Code 2018

Code 2018 Project

The current ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (The Code) was adopted in 1992. Much has changed since then, and The Code needs to be updated to reflect shifts in both technology and society. The ACM has convened a task force of stakeholders from many organizations to produce an update of the Code, expected to be presented to ACM Council for adoption in spring 2018.

The 2018 Code is meant to be an update of the 1992 code, not a wholesale revision. We are particularly concerned about possible blind spots or anachronisms that may have resulted from changes in technology or the profession since 1992.

Status Update

Draft 3 of the 2018 Code has been published in the January 2018 edition of the Communications of the ACM. A survey of ACM members is under way. There is also an open discussion forum at code2018.acm.org/discuss.

This is the final open comment period for the 2018 version of the Code. Make your voice heard ASAP!

Review Information

The following documents should allow you to compare the current draft of the 2018 version of the Code to the 1992 version.

  1. New: DRAFT 3, 2018 ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, for comment.
  2. DRAFT 2, 2018 ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.
  3. DRAFT 1, 2018 ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, for comparison/reference.
  4. The 1992 ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, for comparison/reference.
  5. New: Annotated diff between Draft 2 and Draft 3 of the 2018 Code.
  6. Annotated diff between Draft 1 and Draft 2 of the 2018 Code.
  7. Annotated diff between the 1992 Code and Draft 1 of the 2018 Code.

Project Organization and Task Force Members

Ultimate authority for The Code rests with the ACM Council. The Committee on Professional Ethics (COPE) serves as an advisory body for the ACM Council, and has been charged with coordinating a task force that will draft an update to the code. COPE has been instructed to recruit a task force consisting of experts in the field as well as experts in ethics, governance, and law.

Code 2018 Executive Committee (Members of COPE)

Don Gotterbarn, Chair; Bo Brinkman, Catherine Flick, Keith Miller, Marty Wolf, Kate Vazansky

External Task Force

Industry

  • Eve Andersson – Google
  • Peter Norvig – Google
  • Mary L Gray – Microsoft
  • Scott Buck – Intel

International Representation

  • Penny Duquenoy – BCS IT Ethic, IFIP TC 9.2.2
  • Kai Kimppa – Finnish Information Processing Society
  • Martin Warnke – Deutsche Gesellschaft fűr Informatic  
  • Xiaosheng Tan – Chinese Computer Federation

ACM

International

  • Andrew McGettrick – ACM Europe
  • Shrawan Kumar – ACM Europe

Boards and SIGS

  • Natasa Milic-Frayling – ACM-W
  • Andrew McGettrick and Paul Tymann – Ed Board
  • Brenda Byer – Practitioner’s Board
  • Lorraine G. Kisselburgh and Jeremy Epstein – USACM
  • Amy Bruckman – SIG CHI
  • Tom Stafford – SIG MIS
  • Ayman Shamma – SIG MM
  • Julia Stoyanovich – SIG MOD
  • Michael D Bailey – SIG SAC  
  • Jane Cleland-Huang – SIG SOFT

Individual Specialists

  • Ron Anderson
  • Kevin Bowyer
  • Michael Davis
  • Gene Spafford
  • Les Waguespack

ACM Committee on Professional Ethics

  • Florence Appel
  • Karla Carter
  • Fran Grodzinsky
  • Michael S. Kirkpatrick
  • Anthony Lobo
  • Denise Oram
  • Simon Rogerson

Timeline (tentative)

  • May 2016 – The Executive Committee of COPE met in Oxford, Ohio to kick off the project
  • September 2016 – Task Force membership finalized, material circulated to task force for first round of input. Public invitation for comment posted in Communications of the ACM and SIGCAS Newsletter.
  • December 1, 2016 – Publication of Draft 1 of update, beginning of public response period for first draft
  • May 1, 2017 – Publication of Draft 2 of update, beginning of public response period
  • June 5, 2017 – End of Second Draft response period
  • June, 2017 – Consider responses to draft 2 and develop draft 3
  • August 10-11, 2017 – Executive committee meeting
  • December 1, 2017 – Publication of Draft 3 of update, beginning of public response period
  • January 15, 2018 – End of Third Draft response period
  • February, 2018 – Develop final draft
  • June, 2018 – Final draft presented to ACM Council
  • July 1, 2018 – Tentative publication of adopted 2018 version of the Code
  • July, 2018 – Development of supporting materials and case studies

Links to Related Articles

  • Bo Brinkman, Catherine Flick, Don Gotterbarn, Keith Miller, Kate Vazansky, Marty J. Wolf. 2017. Listening to Professional Voices: Draft 2 of the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Commun. of the ACM 60, 5 (May 2017), 105-111. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3072528
  • Marty J. Wolf. 2016. The ACM code of ethics: a call to action. Commun. ACM 59, 12 (December 2016), 6-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3012934
  • Bo Brinkman, Don Gotterbarn, Keith Miller, and Marty J. Wolf. 2016. Making a positive impact: updating the ACM code of ethics. Commun. ACM 59, 12 (December 2016), 7-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3015149
  • Bo Brinkman, Don Gotterbarn, Keith W. Miller, and Marty J. Wolf. 2016. All hands on deck for ACM Ethics: updating the Code, revising enforcement, promoting integrity. SIGCAS Comput. Soc. 46, 3 (December 2016), 5-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3024949.3024950
  • Don Gotterbarn. 2016. THINKING PROFESSIONALLY: Codes of ethics—: the conscience of a profession: connecting technology and society. ACM Inroads 7, 4 (November 2016), 33-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3003437