An unethical decision is not necessarily illegal. But in business, people justify unethical decisions by saying it is a 'dog-eat-dog' world.
A second-hand car salesman with a ropey old banger might make the decision to tell a nieve young lady interested in it:
He made the decision to tell an un-truth in order to sell the banger. Not illegal, but unethical.
Unethical parts of Tom's day:
- Choice of password - easy to guess
- Reading personal email (for a long time!)
- Downloading photos
- Opening SPAM emails from unknown source - opening company network to attack
- Fails to log off - computer vulnerable to use by unathorised users
- Installing a game on company computers
- Disclosing password
- Downloading and storing pornographic images
Some of Tom's activities are illegal, others simply show poor conduct which are unethical when a company is paying Tom to work.
In order to be a doctor, you must sign the 'Hypocratic oath' which states that thay must not divulge personal information. If they do, they will be struck off.
IT professionals can join the British Computer Society (BCS).
Being a member of the BCS means that employers know that you will follow the code of practice.
Contractor UK is the professional body for IT contractors - not that they managed to stop IR35!
Employers may write 'codes of conduct' for their employees. This will outline:
- Responsabilities
- Authorisation
- Security
- Penalties
2 comments:
As the IT manager for a large company, you have been asked to develop an employee code of conduct.
Describe four issues which might be included in such a code (8)
Discuss the social, moral and ethical issues for a professional working within the inductry that might arise when introducing and using information and communication systems (6)
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