Professional Ethics

• While netiquette applies to all netizens, IT professionals

specifically follow an ethical practice as they are the
front liners, support, and backend of ICT.
• The Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) has
identified 24 imperatives of professional conduct for IT
professionals. It contains many, but not all, issues IT
professionals are likely to face while using, creating,
and implementing ICT.
• The Code is designed to inspire and guide the ethical conduct of all
computing professionals, including current and aspiring
practitioners, instructors, students, influencers, and anyone who
uses computing technology in an impactful way.
• Section 1 outlines fundamental ethical principles that form the basis
for the remainder of the Code. Section 2 addresses additional, more
specific considerations of professional responsibility. Section 3
guides individuals who have a leadership role, whether in the
workplace or in a volunteer professional capacity. Commitment to
ethical conduct is required of every ACM member, and principles
involving compliance with the Code are given in Section 4.
GENERAL MORAL IMPERATIVES

As an ACM member, I will….

 1.1 Contribute to society and to human well-being.

• This principle, which concerns the quality of life of all people, affirms
an obligation of computing professionals, both individually and
collectively, to use their skills for the benefit of society, its members,
and the environment surrounding them. This obligation includes
promoting fundamental human rights and protecting each individual’s
right to autonomy. An essential aim of computing professionals is to
minimize negative consequences of computing, including threats to
health, safety, personal security, and privacy. 
• In addition to a safe social environment, human well-being requires a
safe natural environment. Therefore, computing professionals should
promote environmental sustainability both locally and globally.
1.2 Avoid harm to others.

• “Harm” means negative consequences, especially when

those consequences are significant and unjust. Examples
of harm include unjustified physical or mental injury,
unjustified destruction or disclosure of information, and
unjustified damage to property, reputation, and the
environment.
1.3 Be honest and trustworthy.

• Honesty is an essential component of trustworthiness. A

computing professional should be transparent and
provide full disclosure of all pertinent system
capabilities, limitations, and potential problems to the
appropriate parties. Making deliberately false or
misleading claims, fabricating or falsifying data, offering
or accepting bribes, and other dishonest conduct are
violations of the Code.
1.4 Be fair and take action not to discriminate.

• The values of equality, tolerance, respect for others, and justice

govern this principle. Fairness requires that even careful decision
processes provide some avenue for redress of grievances.
• Computing professionals should foster fair participation of all
people, including those of underrepresented groups. 
• Technologies and practices should be as inclusive and accessible
as possible and computing professionals should take action to
avoid creating systems or technologies that disenfranchise or
oppress people. Failure to design for inclusiveness and
accessibility may constitute unfair discrimination.
1.5 Honor property rights including copyrights and
patent.

• Developing new ideas, inventions, creative works, and computing

artifacts creates value for society, and those who expend this
effort should expect to gain value from their work. Computing
professionals should therefore credit the creators of ideas,
inventions, work, and artifacts, and respect copyrights, patents,
trade secrets, license agreements, and other methods of
protecting authors’ works.
• Computing professionals should not claim private ownership of
work that they or others have shared as public resources.
1.6 Give proper credit for intellectual property.

• Computing professionals are obligated to protect the integrity of

intellectual property. Specifically, one must not take credit for
other’s ideas or work, even in cases where the work has not been
explicitly protected by copyright, patent, etc.
• Computing professionals should establish transparent policies and
procedures that allow individuals to understand what data is being
collected and how it is being used, to give informed consent for
automatic data collection, and to review, obtain, correct
inaccuracies in, and delete their personal data.
1.7 Respect the privacy of others.

• Computing professionals are often entrusted with confidential

information such as trade secrets, client data, nonpublic business
strategies, financial information, research data, pre-publication
scholarly articles, and patent applications. Computing
professionals should protect confidentiality except in cases where
it is evidence of the violation of law, of organizational regulations,
or of the Code.
1.8 Honor confidentiality

• The principle of honesty extends to issues of confidentiality of

information whenever one has made an explicit promise to honor
confidentiality or, implicitly, when private information not
directly related to the performance of one’s duties become
available. The ethical concern is to respect all obligations of
confidentiality to employers, clients, and users unless discharge
from such obligations by requirements of the law or other
principles of the Code.
 MORE SPECIFIC PROFESSIONAL
RESPONSIBILITIES
As an ACM computing professional, I will…
2.1 Strive to achieve high quality in both the
processes and products of professional work.

• Excellence is perhaps the most important obligation of a

professional. The computing professional must strive to
achieve quality and to be cognizant of the serious
negative consequence that may result from poor quality
in a system.
2.2 Acquire and maintain professional competence

• Excellence depends on individuals who take

responsibility for acquiring and maintaining professional
competence. A professional must participate in setting
standards for appropriate levels of competence, and
strive to achieve those standards.
2.3 Know and respect existing laws pertaining to
professional work.

