Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Examine how systems engineers at Northlinks Consultants control access to email files and network communication The WritePass Journal
Examine how systems engineers at Northlinks Consultants control access to email files and network communication Examine how systems engineers at Northlinks Consultants control access to email files and network communication Introduction Q1                                                                                                                             What should Gwen do? Lawrence, manager at Northlinks Consultants believes staff spends a lot of time sending ‘personal’ emails to friends and family. As a result, he wants Gwen the systems engineer to help him have access to email files on all PCs in the office. Gwen is faced with mainly a morality issue. The morality issue in this case involves ‘spying’ on employees emails which though may be work related but may also contain information that they would not want in the public domain which Gwen views as a breach of trust. In ethically though, Bourke v. Nissan (www.loundy.com/CASES/Bourke_v_Nissan.html) is an example of a situation where a court has ruled as regards non privacy of emails when it is used on company internal network. Thus, if an e-mail system is used at a company, it belongs to the employer and as such; the employer is allowed to review its contents. These emails also include messages sent both internally (within the company) and externally and web based email accounts such as Yahoo too. As an employee at Northlinks, one may feel like the employer has breached one’s trust if one hears that the employer views their email files. However, if notice is given before such a policy is introduced, the situation might be better managed. It should be noted however that the company has no ethical obligations to inform the staff of the new policy (maybe only moral). Therefore in this regards, Gwen has no option but to do what Lawrence requires and her morals cannot be given higher priority than her work conduct. However, alternatively, Gwen could also suggest to Lawrence that workers should be told their emails are being reviewed so that they can keep private talk outside of work emails. Furthermore, Gwen may go ahead to let staff know about the ‘new’ policy before it is implemented. Another alternative for Gwen is to hand the job to another member of the team at least for this task if her morals cannot handle executing the task. Q2 Professional Codes of conduct as developed by Professional bodies are mainly a set of guidelines designed to show acceptable behaviour for members of the body. One virtue could be that adhering to professional ethics gives satisfaction to members of that group. As such, as a member of that body, in addition to having the satisfaction of meeting other requirements, one also gets the satisfaction of remaining a member because one has kept to the ethical codes of the body. Another virtue is highlighted in the fact that for most bodies, as one rises in degree in the body implies also the number of years he/she has spent adhering to the ethical standards. As such, one who has fully kept the standards of the body to the fullest is also most likely to be one in the top ratings of the body. For instance, a chartered Engineer would have kept within the codes of ethics of the engineering Society to get to that level and as such is accorded more respect in that field. Short comings of these ethical codes may be summarised in two subheadings – Enforceability and Vagueness. Vagueness – Most ethical codes are vague. This is actually a ‘quality’ of such codes as their vagueness helps in giving it room for interpretation. In most organisations, this interpretation is done by top level members. For example, the C.R.12 of the IMechE code of ethics states that â€Å"Members shall act honourably, responsibly, and lawfully so as to uphold the reputation, standing and dignity of the profession in general and the Institution in particular†. What does the term ‘act honourably’ imply? Does it mean that members of this body cannot be involved in say, a civil protest? Can that be termed as not acting honourably? Enforceability – like every law, ethical codes need to be enforced to be effective. However, for bodies like the IET, ImechE, etc., enforcing these codes on every member can be a hideous task. Unfortunately, when this is not done properly, the codes cannot be effective. As can be seen from the above, while having an ethical code has its virtues, it also has its short comings. However, the short comings while valid and can be misinterpreted and misapplied, like in the example given of the IMechE C.R.12 code. An example is the Goodrich A-7 brake case in 1972 (Harris, Pritchard and Rabbins 2009) when Goodrich corporation won a contract for the supply of brakes for the Navy A-7 aircraft. Testing showed clearly that the design would not function correctly based on Government regulations but Managers tried to trick government into thinking the design worked correctly. Searle Lawson (a young graduate Engineer) and Kermit Vandivier both working for Goodrich understood that their professional ethics mandated that public safety must be paramount in all decisions, informed the FBI which then informed Government Accounting office. Goodrich immediately fired Vandivier and Lawson had to resign. Keeping to the Engineering codes cost Lawson and Vandivier their jobs. If they had not reported the case, they may have kept their jobs but lives may have been lost as in the DC-10 case also in 1972 (Harris, Pritchard and Rabbins 2009). Ethical codes help keep Engineers on their toes giving