Professional Ethics & Standards Flashcards

A developer's employer instructs them to collect more user data than is stated in the app's privacy policy to gain competitive intelligence. The developer should:

Answer: Refuse, as this violates user trust, privacy laws, and professional ethics

Collecting data beyond disclosed purposes violates GDPR, CCPA, and similar laws, as well as the ethical duty to respect user privacy and trust.

The practice of 'responsible disclosure' in cybersecurity ethics requires that a developer who finds a vulnerability in a third-party product should:

Answer: Notify the vendor privately and allow a reasonable time to patch before public disclosure

Responsible disclosure gives the affected vendor time to remediate a vulnerability before public exposure, balancing transparency with harm reduction.

Which behavior BEST reflects the ethical standard of 'accountability' in application development?

Answer: Taking ownership of defects introduced by one's code and working to resolve them

Accountability requires developers to accept responsibility for their code quality and actively contribute to defect resolution rather than deflecting blame.

A developer works on a safety-critical application and realizes they lack the expertise needed for a specific module. The ethical obligation is to:

Answer: Disclose the competence gap and request assistance or training before proceeding

Professional ethics requires transparency about competence gaps, especially in safety-critical systems, and seeking qualified assistance before proceeding.

Which of the following MOST accurately describes 'professional independence' as an ethical concept for application developers?

Answer: Providing objective technical judgments free from undue commercial or political pressure

Professional independence means that technical recommendations are based on merit and professional judgment, not on external pressures that compromise objectivity.

When a developer contributes to an open-source project on company time using company resources, the intellectual property created MOST likely belongs to:

Answer: The employing organization, unless otherwise agreed in writing

Work created using employer time and resources is typically considered work-for-hire belonging to the employer, unless an explicit written agreement states otherwise.

Under professional ethics standards, what is the MOST appropriate way to handle a situation where following company policy would require an action that violates a professional code of ethics?

Answer: Follow the professional code of ethics and escalate the policy conflict through proper channels

Professional codes of ethics represent broader obligations to the public and profession; when they conflict with company policy, the ethical path is adherence to the code and formal escalation of the conflict.