ES2.2 Ethical choices cannot be avoided.

Many students think that ethical choices are irrelevant to a computer science or engineering discipline, and that it is their job simply to do their assigned work tasks. Careful ethical thought involves recognizing that moral responsibility is an important aspect of computer technology and cannot be abandoned by choice. Courts of law, the military code, and many professional societies' codes do not allow voluntary moral retreat, and computing professionals should be aware of its dangers. We enter the realm of ethical choice in system development any time we make decisions that affect people. Ethical reflection should begin with the assumption that all design and implementation involves value choices.