3 ms·
A very dark chapter of IBM - to me common knowledge - but only a few days ago I've touched this topic with a much younger person, provocatively stating: "Well
by dav_Oz 3y ago
A very dark chapter of IBM - to me common knowledge - but only a few days ago I've touched this topic with a much younger person, provocatively stating: "Well, IBM provided the technology for the first heavily automated genocide and forced labor allocation"
Hollerith erfaßt.
He didn't believe me.
So, granted Dehomag[0] was only an IBM subsidiary, there is some evidence that IBM's US-headquarter was well informed and decided do not forgo the excellent business relationship and thus large profits (funneled through Switzerland).[1][2]
However the case might be here, it is nevertheless a cautionary tale how the ease of mass data collection can immensely leverage (bad) intent.
[0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehomag https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehomag
[1]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/mar/29/humanities.highereducation https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/mar/29/humanities.hig...
[2]https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0609607995/theamericanisraeA/ https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0609607995/theameric...