The manufacturing department has developed a new technology to enable a specific feature users have requested for a long time. Unfortunately, the technology cannot operate without causing the electromagnetic fields from cell phone towers to increase beyond legal limits. While this feature has not been possible for the past few years, competitors will likely beat you to the market if you wait until you can approach the legal limits. One manager suggests changing the software on the devices to detect when the regulatory tests are happening and modify their behavior to prevent the electromagnetic field from increasing.
What do you do?
- Wait until the technology is available, without test detection software, and risk being beaten to market
- Begin development of the test detection software
- Indecisive
A deadline is fast approaching for a project you are working on. You realize that you cannot meet the deadline if you work only during normal hours. You are not allowed to take your computer out of the office.
What do you do?
- Stay at work longer in order to continue development
- Download the data onto a personal hard drive so you can continue development at home
- Indecisive
Your company is struggling to enter a lucrative market dominated by a single competitor. While trying to figure out how to import data from that competitor's website, you discover a serious vulnerability that would allow an exploiter to easily access all of the competitor's customer information.
What do you do with the bug information?
- Report the information to the competitor
- Say nothing about the bug to the competitor
- Indecisive
Your company has been collecting anonymous usage statistics for your products for many years, but recently has struggled to acquire new users, causing the company to consider scaling back operations. Seeing your company struggling and knowing the value of your customers' data, an advertising company approaches you to use your company's user data to improve its advertising recommendations. Your privacy policy does not explicitly mention selling user data to others, but refusing this offer can result in employees being fired. You are responsible for this decision.
What do you do?
- Refuse the advertising company's offer
- Sign a contract with the advertising company
- Indecisive
To protect against unauthorized use of your software, your company has incorporated an automatic shutdown switch that prevents it from running after a specific period. An intensive care unit at the local hospital started using your software a year ago. The unit has not paid any of its bills, and the shutoff switch is about to trigger. If the kill switch remains in place, the hospital will not be able to function because critical equipment will be disabled. You can remove the switch for the hospital.
What do you do?
- Edit the software to remove the off switch
- Do nothing, allowing the switch to remain operative
- Indecisive
While reviewing a software specification that your company has just been contracted to create, your team discovers a major flaw that could potentially affect the customer. Your company has spent the last year trying to negotiate this lucrative contract. Your managers do not want to tell the customer about it because it could further prolong the negotiations.
What do you do?
- Informs the customer about the issue
- Does not tell the client about the issue
- Indecisive
You are on a team tasked with maintaining critical software for a customer's financial system. During testing, you discover a critical bug that has been present for a long time. While you fix it, your manager does not want to inform the customer for fear that he might doubt your company's competence.
What do you do?
- Inform the customer about the bug
- Don't tell the customer about the bug
- Indecisive
You have been the point of contact within your company for all projects related to a specific client. One day, you receive a message in your personal email from that client requesting your services to be paid as a contractor on a project completely unrelated to all the previous work they have requested with the company.
What do you do?
- Notify your manager about the request
- Accept the client's work
- Indecisive
Rumor has it that your former employer is the lead for a new software product that could be an industry breakthrough. On the morning of the beginning of your third week in your current job, you receive the following memo from the president: Please meet me tomorrow at 8:15 to discuss the developments that your former employer has made in this new area.
What do you do?
- Tell the president that you will not discuss the matter
- Meet with the president knowing the purpose of the discussion
- Indecisive
The company is currently being sued by a customer who claims to have been injured by one of the company's products. In your development tasks, you discover a piece of your company's open-sourced code that has not been analyzed for years. You find a way to affect the customer's personal injury claim. There is a large sum of money at stake and the company is currently in good shape to win the case.
What do you do?
- Not revealing the information to the customer
- Disclose the information to the customer
- Indecisive
As you are leaving your office for an extremely important project with a potential new client, you hear the administrative assistant say, "If John calls, please see that he calls home, his spouse says there is a mini-crisis". You are to meet John at the client's office, and the two of you are to make a presentation (pitch). John's participation is crucial. John is quite nervous and often gives a bad impression if distracted.
