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> smartphones per se are not evil. No, just the people who write the code.
by qrbLPHiKpiux 7y ago
> smartphones per se are not evil.
No, just the people who write the code.
- stjohnswarts 7y agoIt's not the people who write the code, it's their management. If they were paid to write secure privacy centric code then that's what would happen
- evgen 7y agoIf the people who write the code had a sense of ethics they would go work for someone who did not ask them to violate user privacy.
- qrbLPHiKpiux 7y agoWhat is your surgeon was only paid to do something on you that was unethical?
- deadbunny 7y agoAh yes "I was only following orders", a classic defense.
- alicorn 7y agoI suspect that a significant amount of developers do not care. A job is a job, if the problem to solve is interesting enough or it pays well enough, rest is irrelevant. This is supported by my experiences interviewing developers who apply for jobs in my department. Questions about the ethical implications of the things they have worked with more often than not are incomprehensible to them. Note that this is distinct from having made an informed and motivated choice, let's say, 'yes, I am aware of x, but due to a, b and c I work with it anyway' or similar. I do not judge the content of the motivation, but I strongly judge the presence or absence of it. This is why I strongly support having strong courses in both etics and diversity / inclusion in all CS / data engineering programs. The blind spots seen in the thinking of some people who work with software that has potentially far-reaching consequences for minorities, privacy etc is sometimes really unnerving.