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This article highlights the responsibility that ALL technical workers share. We must be ethical in our actions at all times. For example: Is it ethical to creat

This article highlights the responsibility that ALL technical workers share. We must be ethical in our actions at all times. For example: Is it ethical to create a biometrics capture & storage system that does not encrypt the data it stores?

sschueller 4y ago
The biggest problem in these situations is that people are highly dependent an their current job (especially in the US) and of the boss says do it you do it. The lack of a safety net and your insurance being tied to your job makes this sadly a very easy choice. I was fortunate enough that out of college I could decline working for defense contractors unlike many of my colleagues. There would need to be some protection for workers like there is for whistleblowers but smaller things like this don't count as whistle blowing.
- H8crilA 4y ago
  The truth is most people would operate just fine in any environment, including Nazi Germany, justifying it like you just did. It's plain luck that they aren't. In this specific case it's very easy to morally justify such data collection to yourself, after all your friend was just torn to pieces by an IED placed by partisans, and another one two weeks ago. Russians are really "good" at this counter-insurgency game, they simply torture, run concentration camps, ethnically cleanse by sending to Siberia. Worked in Chechnya, works now in Ukraine.
- jamil7 4y ago
  I wonder if more and more of these ethical issues will be what pushes tech workers to unionise rather than working conditions.
  - landemva 4y ago
    Didn't help the rail union workers. https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-signs-bill-to-block-us-railroad-strike-/6860131.html https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-signs-bill-to-block-us-railr... '... Biden administration this week used the provisions of a 96-year-old labor law to force unions representing thousands of railway workers to accept a contract ...'
    - jamil7 4y ago
      Thanks for the article, I’m not American nor do I live there so I’m not so well versed on US labour law and unions. From reading the article however it seems this issue was particular to rail union workers? > Unlike the National Labor Relations Act, he said, which leaves both labor and management with "economic weapons" they can threaten to use (strikes for unions, and lockouts for management), the Railway Labor Act has a provision allowing the government to block a strike from taking place.
      - landemva 4y ago
        Unions aren't like in western Europe, for example, where they are more considered in the business. Just two years ago OSHA (worker safety regulator) crammed down a vaccinated-or-fired mandate to nearly all companies and unions didn't help much. The only safety is to financially be able to quit.
- paganel 4y ago
  > The biggest problem in these situations is that people are highly dependent an their current job (especially in the US) It's not only that, it's also that the money is really good, comparatively speaking. One of my close friends is a tech guy and works for the biggest European defence company, which is mostly a French-German alliance (they're also in the business of making planes), and two of his last job stints abroad have been in Afghanistan and in Saudi Arabia. There's no way he could have made the sort of money that he made had he decided to work for a local, very boring company (I live in an Eastern European capital city).
- landemva 4y ago
  > people are highly dependent an their current job It is often voluntary lifetime debt slavery to have payments on the latest gadgets/car/timeshare/oversized house. Recently train workers union had working conditions crammed down on them by no less than Biden. If the workers were not in debt slavery they could have quit. Biden showed a union they don't have a choice when their members are debt slaves. Your protection will arrive when you change your lifestyle to get out of debt slavery.
retSava 4y ago
-Hey PM, I'm worried about this. We don't have the resource allocation to ensure the on-device data can't fall into the wrong hands. It's not even encrypted! -I hear your concerns and agree. There are strong protocols set in place to make sure devices are taken care of after use, and only personnel trained on this device may use and access it. Don't worry, they know what they are doing. We can add that encryption into firmware v2 so relax. Did you sign up for that conference in Florida btw? It's going to be the bomb, sunshine, fun like no tomorrow!
- layer8 4y ago
  I have refused working on projects I deemed unethical, explaining my reasoning. You can too.
  - maerF0x0 4y ago
    I've been called a trouble maker and low performer for discovering and insisting on fixes to security flaws. I thought my concentration in Infosec would have been an asset to my career, but so far it's been a liability.
serf 4y ago
I would've stopped at 'Is it ethical to create a biometrics capture & storage system ' , thus highlights the problem with allowing technical workers to judge the morality of their own actions.

sschueller 4y ago

The biggest problem in these situations is that people are highly dependent an their current job (especially in the US) and of the boss says do it you do it. The lack of a safety net and your insurance being tied to your job makes this sadly a very easy choice. I was fortunate enough that out of college I could decline working for defense contractors unlike many of my colleagues. There would need to be some protection for workers like there is for whistleblowers but smaller things like this don't count as whistle blowing.

