Professional Year Program: Ethical Dilemma Case Study Analysis

This case study analyzes an ethical dilemma faced by Maureen, an employee in a government agency dealing with drug and alcohol abuse. Maureen is tasked with compiling a report using sensitive client data, including names and addresses. The core dilemma revolves around whether Maureen should work strictly within the agency's environment or at home to meet deadlines. The analysis explores the consequences of both options, focusing on data security, adherence to the ACS code of conduct, and the potential risks of information leaks. Working strictly within the agency minimizes the risk of data breaches and aligns with several ACS values, but might lead to missed deadlines. Conversely, working at home allows for meeting deadlines but poses significant risks to client data privacy and violates multiple ACS values, potentially damaging the agency's reputation and legal standing. The solution recommends Maureen work strictly within the agency's environment to uphold ethical standards and protect sensitive client information, prioritizing long-term benefits and compliance with professional conduct guidelines.

Resolving Ethical Dilemma 1
Resolving Ethical Dilemma
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course Name
Date

Resolving Ethical Dilemma 2
Analyze the consequences of Case Study 2
There are two possible options Maureen can adopt. The first one is to strictly work within
the agency’s work environment and the second option is to work at home over weekends in order
to meet deadlines Each of these options has specific consequences.
If Maureen works strictly within the agency’s work environment, the consequences
would be both positive and negative. On positive side, Maureen will be able to reduce the risk of
client’s information getting into the wrong hands. Secondly, working within agency’s work
environment will enable Maureen meet five of the ACS code of conduct values. These include
honesty, the primacy of the public interest, competence and professionalism and their relevant
clauses. Unfortunately, by working strictly within agency’s work environment, Maureen might
fail to meet the deadlines.
If Maureen will decide to work at home over the weekends, the only positive
consequences is that she will meet the deadline. However, there are many negative consequences
associated with this option. First, Maureen will be putting the personal information of the clients
at risk through possible information leaks. The long-term consequences of information leaks is
detrimental to the survival of the agency. Most often, when talking about information security,
the discussion comes down to identifying financial risks. However, an information leak threatens
not only with financial losses, but also with reputational damage. Such an intangible thing as
reputation is key for all organizations - customer loyalty and respect with partners is earned over
the years, and the abyss can happen in an instant. Troubles for the public image of the company
may also arise as a result of internal documents entering the media or blogs, since not all internal
corporate orders may appeal to the public. Not so long ago, at Yahoo, there was a massive data
leak of 500 million users. At the same time, the company told about the leak to the public only

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two years later, without explaining such a delay. The US Securities and Exchange Commission
launched an investigation against the company, claiming that Yahoo! could and should have
warned users and investors much earlier. A company exposed of information leak often find
itself at hard time trying to reconstruct the public image. Nowadays the citizens are concerned
about the confidentiality of their information. Any leak can attract public outburst. Such an
outburst is not always good for the affected company or organization. It can destroy reputation,
reduce competitive edge of the company, lead to reduction in sales and profit, and at worse,
information leak can hinder the sustainable operation of the company. A hacker threat, like other
external activity, can certainly lead to leaks, but the employees themselves are most often
compromising the most valuable and sensitive information for various reasons. Under the
information threat, companies understand the potential danger of accidental (unintentional) or
deliberate violation of the quality of information due to the peculiarities of its storage, processing
and use. Information is mainly stored and processed using automated information systems, which
means that the result of an industrial enterprise depends on the stability of the functioning of
these systems and its protection from the actions of attackers and competitors. Leaving USB at
home is a very risk undertaking. USB can get lost and can be picked by a person with wrong
intention. Such a person may use information to carry out activities that will put the owners of
the information in problems. That is why as far as information security is concerned, it is always
believed that protection from insiders is the most important front line of the information security
service.
Analyze the Actions related to Case Study 6
If Maureen decides to be working on some tasks at home, she will be violating three of
the ACS code of professional conduct. First, by working at home, Maureen will be violating the

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value of primacy of public interest. This is because by working at home, she will be predisposing
the information of the users to the wrong hands. She will violate two clauses related to primacy
of public intests. First, she will violate a clause that expects employees to preserve the integrity,
security, continuity and utility of ICT. Second, she will violate a clause that expects employees
to preserve the confidentiality and privacy of the information of others.
Second, by working at home, Maureen will be violating ACS value of honesty. This is
because she will breach public trust by violating a clause that expects the employees to give
realistic estimates for projects under their control (Acs.org.au. 2019).
Third, by working at home, Maureen will be violating ACS value of competence.
Specifically, Maureen will violate two clauses related to competence. First, she will violate
clause that expects employee to accept responsibility for his or her work. Second, she will violate
a clause that expects employee to advise stakeholder in case a proposed project, product or
service is not in their best interest.
However, if Maureen decide to work strictly within agency’s work environment, her
action will be in line with all the ACS values. She will not encounter any issue related to
violation of ACS code of conducts.
Make decision
Based on the analysis, it is the best option for Maureen is to work strictly within agency’s
work environment. This option is associated with many positive long-term consequences and is
also in line with the ACS values.

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List of References
Acs.org.au. (2019). ACS Code of Professional Conduct. [online] Available at:
https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-regulations/Code-of-Professional-
Conduct_v2.1.pdf [Accessed 27 Sep. 2019].