FIT Professional Ethics & Quality Assurance Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A translator discovers mid-project that a competitor's proprietary terminology database was shared by the client without the competitor's consent. What is the ethically correct action?
- Use the database since the client authorized it
- Refuse to use the database and inform the client of the ethical concern (Correct answer)
- Use it quietly and never mention it again
- Report the competitor to the FIT ethics board immediately
Correct answer: Refuse to use the database and inform the client of the ethical concern
Using materials obtained without authorization implicates the translator in intellectual property violations, so the ethical course is to refuse and alert the client.
Question 2: Under FIT guidelines, what does the principle of 'fidelity' primarily require of a certified translator?
- Literal word-for-word translation at all times
- Accurate rendering of the source text's meaning, intent, and tone (Correct answer)
- Loyalty to the client's business objectives above the source text
- Faithfulness to the target language's cultural norms over the source
Correct answer: Accurate rendering of the source text's meaning, intent, and tone
Fidelity means conveying the meaning, intent, and tone of the source text accurately, not mechanically reproducing words or prioritizing other interests.
Question 3: A client requests that a translator omit certain legally required disclaimers from a translated pharmaceutical leaflet to save space. The translator should:
- Comply since the client bears full legal responsibility
- Omit the disclaimers but add a translator's note
- Refuse, as omitting required content compromises accuracy and may harm the public (Correct answer)
- Consult a pharmacist before deciding
Correct answer: Refuse, as omitting required content compromises accuracy and may harm the public
Omitting legally required safety information violates accuracy standards and could endanger end users, making refusal the only ethical option.
Question 4: Which ISO standard is most directly applicable to translation service providers seeking to demonstrate quality management compliance?
- ISO 9001
- ISO 17100 (Correct answer)
- ISO 18587
- ISO 27001
Correct answer: ISO 17100
ISO 17100 specifies requirements specifically for translation services, including competence, revision, and process requirements.
Question 5: A translator working for a law firm realizes the opposing counsel in a lawsuit is also a client. Under FIT ethics, this situation constitutes:
- A billable dual-client opportunity
- A conflict of interest requiring disclosure and likely recusal (Correct answer)
- An acceptable arrangement if both matters are unrelated topics
- A situation only governed by bar association rules, not translator ethics
Correct answer: A conflict of interest requiring disclosure and likely recusal
Representing adversarial parties creates a conflict of interest that must be disclosed to both clients, and the translator should likely withdraw from one engagement.
Question 6: When a certified translator identifies a factual error in the source document during translation, the best practice is to:
- Silently correct the error in the translation
- Translate the error as written and notify the client of the discrepancy (Correct answer)
- Refuse to translate until the source is corrected
- Add a footnote correcting the error without informing the client
Correct answer: Translate the error as written and notify the client of the discrepancy
The translator should render the source accurately and separately flag the suspected error to the client, preserving both fidelity and transparency.
Question 7: FIT's model code of professional conduct emphasizes that certified translators must maintain competence. This means a translator should:
- Accept any assignment as long as they use a dictionary
- Decline assignments outside their subject-matter expertise or seek adequate preparation (Correct answer)
- Subcontract all specialized work without informing the client
- Only translate into their second language to stay challenged
Correct answer: Decline assignments outside their subject-matter expertise or seek adequate preparation
Accepting work beyond one's competence without proper preparation or disclosure violates professional standards and risks delivering substandard translations.
FIT Professional Ethics & Quality Assurance Standards 2
A translator discovers mid-project that a competitor's proprietary terminology database was shared by the client without the competitor's consent.
What is the ethically correct action?