The ACM has created the Code of Ethics and Professional Practice (The Code).
The Code is intended to be “useful as the conscience of the profession, but also
for individual decision-making.” The lesson on Using the Code explains:
“computing professionals should approach the dilemma with a holistic reading
of the principles and evaluate the situation with thoughtful consideration to the
circumstances.”
When analyzing a situation, review all the principles of “The Code” to see which
of them apply to the situation. Any decision or action should be based upon
the applicable Code sections.
➢ The situation you will analye follows on the next page.
➢ You will start a word processing file, named and Saved As: CodeXXX,
where XXX is replaced by your initials.
➢ The Assignment is due by Monday am 4/19/21 8:30am – NO EXCEPTIONS !
(see DropBox, here in Blackboard)
➢ Your grade will be based on
• your ability to follow the instructions (10%)
• your thorough examination of the code and the identified applicable
sections (30%)
• the explanations for how the principles apply (40%)
• Your recommendation (20%)
• This is another Project Grade !!
1. Think about this situation:
A contractor owns and runs a consulting company named JustAskin. JustAskin
has been hired by the KnowItAll Company to interview its staff and establish
employee’s knowledge of systems used at the company. At onset, the purpose
of the project was identified as a way to inform KnowItAll about the type of
training courses they could implement to improve performance and target
areas of need. The information collected would highlight areas of overall
weakness as opposed to individual short-comings, however the data collected
will be able to identify an individual’s weaknesses. KnowItAll employees
participated after signing consent agreements that stated, “Comments made
to JustAskin by KnowItAll interviewees would remain private.” Following the
conclusion of the study, a KnowItAll Senior Vice-President approached JustAskin
to find out, “Who did well in the study and who did not?”. The Senior VP went on
to explain he was processing budget requests from employees for equipment
and seminar attendance and the data could be used to make the best use of
available funds.
2. Review “The Code”
and determine which principles apply to this situation. Go through each section
and think about how it affects the knowItAll & JustAsking employees from the
scenario. Identify and list each code section, and subsection, and tell whether it
applies. Include an explanation of how each code section applies to this
scenario, if applicable. You must list multiple principles from “The Code”.
3. Review the principles that you identified in part 2, and
Considering them, how do you think the employee from JustAskin should
ethically reply to the request?
– Type your answers within the appropriate areas of your word processing
document.
– Write in complete sentences
– Your grade will be based on your ability to follow the instructions, your thorough
examination of the code and the explanations for how the principles apply.
– As a resource, you can review the following case studies found under the link
“Using the Code”
• Medical implant Risk Analysis
• Dark UX Patterns
