Bringing Your Own Software to Work (TI)

This pages contains a selection of advice from The Ethics Office at Texas Instruments Corporation.

The advice is that of either TI Ethics Director Carl Skooglund or Glenn Coleman, Manager of Ethics Communication and Education. The articles were distributed among TI employees via TNEWS.

Use of personally owned software on TI computers

More on using personally owned software on TI computer equipment

Article Number 229: Use of personally owned software on TI computers

Many of us use personally owned software on our TI computing equipment, that is software owned by an individual, not TI. There are several legal and ethical issues to consider.

An interesting question came to us on the Ethics communications line recently and in asking around my work area, I found the issue to be more common than I originally thought. Is there a policy regarding the use of personally owned software on TI computer equipment doing TI business? Are there any ethical issues involved?

This issue is only partially addressed in several TI policies, so here are some guidelines and some considerations:

1. The software does not contain a virus.
2. You delete the software from your TI computer equipment before it is transferred to another or you are transferred or depart TI.
3. The vendor of the software allows you to use the software on TI equipment and your home computer at the same time (and most vendors do).

From the ethics point of view, several questions arise

1. If it enhances my job performance, why doesn't TI purchase the software?
2. If it doesn't enhance my job performance, why do I use it? (And there may be some logical answers to that question.)
3. Is there any pressure on me from my management to personally purchase this software?
4. Can I use this software openly, or would I prefer that my co-workers and manager did not know about it? Recall the issues of pornographic wallpaper and the playing of computer games (Articles 174, 199).

There may be no clear answers to these questions, but perhaps these thoughts and guidelines will lead you to a good personal decision. And if you still need help in your decision, ask your manager or supervisor. If you are not comfortable in asking, that should be a clear sign to you that using your personally owned software is probably inappropriate.

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Article Number 231: More on using personally owned software on TI computer equipment

We received some good comments regarding the article on using personally owned software on TI computing equipment: This would not be an issue if I used this tool for work at home. Why should I not use it to do my work at work?

I am unsure why this would even be an issue--we are assumed to be professionals in TI, and my bringing my own resources to optimize both my and TI's effectiveness would seem to be completely ethical and in the best interests of all concerned.

How can I justify having TI purchase [this piece of personally owned software] when I may use it only once a month? For that it is not cost effective. But by having it at my fingertips, I can do very complex calculus and algebra without worrying about dropping a minus sign or forgetting some obscure simplification rule. On those days it makes me much more productive and accurate than if I would do it by hand.

Loading software can cause problems on your computer because it can change system files which set your startup paths, etc. I am responsible for systems support in our area and have spent time "fixing" problems that loading non-standard software caused.

The software being loaded is not necessarily for work purposes, i.e. personal investment software, tax software. Most personal software I've seen (besides wallpaper/screensavers) is not for work.

The supervisor usually does not care how you get your job done as long as you get the job done well (quality) and quickly (ethically of course). Those employees who find the tools to enhance their productivity do it. In addition they do not have to waste a lot of time on justifications as to why this cost is necessary, what are the projected time improvements, how much will it cost, where can you purchase it, etc.

I run a large number of experiments on options for improving our computing infrastructure to support engineering in [my group]. I, and a number of my friends, bring in personally owned software to evaluate how well it will perform in the TI environment. Doing so helps both me . . . I am able to run these experiments more quickly . . . and TI: there is no cost to TI for running these experiments.

It is not always realistic to assume that the person will delete the software when leaving that position. This can cause problems for the next person to use the computer.

If the software is commercially available, TIers may be asked by the auditor to show the original diskettes. It is reasonable that the user may be asked to bring them within a reasonable time to show management or the auditor. If the software is "freeware" then proof would be necessary.

And we were provided the following list of SP&Ps that might impact your decision regarding the use of personally owned software

• SP&P 10-03-01: EDP Security, Paragraph No. 23: USE OF NON-TI OWNED, LEASED, OR OPERATED SOFTWARE AND EQUIPMENT.
• Requires: (1) the user's supervisor to approve the use of personally owned software, (2) the usage of such software must be in accordance with copyright laws and software licensing agreement; (3) all such software shall be scanned for viruses; (4) such usage is not for personal financial gain or the gain of any other organization other than TI.
• SP&P 10-02-03: PERSONAL COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE STANDARDS.
• Provides policy for the acquisition and use of a standard set of PC products to include software.
• SP&P 10-01-05: USE OF PERSONALLY-OWNED AND TI-OWNED COMPUTER AND COMMUNICATION RESOURCES.
• Policy statement reads: TI computer and communication resources and/or facilities are to be used solely for the purpose of conducting TI business except for limited situations authorized by TI management permitting access to particular data for personal purposes (e.g. 'T NEWS'). It is TI policy to provide the necessary computing equipment and software to meet the work assignment needs of each employee.
• SP&P 11-04-08: USE OF TI EMPLOYEES OR ASSETS TO PERFORM PERSONAL WORK
• Allows the incidental personal use of TI clerical equipment, word processors, typewriters and the like, so long as it does not interfere with the conduct of TI business activity.
• SP&P 04-04-03: SECURITY RULES FOR SAFEGUARDING GOVERNMENT CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. There are security issues involved regarding the use of all software used on classified contracts. One must consult with the appropriate security department for guidance.

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