise, as well as the IFIP Secretariat for its patience in receiving messages addressed to the Task Group and its constant help in providing all the information we needed in the process, including several sets of address labels for continuous contact with the IFIP national Societies, and the Chairpersons of all TCs and WGs! IFIP ETHICS TASK GROUP Cognizant Officer: Academician Blagovest SENDOV, Bulgaria, IFIP Past President Chairman: Jacques BERLEUR, Belgium Secretary: Jan HOLVAST, The Netherlands Members: Klaus BRUNNSTEIN, Germany Julie CAMERON, Australia Marie d'udekem-gevers, Belgium Dimitris GRITZALIS, Greece Karen A. DUNCAN, USA Hosts: Porfirio BARROSO, Spain Diane WHITEHOUSE, Canada C. Dianne MARTIN, USA Andrew B. MORRIS, South Africa Karl-Heinz RODIGER, Germany Richard SIZER, Great Britain John A.N. LEE, USA I Reports of Toledo Technical and General Assemblies are briefly evoked in: IFIP Newsletter, Vol. 9, Nr. 4, December 1992. The Draft IFIP Code is referred in this book as the 'Draft Code of H. SACKMAN'. The papers discussed at Madrid World Computer Congress are reproduced in: Information Processing 92, vol. II: Education and Society, R. AIKEN ed., Proceedings of the 12th IFIP World Computer Congress (Madrid, September 7-11, 1992), Elsevier Science publishers B. V. (North-Holland), 1992, pp. 351 tr. A brochures was also distributed during the WCC'92 session which was circulated later to all IFIP national Societies, TCs and WGs Chairpersons.
xviii Ethics of Computing 2 IFIP Working Group 9.2 is in charge of 'Social Accountability of Computing'. It has published several books, referenced in the Selected Bibliography of this book, under [BEARDON et al., 1993], [BERLEUR et al., 1990 & 1993], [SIZER et al., 1985]. There are forty-one National Societies, two regional, and four corresponding members; eleven Technical Committees (TC) and seventy-one Working Groups (WG) [IF/P Information Bulletin, January 1994, No. 25]. New national Societies were accepted by IFIP General Assembly of September 5-6, 1994,in Hamburg. They were not consulted at the time. One regional 'affiliate member', CEPIS, accepted at the same IFIP-GA of Hamburg, had already sent its information to the Task Group. 4 Technical Assembly Resolution (Hamburg, September 4th, 1994) is attached in the Annex to this Preface. General Assembly (Hamburg, September 6th, 1994) endorsed the TA's proposal.
Annex to the Pref ace: IFIP Technical Assembly Resolution on the 'Codes of Ethics' Project1 Technical Assembly, Hamburg, September 4th, 1994 IFIP Technical Assembly appreciates the efforts which its Task Group on Codes of Ethics has achieved. In endorsing the Task Group's proposal and recommendations, TA explicitly agrees with the proposal that the implementation of an ongoing discussion process both in IFIP Member Societies and in the international discourse is essential to understand and further develop the 'IFIP Framework on Ethics' in more detail which is also a prerequisite to adapt it to new developments. Therefore, TA agrees that publication of the material, analysis and recommendations is essential to start these processes. TA welcomes and accepts TC9's suggestion to continue the Task Group under its umbrella. In dissolving the TA Task Group, TA asks the new TC9 Special Interest Group (SIG9.2.2 'IFIP Framework on Ethics') to develop a set of case studies which may enlighten essential problems and issues related to ethics. Moreover, SIG9.2.2 will inform TA (within TC9 reports) about essential achievements and progress in the international discussion, and to discuss and suggest solutions for emerging problems. Kurt BAUKNECHT TA Chair Klaus BRUNNSTEIN TC-9 Chair I General Assembly (Hamburg, September 6th, 1994) endorsed this TA's Resolution.