H8crilA 4y ago
The truth is most people would operate just fine in any environment, including Nazi Germany, justifying it like you just did. It's plain luck that they aren't. In this specific case it's very easy to morally justify such data collection to yourself, after all your friend was just torn to pieces by an IED placed by partisans, and another one two weeks ago. Russians are really "good" at this counter-insurgency game, they simply torture, run concentration camps, ethnically cleanse by sending to Siberia. Worked in Chechnya, works now in Ukraine.
jamil7 4y ago
I wonder if more and more of these ethical issues will be what pushes tech workers to unionise rather than working conditions.
- landemva 4y ago
  Didn't help the rail union workers. https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-signs-bill-to-block-us-railroad-strike-/6860131.html https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-signs-bill-to-block-us-railr... '... Biden administration this week used the provisions of a 96-year-old labor law to force unions representing thousands of railway workers to accept a contract ...'
  - jamil7 4y ago
    Thanks for the article, I’m not American nor do I live there so I’m not so well versed on US labour law and unions. From reading the article however it seems this issue was particular to rail union workers? > Unlike the National Labor Relations Act, he said, which leaves both labor and management with "economic weapons" they can threaten to use (strikes for unions, and lockouts for management), the Railway Labor Act has a provision allowing the government to block a strike from taking place.
    - landemva 4y ago
      Unions aren't like in western Europe, for example, where they are more considered in the business. Just two years ago OSHA (worker safety regulator) crammed down a vaccinated-or-fired mandate to nearly all companies and unions didn't help much. The only safety is to financially be able to quit.
paganel 4y ago
> The biggest problem in these situations is that people are highly dependent an their current job (especially in the US) It's not only that, it's also that the money is really good, comparatively speaking. One of my close friends is a tech guy and works for the biggest European defence company, which is mostly a French-German alliance (they're also in the business of making planes), and two of his last job stints abroad have been in Afghanistan and in Saudi Arabia. There's no way he could have made the sort of money that he made had he decided to work for a local, very boring company (I live in an Eastern European capital city).
landemva 4y ago
> people are highly dependent an their current job It is often voluntary lifetime debt slavery to have payments on the latest gadgets/car/timeshare/oversized house. Recently train workers union had working conditions crammed down on them by no less than Biden. If the workers were not in debt slavery they could have quit. Biden showed a union they don't have a choice when their members are debt slaves. Your protection will arrive when you change your lifestyle to get out of debt slavery.

retSava 4y ago

-Hey PM, I'm worried about this. We don't have the resource allocation to ensure the on-device data can't fall into the wrong hands. It's not even encrypted! -I hear your concerns and agree. There are strong protocols set in place to make sure devices are taken care of after use, and only personnel trained on this device may use and access it. Don't worry, they know what they are doing. We can add that encryption into firmware v2 so relax. Did you sign up for that conference in Florida btw? It's going to be the bomb, sunshine, fun like no tomorrow!

layer8 4y ago
I have refused working on projects I deemed unethical, explaining my reasoning. You can too.
- maerF0x0 4y ago
  I've been called a trouble maker and low performer for discovering and insisting on fixes to security flaws. I thought my concentration in Infosec would have been an asset to my career, but so far it's been a liability.

serf 4y ago

I would've stopped at 'Is it ethical to create a biometrics capture & storage system ' , thus highlights the problem with allowing technical workers to judge the morality of their own actions.