Where do you draw the line on TC vs ethics

Mar 5, 2019 24 Comments

For example,
If you were one of the Microsoft Hololens team and found out your company just won a US military contract to “enhance lethality” with what you created, would you consider leaving?

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TOP 24 Comments
  • Amazon
    imaven

    Go to company page Amazon

    imaven
    I would seek it out. Let me guess - you're white, liberal, and American-born? I'm an immigrant who's probably more patriotic than any liberal out there. You know why? Because this country is the epitome of the beacon of freedom. If we need to make our weapons more lethal to withstand a future onslaught from China or to get rid of Islamists more effectively then great!
    Mar 5, 2019 7
  • Apple / Eng
    JCmS82

    Go to company page Apple Eng

    JCmS82
    I personally wouldn’t leave because of that. We need to have a military and they should be as well equipped as possible.

    I would leave Facebook if I worked there after seeing all of the underhanded sneaky ways they have been harvesting and misusing customer data. They aren’t serving a greater good, only their own interests.
    Mar 5, 2019 3
    • Apple / Eng
      JCmS82

      Go to company page Apple Eng

      JCmS82
      I wouldn’t want to be part of what Facebook does, it feels slimy and underhanded to me with no real societal benefit. If they were even remotely transparent with their data collection (to the point that a layperson could understand) then I’d be fine with it.

      In any case it was a question about where I’d draw the line personally and that’s it for me regarding the FANG(m?) companies.

      Maybe I could make more working at Facebook but I wouldn’t be happy about it.
      Mar 5, 2019
    • Ironic coming from someone working at Apple, when it wasn’t too long ago people were complaining about Apple’s impossible to understand Terms of Service. Remember the South Park episode?

      The point is, it’s extremely difficult to explain to the layperson how technology works, just as it’s difficult to simplify legal terms without creating loopholes.

      The data collection done at FB isn’t particularly unique - it’s really how we’ve used our army of data folks to fuel our growth using it. I would agree that it fundamentally feels creepy for us to monetize people’s behaviors and preferences.

      But I can confidently say I’m not aware of any instance between myself or colleagues where we’ve been instructed to outright misuse data. Most of our scandals are a result of short-term thinking focused on growth instead of platform integrity.
      Mar 5, 2019
  • Flagged by the community.

  • Microsoft / Other
    —🐸💧🌈—

    Go to company page Microsoft Other

    BIO
    Janitor
    —🐸💧🌈—
    I really think this whole thing is blow out of proportion. “Lethality” is just a buzzword in the military it doesn’t actually mean anything. Things the military also says increases their “lethality”; Wet Wipes, Pepto-Bismol, fancy office chairs, and Microsoft Word.
    Mar 5, 2019 2
  • eBay
    funny how

    Go to company page eBay

    funny how
    So marines who fight in Afghanistan are unethical?
    Mar 5, 2019 1