ACM Updates Code of Ethics for Computer Pros

Does your company's most recent software development project make you feel uncomfortable? The ACM is helping technology workers and leaders navigate tricky ethics questions. Google plans to end its work on Project Maven, a US Department of Defense drone imaging and AI program. Google told employees about the decision in early June after several employees had already quit the company in protest. The case raises an important question. Do IT workers, software developers, and other technology professionals have a moral or ethical obligation to society that goes beyond their allegiance to their employers? If employees do have an issue with something their employer does, do they have any recourse? That's among the types of questions that the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) hopes to address with an update to its code of ethics. The organization last updated its code of ethics in 1992 a very long time ago indeed when it comes to how far computer and software development has evolved. For instance, the first line-mode web browser (forget about any cat videos) was launched in 1992.