Morality and the Software Architect

The author poses the question:is there a moral dimension to developing software? Should software architects have a professional code of ethics? As Bjarne Stroustrup has pointed out, our civilization runs on software. We as a professional community have developed technology that has changed the way individuals live, businesses operate, communities interact, and nations and civilizations thrive and expand. At that level of abstraction, a moral dimension is undoubtedly at play: when our technology touches the activities of the human spirit, then questions of social responsibility, individual rights, and goodness of fit to the moral atmosphere of the surrounding community come alive. Should we enable technology that allows tracking an individual´s activities to a high degree of fidelity? Should we permit unfettered access to all information? On the other hand, should we allow complete digital anonymity? Should the transport and storage of bits be an essentially free utility? These, and many other questions, are rooted in technology, which by itself is neither good nor evil; it´s the use of that technology that brings us to the moral dimension.