AS · Practice questions · Ethics and professional codes of conduct

Duty first.

Six original Cambridge-style questions on professional ethics and codes of conduct, with mark points.

Original questions All questions on this page are original work, written in the Cambridge AS & A Level style. They are not from past papers. They test the same concepts and skills the syllabus rewards.

Keep these straight

Who, which duty, what happens.

Ethics: moral principles about right and wrong; they go beyond the law.
Bodies: BCS and IEEE publish codes of conduct, offer recognised status and CPD, and discipline members.
BCS duties: public interest, professional competence and integrity, relevant authority, the profession.
Scenarios: name the stakeholders, the duty involved, and the consequences of both the ethical and the unethical choice.

Explain

[2 marks]

Explain why a computing professional needs to act ethically.

Their software can affect large numbers of people, including their safety, money and privacy. ✓
Clients and the public cannot easily check the work, so they must be able to trust the professional's honesty and competence. ✓

Recall

[2 marks]

Name two professional ethical bodies that a computing professional could join.

BCS (British Computer Society, The Chartered Institute for IT). ✓
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) (or ACM). ✓

Explain

[4 marks]

Describe two benefits to a computing professional of joining a professional ethical body.

A code of conduct ... ✓
... gives guidance on how to behave when faced with an ethical dilemma. ✓
Recognised membership or qualification (e.g. CITP) ... ✓
... shows employers and clients that they meet a professional standard, so they are trusted (or: CPD keeps skills up to date; networking gives access to expert advice). ✓

Apply

[4 marks]

A software tester discovers that a banking app sometimes shows customers other people's account balances. Her manager tells her not to report it because the launch is next week. Explain the impact of the tester acting ethically and acting unethically.

Ethical: she reports the fault so it is fixed before launch; customers' privacy is protected. ✓
Impact: the launch may be delayed and the manager may be annoyed, but the bank keeps customers' trust and obeys the law. ✓
Unethical: she stays silent; customers' private data is exposed to others. ✓
Impact: the bank could face fines and lawsuits under data protection law and lose customers; the tester could lose her job or professional membership. ✓

Analysis

[3 marks]

A programmer writes software for a company and then takes a copy of the source code to use in his own business. Identify three ways in which he has acted unethically.

He has broken the duty to his employer (relevant authority) by misusing the employer's property. ✓
He has broken confidentiality: the code is the employer's confidential information. ✓
He has been dishonest, lacking integrity, and has likely broken copyright law and his contract (and damaged the profession's reputation). ✓

Explain

[2 marks]

Explain why acting legally is not always the same as acting ethically, using an example from computing.

The law sets a minimum standard and may not cover new technology; ethics are moral principles that go further. ✓
Example: collecting more personal data than an app needs, with consent hidden in long terms, may be legal but is unethical (or any valid example). ✓

Mark this once you have attempted all six and checked your working. It records a Practiced badge on the topic and adds a one-time bonus. Revealing the solutions alone does not count.