On the other hand, employers have a legitimate interest in taking measures to protect their assets. The case study mentions there have been a number of thefts of materials. Covert surveillance is often the most effective means of detecting unlawful activity.
The case study explains that Alfred and software house are “currently in a bit of a “slump”’ I am assuming that this means that the business is not doing to well at this point in time and may also be having from some financial problems. Therefore they need all the business they can get to get through this bad patch. Alfred’s company feel that if they make a success of this project they could gain more business in the future and prevent the company from going bankrupt.
Moving on from these issues and concerns there are a number of possible actions Alfred can take. One possible action Alfred could take would be to not act all and nothing or go along with whatever decision the company makes. After all I am assuming that Alfred is not part of management department in his company and therefore is not required to make the final decisions. It seems more likely that he is a systems developer, or possibly even a contractor or even a student. Alfred may be under pressure from the company and may feel it is not his place to say anything about the lack of policies in the contract. By going along with his company blindly, this may be his way of showing loyalty towards the company and the project. this could work in favour of Alfred. This could mean that he is recommended first for future projects with the company and given more opportunities to carry out other projects. This would be an advantage to Alfred.
In my opinion Alfred should not accept the contract on these grounds as the contract was rushed and no formalities have been drawn up. Also in the long term if the employees suspect they are under surveillance they may take industrial action which will loose business. On the other hand if this one of the options that Alfred decides to take the consequences of his actions could be quite sever for all parties concerned.
It is the duty of every Software practitioner to do their job with due consideration for all the people involved. They have obligations to all parties concerned; this meaning users, clients, the clients employees and of course their own organization for which they work (Gotterbarn, 1991). Therefore Alfred and his company must act responsibly for all legal, ethical and efficiently in acting in their profession.
Professional Codes of Practise
A professional body enforces codes of conduct on its members as it is an effective way to regulate the profession. In the information profession there are a lot of bodies. In my report I will focus on the following professional bodies: - The British Computer Society (BCS) and the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE). However when applying the codes of conduct I will following the codes of the BCS as I am making the assumption that Alfred and his software house are part of this professional body since he is a software engineer he and the software house would be part of the British Computer Society. The BCS Code of Conduct details are in the Appendix of the reference 6.1.2 (pp 352-354).
Applying the BCS codes of conduct.
- Conflicts of interest
There is a conflict of interest here as Alfred needs to make sure that he is not violating clauses 3 and 4 of the BCS. To satisfy clause 3, Alfred needs to employ a sub-contractor to install surveillance system or have sufficient knowledge prior to accepting the contract.
In clause 4 it discusses basic human rights. This regulation clashes with the surveillance system as I have made the assumption that the employees are not aware of the surveillance being implemented and this will affect basic human rights.
- Duty to the Profession
In clause 16 Alfred would need to have a meeting with the trade unions to make sure it does not cause any conflict with the workers rights. Hence if Alfred does go ahead with the contract he would have to act with integrity when talking to them.
- Professional competence and integrity.
On this issue I will take clauses 20 and 22. Alfred and his company only have knowledge of software and hence he would need to make it clear that a subcontract may be installing the CCTV.
I have made the assumption that the employees are not aware they will be watched. In accordance with the Workplace surveillance Act 2005, requires employees to be notified of any overt surveillance that is to be conducted for security purposes.
It is a breach of the Act for an employer to carry out open video surveillance if the following has not occurred:
- At least 14 days notice has been given to employees of surveillance.
- The majority of employees have agreed to the video surveillance.
- Warning signs are placed in the workplace indicating that video cameras are in use.
However as it states in the case study there has been a number of thefts in the company the client could have received authority from a magistrate before they can carry out covert surveillance and it must be solely for the purpose of establishing whether or not an employee is involved in any unlawful activity. A magistrate must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect the employee is engaged in unlawful activity. Failure to do these things can be a breach of the Act and expose an employer to a criminal charge.
Also where will the cameras be placed? Under this act surveillance is prohibited in change rooms or bathrooms.
Data Protection
What is the Data Protection Act?
The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates the holding and processing of personal data, that is information relating to living individuals of any age. Its purpose is to ensure that personal information (personal data) is not processed without the knowledge and, except in certain cases, the consent of the data subject, to ensure that personal data which is processed is accurate, to enforce a set of principles for the processing of such information and to provide a general right of access to the individuals about whom the personal data relates. The Act covers data held in manual files as well as computer files.
The factory manager must make certain that the data will processed lawfully and for precise purposes only. The consultant needs to make sure that the information obtained is precise and up-to-date. When an employee leaves the factory the information kept on their file must be removed. The information must be kept secure to prevent it falling in the wrong hands.
The case study does not say how long the data will be held. In accordance with the second principle of the data protection act the data must only be kept for a limited amount of time so this is in breach of the data protection act.
Another principle of the data protect act that can affect the client is the data quality principle. So it is imperative that the camera positioning is correct as this could lead to misleading information. This will also affect the client if they have the camera maintained.
What will the surveillance data be used for to prosecute employees for theft of materials or disciplinary action?
Conclusion
After analysing the case study I would say that Alfred needs to make some very important changes to the contract. Although the company is in a “slump” it is imperative to discuss the formalities before jumping in to the decision. They may regret the decision later on if there is court case then the company will have to face the consequences.
As if the project is not a success it will look bad for the business. The ethical and legal issues need to be sorted before the project can go ahead.
Another thing which has not been discussed is that Alfred is a software practitioner so in theory his company will have to employ another company to install the surveillance system which has not been discussed in the case study.
Lastly if Alfred changes the formalities and the project is a success the company will benefit. However it is a lot of hard work and the policies and issues need to be cleared up before accepting the contract.
References
Websites:-
1. Brunel Library. Searching individual conference proceedings [www], 2005. Available from: http://intranet.brunel.ac.uk/library/subjects/information/resources.html [Accessed 11th November 2005]
2. ACM Library. Searching individual conference proceedings regarding CCTV surveillance and the data protection act and professional codes of conduct and practice [www], 2005. Available from: http://portal.acm.org/dl.cfm?coll=portal&dl=ACM&CFID=59500864&CFTOKEN=78764443 [Accessed 11th November 2005]
3. IEE Library. Searching individual conference proceedings regarding CCTV surveillance and the data protection act [www], 2005. Available from:
[Accessed 11th November 2005]
4. BCS Regarding the professional codes and conduct and ethics [www], 2005. Available from: www.bcs.org/bcs [Accessed 11th November 2005]
5. Information Commissioner CCTV Small User Checklist [www], Sept 2000. Available from: www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk [Accessed 12th November 2005]
6. Gotterbarn, D. (1991): Ethical considerations in software engineering. In: Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Software engineering, 1991, Austin, Texas, United States. Pages: 266 - 274
7. British Computer Society (2005): About the BCS. British Computer Society website.
URL: (29/10/05)
8. British Computer Society (2005): BCS Code of Conduct. British Computer Society website.
URL: (29/10/05)
9. Information Commissioners Office (2002): CCTV Small User checklist.
URL: (29/10/05)
Books:-
1. Allen, R (ed.), Delahuunty, A (ed.) (2002) Oxford Student's Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press pp 187,349,802, 994, 1062, appendix.
2. Bott F, Coleman A, Eaton J, and Rowland D (2001), Professional Issues in Software Engineering, 3rd Edn, Taylor & Francis, pp1-37, 316-344, 352-354
3. Basse, S. (2003) A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal and Ethical Issues for Computers and the Internet, 2nd Edn, NJ: Prentice Hall
4. P.M Heathcote, K.R. Bond, (1997), A-level Co
