The Ethics of Software - some practical considerations
summary
Argues that everyday engineering choices have measurable social effects and few safeguards: logging decisions can expose users to government requests, hiring processes embed bias, and algorithms disadvantage groups. Cites concrete failures — the Volkswagen “defeat device” was two if statements that lied to regulators, Google’s Grayball blocks law‑enforcement IPs, mass job losses as self‑driving tech replaces millions of drivers, and studies claiming 70–80% of users struggle with common interfaces — and notes existing IEEE/ACM codes but no effective regulation.
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chapters (9)
- 0:00Start
- 1:45Why Are We Talking about Software Engineering Ethics
- 11:10Circles of Duty
- 14:55What Are Our Duties to Our Users
- 17:34Are We Allowed To Snoop on Our Users
- 20:19Duty to Society
- 20:58Intended Consequences
- 28:22Unintended Consequences
- 30:29Self-Driving Cars
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