Confidentiality Non-Applicability to Public Danger Disclosure Invoked Against Peer Review Confidentiality Agreement
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/181#Confidentiality_Non-Applicability_to_Public_Danger_Disclosure_Invoked_Against_Peer_Review_Confidentiality_Agreement
Properties
Instance of
ConfidentialityNon-ApplicabilitytoPublicDangerDisclosure
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#ConfidentialityNon-ApplicabilitytoPublicDangerDisclosure
Applied to
Engineer B's design work potentially violating state and local safety code requirements
Balancing with
Peer Review Confidentiality Agreement Obligation
Concrete expression
The confidentiality agreement Engineer A signed does not bar Engineer A from advising proper authorities of the apparent danger to public health and welfare arising from Engineer B's work that may violate state and local safety codes, because such disclosure serves the public welfare purpose of the ethics code
Confidence
0.95
Importance
high
Interpretation
The confidentiality obligation that supports the peer review program does not extend to shielding public safety hazards from disclosure to authorities; the ethics code's public welfare purpose supersedes the contractual confidentiality arrangement in this respect
Invoked by
Engineer A Peer Review Safety Violation Discovering Engineer
Tension resolution
Confidentiality does not apply to protect public dangers; therefore disclosure to authorities after failed internal resolution is ethically permissible and required
Source Evidence
Source text
While confidentiality is an important ethical value, as a licensed professional engineer, Engineer A's paramount responsibility is to protect the public health and safety.
Text references
On the one hand, the engineer has an obligation not to disclose confidential information concerning the business affairs or technical processes of any present or former client without their consent.
On the other hand, Engineer A, having knowledge of any alleged violation of the Code of Ethics, has an obligation to cooperate with the proper authorities in furnishing such information or assistance as may be required.
While confidentiality is an important ethical value, as a licensed professional engineer, Engineer A's paramount responsibility is to protect the public health and safety.
TTL
@prefix case181: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/181#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
case181:Confidentiality_Non-Applicability_to_Public_Danger_Disclosure_Invoked_Against_Peer_Review_Confidentiality_Agreement a proeth:ConfidentialityNon-ApplicabilitytoPublicDangerDisclosure,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Confidentiality Non-Applicability to Public Danger Disclosure Invoked Against Peer Review Confidentiality Agreement" ;
proeth:appliedto "Engineer B's design work potentially violating state and local safety code requirements" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Peer Review Confidentiality Agreement Obligation" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "The confidentiality agreement Engineer A signed does not bar Engineer A from advising proper authorities of the apparent danger to public health and welfare arising from Engineer B's work that may violate state and local safety codes, because such disclosure serves the public welfare purpose of the ethics code" ;
proeth:confidence "0.95" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "181" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T09:15:02.559197+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "181" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T09:15:02.559197+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "The confidentiality obligation that supports the peer review program does not extend to shielding public safety hazards from disclosure to authorities; the ethics code's public welfare purpose supersedes the contractual confidentiality arrangement in this respect" ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer A Peer Review Safety Violation Discovering Engineer" ;
proeth:principleclass "Confidentiality Non-Applicability to Public Danger Disclosure" ;
proeth:sourcetext "While confidentiality is an important ethical value, as a licensed professional engineer, Engineer A's paramount responsibility is to protect the public health and safety." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Confidentiality does not apply to protect public dangers; therefore disclosure to authorities after failed internal resolution is ethically permissible and required" ;
proeth:textreferences "On the one hand, the engineer has an obligation not to disclose confidential information concerning the business affairs or technical processes of any present or former client without their consent.",
"On the other hand, Engineer A, having knowledge of any alleged violation of the Code of Ethics, has an obligation to cooperate with the proper authorities in furnishing such information or assistance as may be required.",
"While confidentiality is an important ethical value, as a licensed professional engineer, Engineer A's paramount responsibility is to protect the public health and safety." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 181 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T09:25:33.357890"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 181 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
181
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-01T09:15:02.559197+00:00
First case
181
Generated
2026-03-01T09:15:02.559197+00:00
Attributed to
Case 181 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T09:25:33.357890
Generated by
ProEthica Case 181 Extraction