The Assignment topic is Computers everywhere
How does the ACM Code of Ethics impact the positive and negative aspects of each of the issues? Explain how these issues might affect a company code of conduct. Find other sources that validate your comments. This section should be in paragraph form, with citations.
Be sure to add an introduction to your paper above the table that you have created. Also, make sure you write a complete conclusion that ties your paper together. Your paper should be 2–3 pages long plus a reference page.
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The introduction of the internet has been a significant driver for the growth of computers. The ability of users to connect and interact with one another via wireless internet led to the popularity, demand, of computers which has been equally met with adequate supply. Since Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 and Steve Jobs founded Apple in 1976, computers have kept on evolving with computer companies and other computer professionals continuously conducting extensive research and development.
Currently, computers range from supercomputers, mainframes, desktops, laptops, and smartphones, and they are used in everyday activities. This is because they have become smaller, lighter and easier-to-use while functioning more efficiently and faster. Computers are basically in every home in the world. As such, they pose a significant threat to privacy and security. Cases of illegal data-mining, unauthorized access into protected databases or mobile phone fraud have become more rampant. This has raised the need for a solution.
The Association for Computing Machinery, founded in 1947, has taken up the mantle in ensuring such threats and many more are mitigated or entirely prevented. They have done so by adopting a code of ethics computer professionals should follow (Brinkman, 2013). The ACM Code of Ethics touches on eight main areas that directly affect users.
Through the ACM code of ethics (ACM, 2018), computer professionals are obligated to contribute to society and human well-being. Computer professionals should avoid harm to others. This means that users should be protected from losing valuable material stored in their computers. Computer professionals should be honest and trustworthy. This means that lying about a system’s capabilities such as speed or security is breaching the code of ethics. No computer professional should deny user access to a computer due to discrimination. Computer professionals should respect copyrights and patents of others. In the event, copyrights or patents are not used, computer professionals are urged to give proper credit to the person who generated the idea. User privacy should be respected. Personal information should remain private and only used for official cases after which the data should be deleted.
As indicated, the ACM code of ethics provides a comprehensive solution for the privacy and security problem. However, computer professionals may find it hard to implement the Code given a company’s code of conduct. This is because not all companies hold the consumer’s social, privacy and security needs as high priority. Some IT companies prefer to rollout software, applications or updates before fixing all bugs, which opens the user to the risk of losing valuable material or harm (Greenlaw, 2019). Meanwhile, most firms tend to exaggerate their product’s capabilities forcing employees to lie to customers. As a result, an employee may be caught in a dilemma on whether to follow the ACM code of ethics and blow the whistle or follow the company’s code of conduct, both of which have repercussions.
Research conducted to analyze whether the code of ethics trickles down to how employees behave in the workplace states that there are many factors affecting employee decision-making process (McNamara, 2018). Individual characteristics, job satisfaction, and morality should be considered alongside the company’s code of conduct. Therefore, as much as the ACM code of ethics is a step in the right direction, it does not entirely solve the computer issues.
References
Brinkman, B. and Sanders, A. (2013). Ethics in a computing culture. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Greenlaw, R. (2012). Technical writing, presentation skills, and online communication. Hershey, Pa.: IGI Global (701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Hershey, Pennsylvania, 17033, USA).
McNamara, A., Smith, J. and Murphy, E. (2018). Does ACM’s Code of Ethics Change Ethical Decision Making in Software Development?. [online] People.engr.ncsu.edu. Available at: https://people.engr.ncsu.edu/ermurph3/papers/fse18nier.pdf [Accessed 1 Nov. 2019].
ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. (2018). Retrieved 1 November 2019, from https://www.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/about/acm-code-of-ethics-booklet.pdf
