Data Conscience

CHAPTER 2Morality

Source: Twitter, Inc.

Ethics is only one branch of the expansive philosophy field. I won't discuss each kind of ethics because it's very broad and hard to implement in practice. So we'll focus on a subset that more intentionally impacts technology. And this is a hard feat. As I'll lay out in this chapter, ethics of any kind is limited in its utility. Understanding the significance and influence of how morality shows up (or doesn't) in tech innovations isn't a new phenomenon. It has, however, received renewed attention in light of the more frequent global pronouncement of tech malfeasance. For those of us on the “inside” of tech, we're torn by this realization that the code we write is likely contributing to a cycle of harm that we don't know how to curtail, stop, or dislodge ourselves from. For those of us on the “outside” of tech, we're shocked and dismayed by tech's Wild Wild West status. Being unaware of the multitude of mistreatments endured makes us feel ashamed of what has transpired and powerless in shaping a less harm-inducing tech future. Regardless of our position in tech, we're paralyzed by the gravity of the past, present, and continuing harms inflicted on real people.

For the tech insiders, we have our hands in the data directly or indirectly. We've figured out, being involved in project after project, just how important the “right” data is to ...