I did my CS degree at a Catholic university, so I was mandated to take a couple of either religion or philosophy classes. Being atheist, I opted for philosophy

I did my CS degree at a Catholic university, so I was mandated to take a couple of either religion or philosophy classes. Being atheist, I opted for philosophy, and while I certainly felt they were a waste of time way back when I was 19, but there are a few things that have really stuck with me. I wish I remember the name that the professor used for this concept, but essentially, he argued that the same activity might be ethical or unethical depending on ease and scale. For example, I'm allowed to look at license plates in public. If I happen to see my neighbor's car (with a memorable license plate) when I'm in town, there's nothing wrong with noting that and making small talk next time I see the neighbor ("Hey, I saw you were down in town on Friday!"). If I put plate readers everywhere I can, and accumulate and sell that information, enabling wide-spread location tracking, that's arguably unethical, even though those license plates are displayed out in public. There's something that changes when certain activities become scaled up and automated.