1. Ensure that software engineers are informed of standards before being held to them.
2. Refuse to participate, as members or advisors, in a private, governmental or professional body concerned with software related issues, in which they, their employers or their clients have undisclosed potential conflicts of interest.
3. Cooperate in efforts to address matters of grave public concern caused by software, its installation, maintenance, support or documentation.
4. Improve their knowledge of relevant standards and the law governing the software and related documents on which they work.
5. Because of their roles in developing software systems, software engineers have significant opportunities to do good or cause harm, to enable others to do good or cause harm, or to influence others to do good or cause harm.
6. Be fair and avoid deception in all statements, particularly public ones, concerning software or related documents, methods and tools.
7. As this Code expresses the consensus of the profession on ethical issues, it is a means to educate both the public and aspiring professionals about the ethical obligations of all software engineers.
8. Approve software only if they have a well-founded belief that it is safe, meets specifications, passes appropriate tests, and does not diminish quality of life, diminish privacy or harm the environment.
9. Ensure that there is a fair agreement concerning ownership of any software, processes, research, writing, or other intellectual property to which a software engineer has contributed.
10. The Code helps to define those actions that are ethically improper to request of a software engineer or teams of software engineers.
1. Work to follow professional standards, when available, that are most appropriate for the task at hand, departing from these only when ethically or technically justified.
2. Ensure adequate testing, debugging, and review of software and related documents on which they work.
3. Assist colleagues in being fully aware of current standard work practices including policies and procedures for protecting passwords, files and other confidential information, and security measures in general.
4. Assign work only after taking into account appropriate contributions of education and experience tempered with a desire to further that education and experience.
5. Work to develop software and related documents that respect the privacy of those who will be affected by that software.
6. Ensure adequate documentation, including significant problems discovered and solutions adopted, for any project on which they work.
7. Review the work of others in an objective, candid, and properly-documented way.
8. Improve their knowledge of this Code, its interpretation, and its application to their work.
9. Ensure realistic quantitative estimates of cost, scheduling, personnel, quality and outcomes on any project on which they work or propose to work, and provide an uncertainty assessment of these estimates.
10. Ensure that they are qualified for any project on which they work or propose to work by an appropriate combination of education and training, and experience.
1. Not unfairly intervene in the career of any colleague; however, concern for the employer, the client or public interest may compel software engineers, in good faith, to question the competence of a colleague.
2. Because of their roles in developing software systems, software engineers have significant opportunities to do good or cause harm, to enable others to do good or cause harm, or to influence others to do good or cause harm.
3. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Temper all technical judgments by the need to support and maintain human values.
4. These Principles should influence software engineers to consider broadly who is affected by their work; to examine if they and their colleagues are treating other human beings with due respect; to consider how the public, if reasonably well informed, would view their decisions; to analyze how the least empowered will be affected by their decisions; and to consider whether their acts would be judged worthy of the ideal professional working as a software engineer.
5. Principle 3: PRODUCTSoftware engineers shall ensure that their products and related modifications meet the highest professional standards possible.
6. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Help develop an organizational environment favorable to acting ethically.
7. However, even in this generality, the Code provides support for software engineers and managers of software engineers who need to take positive action in a specific case by documenting the ethical stance of the profession.
8. Principle 6: PROFESSIONSoftware engineers shall advance the integrity and reputation of the profession consistent with the public interest.
9. The Code contains eight Principles related to the behavior of and decisions made by professional software engineers, including practitioners, educators, managers, supervisors and policy makers, as well as trainees and students of the profession.
10. Support, as members of a profession, other software engineers striving to follow this Code.
1. The Code contains eight Principles related to the behavior of and decisions made by professional software engineers, including practitioners, educators, managers, supervisors and policy makers, as well as trainees and students of the profession.
2. Improve their knowledge of this Code, its interpretation, and its application to their work.
3. Recognize that personal violations of this Code are inconsistent with being a professional software engineer.
4. Not ask a software engineer to do anything inconsistent with this Code.
5. The Code helps to define those actions that are ethically improper to request of a software engineer or teams of software engineers.
6. Not influence others to undertake any action that involves a breach of this Code.
7. Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice (Full Version)PREAMBLEComputers have a central and growing role in commerce, industry, government, medicine, education, entertainment and society at large.
8. However, even in this generality, the Code provides support for software engineers and managers of software engineers who need to take positive action in a specific case by documenting the ethical stance of the profession.
9. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Encourage colleagues to adhere to this Code.
10. The Code provides an ethical foundation to which individuals within teams and the team as a whole can appeal.
1. Be careful to use only accurate data derived by ethical and lawful means, and use it only in ways properly authorized.
2. The Principles identify the ethically responsible relationships in which individuals, groups, and organizations participate and the primary obligations within these relationships.
3. Not punish anyone for expressing ethical concerns about a project.
4. The Code provides an ethical foundation to which individuals within teams and the team as a whole can appeal.
5. Principle 5: MANAGEMENTSoftware engineering managers and leaders shall subscribe to and promote an ethical approach to the management of software development and maintenance .
6. The Code helps to define those actions that are ethically improper to request of a software engineer or teams of software engineers.
7. The Code is not a simple ethical algorithm that generates ethical decisions.
8. Principle 8: SELFSoftware engineers shall participate in lifelong learning regarding the practice of their profession and shall promote an ethical approach to the practice of the profession.
9. Promote no interest adverse to their employer or client, unless a higher ethical concern is being compromised; in that case, inform the employer or another appropriate authority of the ethical concern.
10. As this Code expresses the consensus of the profession on ethical issues, it is a means to educate both the public and aspiring professionals about the ethical obligations of all software engineers.