them ‘laws’ to refer to when litigations arise. Therefore, this writer feels that having professional ethics do not in any way, outweigh not having them. Q3 According to an online resource (wiktionary), Ethics is â€Å"the study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct or standards that govern the conduct of a person, especially a member of a profession†. In essence, within every profession lies a set of standards or ‘ground rules’ which guard that profession and which every member of that profession must adhere to. Any member of the profession who goes against these set standards can be dismissed or where possible, his membership of the profession can be cancelled. These set of ground rules are said to be the Ethics guarding that profession. Bower (notes) lists that ethical standards would typically include: A Code of Ethics Legal Requirements Moral and Personal Values Morality on the other hand is an ‘adopted’ set of rules and regulations or code of conduct within an environment for what is right and wrong. In modern society, morals have formed the spine of modern society especially in the case of religion. It should be noted that morals define an individual’s character while ethics are more guidelines for a group or society which members must follow and which morals are applied. An example can be seen in the case of a lawyer whose personal morals may define murder as a crime that should be punished but whose professional ethics expect him to defend an accused as vigorously as possible. With the advent of the internet and revolution in the Information Technology, there has been a need for the introduction of ethics or guidelines to guard against abuse. These ethics known as cyberethics is a code of responsible behaviour for using the Internet. Internet ethics however refer to code of conduct guarding against inappropriate use of online resources. Online resources could be documents in online libraries, etc. An example of inappropriate use of online resources could be sending of spam messages (RFC 1087). Computer ethics overall cover the way computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct (Bynum 2005). This as we can see is not restricted to the use of computers as in the case of Internet and Cyberethics, but covers the individual professionals themselves and how the conduct themselves. Like Margaret Anne Pierce and John Henry said, these ethical decisions related to computer technology and usage can be categorised thus: The individuals own personal code. Any informal code of ethical behaviour that exists in the work place. Exposure to formal codes of ethics. Q4 There are some key issues involved in this article. The bridge had reached a critical stage which according to Engineer A’s recommendation and expertise suggestions by a consulting and inspection firm, required urgent repairs. The current state of the bridge also meant that it was a danger to the general public and so it was closed. However, probably due to the inconvenience caused by closing the bridge, the idea of closure did not go down well with the public and closure signs were ignored and when permanent signs were placed, the public protested. Also may be due to public outcry, the bridge was reopened with a limit on load going over it and which Engineer A has clearly seen is being ignored. As it stands, due to the reopening of the bridge, there is a danger to the general public. One of the fundamental Canons of a many Engineering codes including the American Society of Civil Engineers says that â€Å"Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development in the performance of their professional duties†. This engineering code request that the safety and welfare of the public be placed paramount in every situation. This implies that even in the situation where comfort is sacrificed, in this case, the inconvenience of having to go around the bridge, the welfare and safety should be put first. In addition, it can be seen that the Commission may have been swayed by political motives in the reopening of the bridge. Engineer A’s duty as dictated in another fundamental Canon of Civil Engineering code – â€Å"Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold and enhance the honour, integrity, and dignity of the engineering profession and shall act with zero-tolerance for bribery, fraud, and corruption†. This means that irrespective of public outcry or the pressure on him by politicians to reopen the bridge, Engineer A must maintain his stand and by putting the welfare of the public first. He should make his dissenting views known to the County Commission even if it is just for him to have a clear conscience. References Online resource. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ethics sourced 10/03/2011. Dr. Bowers’s Notes from the 4 Ethics Articles taken from Engineering Dimensions, Magazine Sourced online from http://web2.uwindsor.ca/courses/bondy2/lectures/ethics.pdf on 01/03/2011 Bynum, Terrell Ward. A Very Shory History of Computer Ethics. Southern Connecticut State University. Archived from the original on 2008-04-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20080418122849/southernct.edu/organizations/rccs/resources/research/introduction/bynum_shrt_hist.html. Retrieved 10/03/2011. Margaret, A, Henry, J. â€Å"Computer Ethics: The Role of Personal, Informal, and Formal Codes†. Journal of business ethics. Sourced online from springerlink.com/content/m3201253822641r0/ on 12/03/2011. Harris C.E., Pritchard M.S., Rabbins M.J. 2009. â€Å"Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases†. Fourth Edition. Wadsworth Engage Learning, Belmont, USA.
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