Information Technology Ethics

This document explores the ethical issues in information technology, specifically focusing on a case study and the ACS code of ethics. It discusses the importance of professional conduct and provides recommendations for ethical decision-making.

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Information Technology Ethics
Video 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................... 2
Video 1: Early Launch.................................................................................................................................... 2
ACS Code of Ethics........................................................................................................................................... 2
Ethics Issue......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Recommendation............................................................................................................................................. 4
Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................... 4
References........................................................................................................................................................... 6

INTRODUCTION
Ethics is referred as a code of behaviour that is defined by the group from which
a person belongs; professionals have to ensure that they conduct their operations
ethically in order to maintain the integrity and respect of their profession (Banks,
2016). Similarly, the Australian Computer Society (ACS) has provided professional
conduct guidelines for individuals that offer their services in the information and
communication technology (ICT) field (ACS, n.d.). ‘Video 1’ will be evaluated in this
report to analyse the ethical dilemma which is presented in the video. This report will
evaluate ACS code of ethics to determine whether parties in the video have acted in
professional conduct or not. To address this issue, a recommendation will be given in
the report to decide which one of the three ending is the ethical option.
VIDEO 1: EARLY LAUNCH
In the video, the project director called the project manager in his cabin to
discuss about a plan which is suggested by the CIO of the company. The CIO and the
project director wanted to deliver the software of the company one month early in
order to make the client happy (Al-Saggaf, 2016). The project manager provides that the
software is not ready yet and the team wanted more time to improve the same. The
project director suggested that the company can reduce the time by avoiding encryption
in the software. The project manager argues that the team has suggested that without
encryption, the software will be highly vulnerable towards cyber-attacks and it will be
easier for hackers to gain unauthorised access to the data (Al-Saggaf, 2016). In order to
influence the decision of the project manager, the project director told him that he and
his team would receive bonuses if they agree to execute this plan.
ACS CODE OF ETHICS
In order to understand ethical issues in this video, it is important to understand the
key principles of professional conduct provided by the ACS. ICT members have to
uphold these policies to ensure that they maintain the honour, dignity and effectiveness
of their profession (ACS, n.d.).

1. The primary of the public interest
One of the first duties of ICT professionals is ensuring that they did not prioritise
their personal or business interest above the interest of the public.
2. The enhancement of quality of life
Professionals are expected to continuously strive for ensuring that those effects by
their work have improved quality of life.
3. Honesty
Honesty is expected from professionals while they are doing their jobs in the ICT
field.
4. Competence
Professionals have to ensure that they act diligently and competently to protect the
interest of their stakeholders (ACS, n.d.).
5. Professional development
Not only should the ICT professional must focus on their professional development,
but they should also focus on their staff members’ professional development.
6. Professionalism
It is the duty of ICT professionals that they must improve the integrity of ACS and
respect for its members from their work.
ETHICS ISSUE
The ethical issue in this video is that the project director and CIO wanted to
prioritise their personal interest above the interest of the client by delivering the
software without encryption. This decision contradicts with the first code of ethics of
ACS which provides that professionals must give primacy to the public interest.
Through encryption, the information is converted into a secret code which can only be
read through a specific key; this mechanism ensures that the data remain secured from
unauthorised access (Xia, Wang, Sun & Wang, 2016). It is a moral duty of the project

director and manager to ensure that they take appropriate measures to ensure that the
data of individuals that rely on this software is protected.
They are bringing their personal and business interest above the interest of the
client and customers. Honesty is a key trait of professional conduct which is not
followed by parties in this scenario. They wanted to lie to the client by delivering the
software without encryption. This decision will also reduce the trust of people in the
ICT profession and its members since they put their personal interest above the interest
of the public based on which they are breaching the professionalism provision of the
ACS code of conduct (Al-Saggaf & Burmeister, 2012).
RECOMMENDATION
There are three scenarios from which recommendation will be made for the
parties. In the first video ending, the project manager surrenders to pressure and
accepts the offer made by the project director. In the second ending, the project director
ignores the recommendation made by the project manager, and he removed him from
the project which resulted in its delay. In the third ending, the project director listens to
the team and their suggestions to deliver the software with encryption.
The ethical option in this scenario is the third video ending because in this
ending the project director and the project manager did not breach any provision of the
ACS code of ethics. They should avoid prioritising their personal and business interest
above the public interest which could be adversely affected if users’ data is breached by
cyber criminals (Al-Saggaf & Burmeister, 2012). They should act in an honest manner to
deliver complete software to the client with encryption. This will also continue the
integrity of the ACS and the trust and respect of the public towards ICT members
(Reynolds, 2018).
CONCLUSION
Based on the above observation, an ethical issue is raised in the video because
the management wanted to deliver the software early to the client without encryption
for personal benefit. This suggestion violates the ACS code of ethical principles such as

professionalism, honestly and the primacy of public interest. The third ending of the
video is the ethical choice in this scenario since it ensures that parties comply with the
ACS code of ethics and it uplifts the integrity of the profession.

REFERENCES
ACS. (n.d.). ACS Code of Ethics. Retrieved from
https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/acs-documents/Code-of-Ethics.pdf
Al-Saggaf, Y. (2016, October 31). Scenario 3: Early Launch. [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5M7ohdZ6qA
Al-Saggaf, Y., & Burmeister, O. K. (2012). Improving skill development: an exploratory
study comparing a philosophical and an applied ethical analysis
technique. Computer Science Education, 22(3), 237-255.
Banks, S. (2016). Everyday ethics in professional life: Social work as ethics work. Ethics
and Social Welfare, 10(1), 35-52.4
Reynolds, G. (2018). Ethics in Information Technology. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Xia, Z., Wang, X., Sun, X., & Wang, Q. (2016). A secure and dynamic multi-keyword
ranked search scheme over encrypted cloud data. IEEE transactions on parallel
and distributed systems, 27(2), 340-352.