Ethical codes of conduct for the digital economy entities: the legal aspect

Abstract

Background.The use of IT tools in the business sphere requires special legal regulation, given the excellent mechanism of consolidation from areas where the figure is not yet used or its use is quite limited. An important tool of regulatory self-regulation are codes of ethics in the digital economy, which only take into account certain features of digital transformations and are a universal trend of modern development of legal regulation of the economy in Ukraine and the world.
Analysis of recent research and publications. The analysis of types, the content of ethical codes in the field of digital economy is not paid enough attention, which actualizes the purpose of this scientific article.
The aim of the study is to determine the features of codes of ethics in the digital economy.
Materials and methods. During the study, both general scientific and special methods of cognition were used: dialectical, systemic, synergetic, formal-logical, generalization, functional, comparative jurisprudence. The information base of the study was national legislation, EU directives, works of domestic and foreign scientists, codes of conduct of international IT companies. 
Results. The following types of codes of ethics (codes of professional ethics) depending on the subject, the subjects of their development and adoption in the digital economy are identified: codes of ethics in a particular area of the digital economy; codes of ethics of a separate professional community; codes of ethics (codes of professional ethics) of an individual business entity. Codes of ethics in a particular area of the digital economy are a collection of rules and standards of conduct developed by a community, an association of different professions, in order to develop common principles and policies in a particular market. Codes of ethics of a particular professional community are a collection of rules and standards of conduct that are developed by a particular community on a professional basis and that operate in the digital economy. Codes of ethics (codes of professional ethics) of an individual business entity are internal organizational documents of a specific business entity, an element of its foreign and domestic policy, which sets out the rules of activity for the company’s citizens, limits of liability, etc.
Conclusion. It has been established that the digital economy is primarily an area that has emerged through self-regulation, so the development of regulationin the digital economy should be linked to the ethics of using the tools of digital transformation. It has been found that the self-regulation of the digital economy takes into account the flexibility of various tools, including codes of ethics. It is established that the structure and content of codes of ethics (codes of professional ethics) of each company is different. The content of such codes usually includes global trends of modern business requirements: sustainable development policy, respect for human rights, corporate social responsibility, compliance with anti-corruption, tax laws, etc., and special, which reflect the individual obligations of a particular company.