Confidentiality for Engineers

---

• The Responsibility for Safety and the Obligation to Preserve Client Confidentiality Tenants sue their building's owner, and the owner employs an engineer who finds structural defects not mentioned in the tenant's lawsuit. Conflicting issues involve public safety versus client confidentiality.
• Code Violations with Safety Implication An engineer discovers deficiencies in a building's electrical and mechanical systems. It would breach client confidentiality (and the contract) to report them to a third party, but the engineer also has a responsibility to public safety.
• Whistleblowing City Engineer An engineer privately informs other city officials of an environmental threat, a problem her supervisor has ordered her not to disclose. The engineer is taken from the case, but is still advising another technician on the situation. The engineer has an obligation to both the supervisor of the company and to the public for the environmental health of the residents.
• Case 76-4: Public Welfare, Knowledge of Information Damaging to Client's Interest Engineer confronted with choice between honoring an agreement to his employer or reporting hazardous information to protect the public interest.
• Case 77-7: Obligation to Write Letter of Recommendation for Other Engineers The Board of Ethical Review (BER) discusses the nature of obligations to write letters of recommendation and the value of professional society membership in one engineer's regard of another.
• Case 77-11: Supplanting, Promotion of Work by Former Employees A group of engineers leave their employer to start their own firm. As the new firm contacts clients from their former employer, each firm casts doubt on the capability of the other firm to provide competent services.
• Case 82-5: Whistleblowing Defense engineer's objections to a subcontractor's poor performance are ignored and silenced by management. The BER addresses what ethical and professional responsibilities the engineer faces.
• Case 85-6: Engineer's Disclosure of Potential Conflict of Interest Engineer discloses a potential conflict of his interests with his client's.
• Case 92-4: Public Welfare, Duty of Government Engineer Engineer defies immediate supervisor because he believes supervisor's instruction would pose an environmental health hazard.
• Case 92-6: Public Welfare, Hazardous Waste Public welfare risks now come from a private employee at his supervisor's orders to protect the client's interest. Ethical issues are similar to 92-4.
• Advice from Ethics and the TIer: Proprietary Information and Sensitive Information Protecting and Monitoring the use of electronic data processing.
• Articles from Ethics and the TIer: Privacy, Confidentiality & telephone Use. TI policies and practices regarding telephone monitoring clarified.
• Articles from Ethics and the TIer: Individual Privacy. It is a private matter.
• How to deal with sensitive competitive information if gained accidentally Sensitive information belonging to another company must never be solicited or accepted by a TIer unless we have an appropriate signed document, such as a non-disclosure agreement. But what if we receive that information accidentally through no intent or effort on our own?
• "After Hours" Security Searches Help TI Safeguard Sensitive Information TI and the government are both very concerned over information security--particularly in high security areas. Violations have occurred in the past and TI must do whatever is necessary to maintain compliance.
• Professional Secrecy is given in the Code of Ethics of Quebec Engineers of the Order of Quebec Engineers (OIQ).
• Using Company Resources. XYZ Corporation permits its employees to borrow company tools. Engineer Al House took full advantage of this privilege. He went one step further and ordered tools for his unit that would be useful for his home building projects even though they were of no significant use to his unit at XYZ.

---

Back to Topics Index