indirectly, customers, and colleagues— should always be a central concern in professional computing. Tasks associated with requirements, design, development, testing, validation, deployment, maintenance, end-of-life processes, and disposal should have the public good as an explicit criterion for quality. Computing professionals should keep this focus no matter which methodologies or techniques they use in their practice.

3. 2 Articulate, encourage acceptance of,
and evaluate fulfillment of the social re-
sponsibilities of members of an organi-
zation or group.

Technical organizations and groups affect the public at large, and their leaders should accept responsibilities to society. Organizational procedures and attitudes oriented toward quality, transparency, and the welfare of society will reduce harm to members of the public and raise awareness of the influence of technology in our lives. Therefore, leaders should encourage full participation in meeting social responsibilities and discourage tendencies to do otherwise.

3. 3 Manage personnel and resources to
design and build systems that enhance
the quality of working life.

Leaders are responsible for ensuring that systems enhance, not degrade, the quality of working life. When implementing a system, leaders should consider the personal and professional development, accessibility, physical safety, psychological well-being, and human dignity of all workers. Appropriate human-computer ergonomic standards should be considered in system design and in the workplace.

 

3. 4 Establish appropriate rules for authorized uses of an organization’s computing and communication resources and of the information they contain.

Leaders should clearly define appropriate and inappropriate uses of organizational computing resources. These rules should be clearly and effectively communicated to those using their computing resources. In addition, leaders should enforce those rules, and take appropriate action when they are violated.

3. 5 Articulate, apply, and support poli-
cies that protect the dignity of users and
others affected by computing systems
and related technologies.

Dignity is the principle that all humans are due respect. This includes the general public’s right to autonomy in day-to-day decisions.

Designing or implementing systems that deliberately or inadvertently violate, or tend to enable the violation of, the dignity or autonomy of individuals or groups is ethically unacceptable. Leaders should verify that systems are designed and implemented to protect dignity.

 

3. 6 Create opportunities for members of the organization and group to learn, respect, and be accountable for the principles, limitations, and impacts of systems.

This principle complements Principle 2. 7 on public understanding. Educational opportunities are essential to facilitate optimal participation of all organization or group members. Leaders should ensure that opportunities are available to computing professionals to help them improve their knowledge and skills in professionalism, in the practice of ethics, and in their technical specialties, including experiences that familiarize them with the consequences and limitations of particular types of systems. Professionals should know the dangers of oversimplified models, the improbability of anticipating every possible operating condition, the inevitability of software errors, the interactions of systems and the contexts in which they are deployed, and other issues related to the complexity of their profession.

 

3. 7 Recognize when computer systems are becoming integrated into the infrastructure of society, and adopt an appropriate standard of care for those systems and their users.

Organizations and groups occasionally develop systems that become an important part of the infrastructure of society.

Their leaders have a responsibility to be
good stewards of that commons. Part
of that stewardship requires that com-
puting professionals monitor the level
of integration of their systems into the
infrastructure of society. As the level of
adoption changes, there are likely to be
changes in the ethical responsibilities of
the organization. Leaders of important
infrastructure services should provide
due process with regard to access to
these services. Continual monitoring of
how society is using a product will allow
the organization to remain consistent
with their ethical obligations outlined in
the principles of the code. Where such
standards of care do not exist, there may
be a duty to develop them.

4. COMPLIANCE WITH THE CODE A computing professional should...

4. 1 Uphold, promote, and respect the
principles of the Code.

The future of computing depends on both technical and ethical excellence. Computing professionals should adhere to the principles expressed in the Code. Each ACM member should encourage and support adherence by all computing professionals. Computing professionals who recognize breaches of the Code should take whatever actions are within their power to resolve the ethical issues they recognize.

4. 2 Treat violations of the Code as incon-
sistent with membership in ACM.

If an ACM member does not follow the Code, membership in ACM may be terminated.

Join the Discussion

The Committee on Professional Ethics is asking you to participate in an open discussion about this Code and suggest ways in which it might be improved: http://code2018.acm.org/discuss; https://ethics.acm.org; or by direct email to [e-mail].

Bo Brinkman ( [e-mail]) is an associate professor of computer science and software engineering at Miami University, Oxford, OH.

Catherine Flick ( [e-mail]) is a Senior Lecturer in Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK.

Don Gotterbarn ( [e-mail]) is chair of the ACM Committee on Professional Ethics and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Computing at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City.

Keith Miller ( [e-mail]) is the Orthwein Endowed Professor for Lifelong Learning in the Sciences College of Education, University of Missouri, St. Louis.

Kate Vazansky ( [e-mail]) is a Technical Program Manager at Salesforce.

Marty J. Wolf ( [e-mail]) is a professor of computer science at Bemidji State University, Bemidji, MN.