What do you do?
- Not tell John about the situation before the meeting
- Tell John about the situation before the meeting
- Indecisive
Machine learning models perform tasks for which they are trained. When developing an autonomous learning system, an inaccuracy was noticed, resulting in discrimination involving a group representing 6.2% of the population where the model will be applied. However, the system has already been approved by the CEO and COO of the company due to the good performance results obtained.
What do you do?
- Evidence a lack of accuracy in presenting the model on its own
- Since the decision making is not yours, you deliver the model as approved
- Indecisive
You have the opportunity to create a next-generation model that will help promote and preserve the mental health of millions of people and may even cure milder mental disorders. However, this model will harm, to a lesser extent, individuals with serious disorders (e.g., suicidal tendencies, overwhelming fear of social interaction, etc.) since the difficulty in social interaction could aggravate these individuals.
What do you do?
- Does not develop the model, since, even though it will help mankind considerably, it may incur life risks for a small portion of the population
- Develop the model, since it will help millions of people and the number of individuals harmed would be less
- Indecisive
You were hired to enhance the appointment scheduling software for a medical clinic. During the development process, you learn that the personal data collected is encrypted by an insecure hash (SHA1). You can enhance the system by changing the hash used to a more robust version (SHA 256). However, this does not change the fact that the personal data of this clinic's clients was relatively unprotected during the time the system was being used. Improving the encryption protocol used will require a development and testing period equivalent to (approximately) 1 month. During this time, this clinic's data will be vulnerable.
What do you do?
- Advises that those in charge of the clinic notify their clients, and temporarily remove their application from the air
- Proposes that the upgrade of the encryption protocol (SHA1 to SHA 256) be done during the next month, without this being disclosed to the clinic's clients
- Indecisive
You have developed an AI-based motion program for a factory robot that transports heavy materials. Two months into the test operation, no abnormalities were identified. One month after the test operation (now in production), the robot runs over a pregnant employee, resulting in her death. The technical report indicates problems with the robot's sensor calibration program. This poor calibration originates in the source code and data used during testing.
What do you do?
- You take no responsibility for the accident
- You decide to take responsibility for the accident
- Indecisive
Your team has been working on a mobile application that tracks the user's location to provide personalized recommendations for nearby restaurants and events. However, your team recently discovered a way to collect additional data points, such as the user's contacts, browsing history, and social media activity, which could greatly enhance the app's functionality and revenue potential.
What do you do?
- Advocate for transparently informing the users about the additional data collection and asking for their explicit consent
- Refuse to collect the additional data, citing privacy concerns and potential backlash from the public
- Indecisive
From "Insufficient" to "Extensive", how would you describe your ethical training in dealing with situations of the kind experienced in the dilemmas presented in our survey?
- Insufficient
- Below Average
- Average
- Above Average
- Extensive
Regarding the following statement: "Codes of Ethics have a necessary importance in the practice of IT-professions.", indicate your level of agreement.
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree
Respecting others, even those who I don't like or agree with, is very important to me.
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree
Being responsible and accountable, even when I have to admit that I'm wrong or have errored, is very important to me.
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree
Being honest, fair, and maintaining integrity, even when it might put me at a disadvantage, is very important to me.
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree
I strive to be competent in my areas of personal or professional expertise and am the first to admit it when I am not and have fallen short.
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree
I feel a great deal of compassion for others, even those whom I don't know or have few things in common with.
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree
I have clear ethical guiding principles that I keep in mind and follow at all times.
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree
It is more important for me to behave ethically than to get an advantage in life.
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree
I never take advantage of others and am truthful in my relationships and interactions even when it might put me at a disadvantage.
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree
I would not be embarrassed if all of my actions were filmed and played back for others to see and evaluate.
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree
I typically ask myself what the right thing to do is from an ethical or moral perspective before making decisions
- I strongly disagree
- I disagree
- Nothing to state
- I agree
- I strongly agree