Author: Neftaly Malatjie

“A member will accept full responsibility for any work undertaken and will construct and deliver that which has been agreed to.” Trust and responsibility are at the heart of professionalism. A member should seek out responsibility and discharge it with integrity. A member should complete the work accepted within the agreed time and budget. If that which has been promised cannot be achieved then the client or employer must be alerted at the earliest possible time so that corrective action can be taken. Members should have regard to the effect of computer based systems, insofar as they are known to them, on the basic human rights of individuals, whether within the organisation, its customers or suppliers, or among the general public. Subject to the confidential relationship between themselves and their customers, members are expected to transmit the benefit of information acquired during the practice of the profession, as a result of technical knowledge, to alleviate any situation which may harm or seriously affect a third party. A member should combat ignorance about technology wherever it is found, and in particular in those areas where application of technology appears to have dubious social merit.

“A member will act with impartiality when purporting to give independent advice and will disclose any relevant interests.” This principal is primarily directed to the case where a member or members relatives or friends may make a private profit if the client or employer follows advice given. Any such interest should be disclosed in advance. A second interpretation is where there is no immediate personal profit but the future business or scope of influence of the department depends on a certain solution being accepted. Whereas salesperson are assumed to have a bias towards their own company, an internal consultant should always consider the welfare of the organisation as a whole and not just the increased application of computers.

“A member will act with complete loyalty towards a client when entrusted with confidential information. A member shall take adequate measures to ensure the confidentiality of a client’s information. A member should not disclose, or permit to be disclosed, or use to personal advantage, any confidential information relating to the affairs of present or previous employers or customers without their prior permission. This principle covers the need to protect confidential data.
Many kinds of information can be considered by a client or employer to be confidential. Even the fact that a project exists may be sensitive. Business plans, trade secrets, personal information are all examples of confidential data. Training is required for all staff on measures to ensure confidentiality, to guard against the possibility of a third party intentionally or inadvertently misusing data and to be watchful for leaks of confidentiality arising from careless use of data or indiscretions.

“A member will behave at all times with integrity. A member will not knowingly lay claim to a level of competence not possessed, and will at all times exercise competence at least to the level claimed.”
Integrity implies wholeness, soundness, completeness: anything the member does should be done competently. Where necessary, additional guidance or expertise should be obtained from properly qualified advisers. While claims to competence should not be made lightly, a member will not shelter behind this principle to avoid being helpful and co-operative; any guidance or advice that can be provided from experience should be readily given. A member should act in a manner based on trust and good faith towards clients or employers and towards others with whom he or she is associated. A member should express an opinion on a subject only when it is founded on adequate knowledge and honest conviction, and will properly qualify any opinion expressed outside the level of professional competence attained. A member should not deliberately make false or exaggerated statements as to the state of affairs existing or expected regarding any aspect of the construction or use of computers.
A member should comply with the CSSA Code of Practice and any other codes that are applicable and ensure that clients are aware of the significance of his or her work.
A member has an obligation to be aware of relevant developments in information technology.
A member should not engage in any illegal activities, including copyright or patent violations.

PREAMBLE

Computers have a central and growing role in commerce, industry, government, medicine, education, entertainment and society at large. Software engineers are those who contribute by direct participation or by teaching, to the analysis, specification, design, development, certification, maintenance and testing of software systems. Because of their roles in developing software systems, software engineers have significant opportunities to do good or cause harm, to enable others to do good or cause harm, or to influence others to do good or cause harm. To ensure, as much as possible, that their efforts will be used for good, software engineers must commit themselves to making software engineering a beneficial and respected profession. In accordance with that commitment, software engineers shall adhere to the following Code of Ethics and Professional Practice.

The Code contains eight Principles related to the behavior of and decisions made by professional software engineers, including practitioners, educators, managers, supervisors and policy makers, as well as trainees and students of the profession. The Principles identify the ethically responsible relationships in which individuals, groups, and organizations participate and the primary obligations within these relationships. The Clauses of each Principle are illustrations of some of the obligations included in these relationships. These obligations are founded in the software engineer’s humanity, in special care owed to people affected by the work of software engineers, and the unique elements of the practice of software engineering. The Code prescribes these as obligations of anyone claiming to be or aspiring to be a software engineer.

It is not intended that the individual parts of the Code be used in isolation to justify errors of omission or commission. The list of Principles and Clauses is not exhaustive. The Clauses should not be read as separating the acceptable from the unacceptable in professional conduct in all practical situations. The Code is not a simple ethical algorithm that generates ethical decisions. In some situations standards may be in tension with each other or with standards from other sources. These situations require the software engineer to use ethical judgment to act in a manner which is most consistent with the spirit of the Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, given the circumstances.

Ethical tensions can best be addressed by thoughtful consideration of fundamental principles, rather than blind reliance on detailed regulations. These Principles should influence software engineers to consider broadly who is affected by their work; to examine if they and their colleagues are treating other human beings with due respect; to consider how the public, if reasonably well informed, would view their decisions; to analyze how the least empowered will be affected by their decisions; and to consider whether their acts would be judged worthy of the ideal professional working as a software engineer. In all these judgments concern for the health, safety and welfare of the public is primary; that is, the “Public Interest” is central to this Code.

The dynamic and demanding context of software engineering requires a code that is adaptable and relevant to new situations as they occur. However, even in this generality, the Code provides support for software engineers and managers of software engineers who need to take positive action in a specific case by documenting the ethical stance of the profession. The Code provides an ethical foundation to which individuals within teams and the team as a whole can appeal. The Code helps to define those actions that are ethically improper to request of a software engineer or teams of software engineers.

The Code is not simply for adjudicating the nature of questionable acts; it also has an important educational function. As this Code expresses the consensus of the profession on ethical issues, it is a means to educate both the public and aspiring professionals about the ethical obligations of all software engineers