ACS Code of Ethics and ACS Code of Professional Conduct

Question: Discuss about the ACS Code of Ethics and ACS Code of Professional Conduct. Answer: Introduction: Training and education of IT experts, among them security administrators, mostly focuses at providing technical skills and knowledge. IT specialists usually learn how to perform tasks but attain little knowledge if none, on how such skills might be misused(John Weckert, 2013). Most IT technicians believe that they are entitled to do whatever they have the capability to do. But do they really care about ethical issues in their operations? Do they ever mind how their actions affect the livelihood of other people? As per the facts in the case of Harshel specific moral issues can be identified as conflicting with each other. Firstly the employees are entitled to act professionally and stick to their job while in the workplace since that is what they are paid for. Sometimes the employees might have a free time. Can they use this time to check their emails or visits other websites that they might have interest in. Is it morally right for Hershey to meddle with the personal affairs of the workers? This would reasonably be considered as intruding the privacy of other people. If Hershel decides to monitor the sites that employees visit as instructed by the employer, to some extent it can be morally right since it can prevent some employees from visiting sites like phonography that may create a hostile working environment(Colin Boyd, 2012). On the other hand it limits the privacy rights of employees provided that there is no signed agreement on what sights one should visit in their computers. Hershels decision might have various impacts to different parties in the organization. These include the stakeholders who are employees of the company, employer and Harshel himself. The decision might affect the public at large also as they are the customer or potential clients of the company. In Primacy of Public Interest, the ACS code of conduct states that, you will place the interests of the public above those of personal, business or sectional interests(Teofilo Gonzalez, 2014). As an employee of the company Harshel has a close relationship with his colleagues which might break if he actually submits the weekly reports. Some of the employees mays lose their jobs while others might get penalized as a result and the colleagues will always consider him as a back biter. If he fails employees would consider it absconding of duties and he might as well get fired with an excuse of failing to follow simple instructions. The element of trust between and Harshel and colleagues might be affected by the kind of decision he makes. Many of the workers would not share sensitive information with him considering the kind of scrutiny he does to them. The question of fairness seems a no-issue to the employers of this company. A fair employer would give the employees an opportunity to refresh their minds by allowing them to visits sites like entertainment social websites during their free time. Instead of acting blindly and following decisions recklessly there is always some options and alternatives that Harshel might consider in order to fair to everyone. For example instead of unwillingly going through someone logins he can plead with management to include an agreement in employment contract thats warns the employees about visiting certain site with work computers(Berleur, 2013). Alternatively, a program can be installed in the working computers to prevent people from for logging in into unwanted websites. Preventing workers from diverting their attention from work to other sites might increase productivity and competence of employees as concentration to the work will be high. The higher the productivity the more the revenue(Fogg, 2013). This could be fair to the employer as the will earn want they have actually worked for. Before Harshey should make any decision it would be wise to engage the stakeholders and let them express the views and opinions. Although opinion of various stakeholders may be biased to their advantage, some elements of the views can contribute to a more viable decision. Under the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act 1998 protects people and organizations from violation privacy(John Weckert, 2013). This decision is therefore not recognized by law. On the contrary, the company might have legal rights to access the personal information and emails of the employees to make sure that sensitive company information is not being disclosed. In some cases there might be unfair rules and laws but ultimately the rule of law reigns. Actually making this decision is a hard task that stands between the person and his job. Humanity is good morals and how one relates with other human beings. Ethics are always set to assist people deal with others within the law and morally(Leif Bloch Rasmussen, 2013). The decisions a person makes in life should remain as an example to others and help them live better lives. References Berleur, J. J. 2013. Ethics of Computing: Codes, Spaces for Discussion and Law. Berlin: Springer Science Business Media. Colin Boyd, A. C. 2012. Information Security and Privacy: 5th Australasian Conference, ACISP 2000, Brisbane, Australia, July 10-12, 2000, Proceedings. Berlin: Springer Science Business Media. Fogg, B. 2013. Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. Burlington: Morgan Kaufmann. John Weckert, R. L. 2013. Professionalism in the Information and Communication Technology Industry. Canberra: ANU E Press. Leif Bloch Rasmussen, C. B. 2013. Computers and Networks in the Age of Globalization: IFIP TC9 Fifth World Conference on Human Choice and Computers August 2528, 1998, Geneva, Switzerland. Berlin: Springer. Teofilo Gonzalez, J. D.-H. 2014 Computing Handbook, Third Edition: Computer Science and Software Engineering. Boca Raton: CRC Press.