5 ms·

I'm a system administrator at a startup now going on 3-4 years. Having complete access and control over every piece of data in the company is a great responsibi

by chuhnk 16y ago

I'm a system administrator at a startup now going on 3-4 years. Having complete access and control over every piece of data in the company is a great responsibility. You are given a level of trust above and beyond anyone else. Misuse of your position and power is wrong and says a lot about the type of person you are.

tomjen3 16y ago
Absolutely. Maybe system administrators should have a swearing in ceremony in which they take an official oath to protect their users privacy, in front of their future colleagues? In practice it does little to change anything, but I imagine it would make quite an impression - especially if they where awarded a special system administrators badge afterwards as a sign of their commitment and agreement to honor the trust the people had shown them?
- jauer 16y ago
  Already exists, somewhat, in the SAGE Code of Ethis: http://www.sage.org/ethics/ http://www.sage.org/ethics/
  - tomjen3 16y ago
    Interesting, but ultimately too long, too wordy and too general. >I will avoid conflicts of interest and biases whenever possible. When my advice is sought, if I have a conflict of interest or bias, I will declare it if appropriate, and recuse myself if necessary. I count 6 excuses you could mentally use, just from the paragraph I quoted. In addition, you need something that is more tangible than just a piece of paper to hang on the wall. Preferably it should be something that would always be visible, and be a constant reminder of your duties and the trust that had been placed in your by the other people.
    - jauer 16y ago
      > In addition, you need something that is more tangible than just a piece of paper to hang on the wall. Preferably it should be something that would always be visible, and be a constant reminder of your duties and the trust that had been placed in your by the other people. A sysadmin clerical collar? Are there any professions besides priest (confession) where the worker has similar access to information?
- gaius 16y ago
  Yeah, sysadmins should be like doctors or priests :-)

by chuhnk 16y ago

tomjen3 16y ago

Absolutely. Maybe system administrators should have a swearing in ceremony in which they take an official oath to protect their users privacy, in front of their future colleagues? In practice it does little to change anything, but I imagine it would make quite an impression - especially if they where awarded a special system administrators badge afterwards as a sign of their commitment and agreement to honor the trust the people had shown them?

jauer 16y ago
Already exists, somewhat, in the SAGE Code of Ethis: http://www.sage.org/ethics/ http://www.sage.org/ethics/
- tomjen3 16y ago
  Interesting, but ultimately too long, too wordy and too general. >I will avoid conflicts of interest and biases whenever possible. When my advice is sought, if I have a conflict of interest or bias, I will declare it if appropriate, and recuse myself if necessary. I count 6 excuses you could mentally use, just from the paragraph I quoted. In addition, you need something that is more tangible than just a piece of paper to hang on the wall. Preferably it should be something that would always be visible, and be a constant reminder of your duties and the trust that had been placed in your by the other people.
  - jauer 16y ago
    > In addition, you need something that is more tangible than just a piece of paper to hang on the wall. Preferably it should be something that would always be visible, and be a constant reminder of your duties and the trust that had been placed in your by the other people. A sysadmin clerical collar? Are there any professions besides priest (confession) where the worker has similar access to information?
gaius 16y ago
Yeah, sysadmins should be like doctors or priests :-)