Information Technology Ethics Analysis: ACS Code of Conduct

This report provides an analysis of ethical issues in information technology, specifically focusing on a scenario where a project manager pressures a project director to deliver a software product without encryption to meet a deadline, potentially violating the ACS code of professional conduct. The report examines the ethical implications of this decision, highlighting violations of the code related to public interest, quality of life, honesty, competence, and professional development. It analyzes how prioritizing company interests over customer security and professional integrity contravenes the ACS guidelines. The report recommends that the company request a time extension from the client to integrate encryption, ensuring data security and adherence to ethical standards. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of transparent communication with the client and the long-term benefits of upholding the ACS code of professional conduct.

Running head: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ETHICS
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ETHICS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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GRANT PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Analysis of ethical issues with respect to ACS code of professional conduct:..........................2
Ethical issues:.........................................................................................................................2
Analysis of ethical issues.......................................................................................................3
Recommendation:......................................................................................................................5

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GRANT PROPOSAL
Analysis of ethical issues with respect to ACS code of professional conduct:
Ethical issues:
The manager has asked the project director to deliver the product without encryption
so that they can met the deadline as decided in the contract. The manager try to justify his
decision with the fact that customer satisfaction as well as customer retention is important for
any business. Hence he cannot allow the project director to delay the delivery of the product
as according to him delivering the product within time is much more important than
reviewing the quality of the product as the production has already delayed. He also highlights
that the CIA have to deliver the Will’s project and if this is not done chances are that Will’s
will not consider the company next time for further order.
However the project director has some different opinion as he thinks that if the
software is delivered without integrating encryption, it will compromise the security of the
data. Hence he is not in favour of delivering the software without encryption just to deliver in
it time as this is not ethically permitted. He also specifies that Jason, the senior developer
strongly feels that encryption has a vital role to play in the system security of the Will’s
project. So it is difficult for him to agree with the manager and what he suggest for the
developer team. In response to that the manager then suggest that although there is a chance
of system being hacked without encryption, but that chances are very less. Even the
encryption is possible to integrate with the system later with software updates. Hence, they
should take this opportunity as it will only satisfy the customer, Greg and his team members
will get bonus and incentives for completing the project and delivering it to the customer
within time. Hence according to the manager Greg, the project director should follow what he
suggest in this context.

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GRANT PROPOSAL
Now if the situation is analysed with respect to the ACS professional code of conduct,
it will be clear that the codes of the ACS code of conduct will be violated in this context if the
tram leader agrees to the suggestion of the manager.
Analysis of ethical issues
According to ACS code of conduct, there are five aspect of ethical and professional
conduct
1. The Primacy of the Public Interest
It specifies that the public interest should get the highest priority compared to
personal, business or sectional interests.
From the analysis it is clear that the organization has clearly violated this code as the
manager has asked the project director to follow the interest of the company and put that
above customer interest. Compromise of customer security and deliver product in time to
retain the customer for organization interest clearly specifies that the manager wants to
ensure interest of organization first above the customer interest which is against the ACS
code of professional conduct.
2. The Enhancement of Quality of Life
According to this code, organization should be determined in enhancing quality of the
life of those who will be effected by the product and services that the company offers
As the manager ask to deliver the Will’s project without encryption, it compromises
with the quality of the project because security of a system is also considered as an important
quality feature of any software product. Hence this code is violated as well.
3. Honesty

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GRANT PROPOSAL
Organisation should not be dishonest while presenting skills, knowledge, services and
products.
The project manager wants to deliver the product hiding the fact form the customer
that it has some security issues and hence quality issue too. He then wants to fix the issue
without letting the customer recognizing anything about this misconduct. Hence this is an act
of dishonesty.
4. Competence
Organisation should ensure competency and diligence while dealing stakeholders
As the manager in association with CIA and CEO wants to opt for dishonesty while
dealing with stakeholder, it lacks competency and diligence.
5. Professional Development
Organisation should ensure professional development at personal as well as staff
level.
The project manager suggest project director that even if this not ethically permitted,
if Greg aggress him on this matter, it will provide them incentive and reward. Asking the staff
to violate the ethical code for own benefits surely hampers proper professional development.
6. Professionalism
According to this code the integrity of the ACS code as well as mutual respect should
be enhanced among the team members to ensure that the ACS code of conduct is being
followed properly by the organization.
As the other five code of conducts is not properly followed, it follows that the
integrity of the code is not ensured. And about the mutual respect among the team members,

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GRANT PROPOSAL
there is also chance of violation. The senior developer thinks that encryption is necessary for
the product and hence asking the developer to change his opinion will create differences
between project director Greg and senior developer Jason.
Recommendation:
From the discussion between the manager and project director, it is clear that Will is
an important stakeholder for the company and it is important to retain the customer for the
organization. Still the suggestion of the project manager to deliver the project before one
month without the encryption is not justified either.
It is true that the encryption will not be integrated within one month and it will take
more time as specified by Greg with confirmation from Jason, the senior developer. It means
that the deadline will be missed which the company do not want at all.
However it is recommended that company should approach Will for extension of time
specifying the need of encryption for the security of the software and why this important for
the project.
If the system is not hacked it means project is delivered within time, customer is
satisfied and company is benefitted with better customer retention.
However, before the encryption is integrated with the system in the next update, the
system might be hacked without encryption and if Will identify that the company has
deliberately done this they will never be able to sign further contract with the company.

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GRANT PROPOSAL
Hence it is recommend to describe the issue in details to the customer so that they can
get a chance to integrate the encryption with the system and increase the security of the
system so that the ACS code of professional conduct is properly followed.
References:
Acs.org.au. (2018) [online] Available at: https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-
regulations/Code-of-Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf
YouTube. (2018). Scenario 3: Early Launch. [Online] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5M7ohdZ6qA [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018].