To evolve a responsible profession for web
farming, we must struggle with the issues embodied within a Code of Ethics for Web
Farming. Here are an initial suggestion to initiate this discussion.
- Honesty: Exhibit the highest
standards for honesty, and competence.
- Accuracy: Strive for the highest
standards of accuracy and reliability within the information gathered and processed.
Verify the accuracy and reliability of external sources on a periodic basis.
- Openness: Create written policies
on the use of the web farming system through wide-spread discussion of the issues
- Enforcement: Stress the
importance of enforcing these policies by all persons involved.
- Legality: Comply with all
applicable laws and educate persons in the interpretation of those laws.
- Disclosure: Disclose the identity
of your system to all data sources and respond honestly to any request about the purpose
of data acquired.
- Restrictions: Abide by any
standards that restrict or limit access to web resources, such as robot exclusion
policies.
- Copyright: Track the usage of any
content that may be protected by copyright, request permission of the author to use this
content, and account for any royalty fees requested.
- Confidentiality: Respect the
confidential nature of any data with personal identifiers by limiting its disclosure.
Especially respect the confidentiality of any financial information about specific
persons.
- Security: Maintain appropriate
security safeguards to ensure the integrity and privacy of information, especially for
personal data.
- Notification: Inform any persons
for whom personal data has been collected.
- Choice: To the person affected,
offer a choice about whether and how personal data is gathered, analyzed, and
disseminated.
- Review: Review and revise this
code of ethics on a periodic basis, through discussions with the people involved with web
farming.
Your comments on the above suggestions are
appreciated via the discussion forum. |