• “Rules” here include local, regional, national, and

international laws and regulations, as well as any policies and
procedures of the organizations to which the professional
belongs. Computing professionals must abide by these rules
unless there is a compelling ethical justification to do
otherwise.
• A computing professional who decides to violate a rule
because it is unethical, or for any other reason, must consider
potential consequences and accept responsibility for that
action.
2.4  Accept and provide appropriate professional
review.

• Quality professional work, especially in the computing

profession, depends on professional reviewing and critiquing.
Whenever appropriate, individual members should seek and
utilize peer review as well as provide critical review of the
work of others.
2.5  Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations
of computer systems and their impacts, including
analysis of possible risks.

• Computer professionals must strive to the perceptive,

thorough and objective when evaluating, recommending, and
presenting system descriptions and alternatives. Computer
professionals are in a position of special trust, and therefore
have a special responsibility to provide objective, credible
evaluations to employers, clients, users and the public.
2.6  Honor contracts, agreements, and assigned
responsibilities.

• Honoring one’s commitments is a matter of integrity and

honesty. For the computer professional, this includes ensuring
that system elements perform as intended. Also, when one
contracts for work with another party, one has an obligation to
keep that party properly informed about progress toward
completing that work.
• A computing professional is responsible for evaluating
potential work assignments. 
2.7  Improve public understanding of computing
and its consequences.

• Computing professionals have a responsibility to share

technical knowledge with the public by encouraging
understanding of computing, including the impacts of
computer system and their limitations. This imperative implies
an obligations to counter any false views related to computing.
2.8  Access computing and communication
resources only when authorized to do so.

• Theft or destruction of tangible and electronic property is

prohibited by imperative 1.2 “Avoid harm to others.”
Trespassing and unauthorized use of a computer or
communication system is addressed by this imperative.
• Trespassing includes accessing communication networks and
computer system, or accounts and/or files associated with
those systems, without explicit authorization to do so.
 ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP IMPERATIVES

As an ACM member and an organizational leader, I will…

3.1 Articulate social responsibilities of members of an organizational
unit and encourage full acceptance of those responsibilities.

• Technical organizations and groups affect broader

society, and their leaders should accept the associated
responsibilities. Organizations—through procedures and
attitudes oriented toward quality, transparency, and the
welfare of society—reduce harm to the public and raise
awareness of the influence of technology in our lives.
Therefore, leaders should encourage full participation of
computing professionals in meeting relevant social
responsibilities and discourage tendencies to do
otherwise.
3.2 Manage personnel and resources to design and build
information systems that enhance the quality of working life.

• Organizational leaders are responsible for ensuring that

computer system enhance, nor degrade, the quality of
working life. When implementing a computer system,
organizations must consider the personal and
professional development, physical safety, and human
dignity of all workers. Appropriate human-computer
ergonomic standards should be considered in system
design and in the workplace.
3.3 Acknowledge and support proper and authorized uses of
an organization's computing and communication resources

• Because computer systems can become tools to harm as

well as to benefit an organization, the leadership has the
responsibility to clearly define appropriate and
inappropriate uses of organizational computing
resources. While the number and scope of such rules
should be minimal, they should be fully enforced when
established.
3.4 Ensure that users and those who will be
affected by a system have their needs clearly
articulated during the assessment and design of
requirements; later the system must be validated
to meet requirements.
• Current system user, potential users, and other persons
whose lives may be affected by a system must have their
needs assessed and incorporated in the statement or
requirements. System validation should ensure
compliance with those requirements.
3.5 Articulate and support policies that protect the
dignity of users and others affected by a computing
system

• Designing or implementing systems that deliberately or

inadvertently demean individuals or groups is ethically
unacceptable. Computer professionals who are in
decision-making positions should verify that systems are
designed and implemented to protect personal privacy
and enhance personal dignity.
3.6 Create opportunities for members of the organization to
learn the principles and limitations of computer systems.

• Educational opportunities are essential to facilitate

optimal participation of all organizational member.
• Opportunities must be available to all members to help
them improve their knowledge and skills in computing,
including courses that familiarize them with the
consequences and limitations of particular types of
systems.
COMPLIANCE WITH THE CODE

As an ACM member, I will…

4.1 Uphold and promote the principles of this
Code.

• The future of the computing profession depends on both

technical and ethical excellence. Not only is it important
for ACM computing professionals to adhere to the
principles expressed in this Code, each member should
encourage and support adherence by other members.
4.2 Treat violations of this code as inconsistent
with membership in the ACM.

• Adherence of professionals to a code of ethics is largely a

voluntary matter. However, if a member does not follow
this code by engaging in gross misconduct, membership
in ACM may be terminated.