Answering the Objections
Some will think I'm being naïve, that these are the unfortunate and inevitable victims of "friendly fire" on the battlefield of capitalism. Or they will recite the excuse, "If I don't do it, someone else will." A typical programmer might say, "Hey, don't blame me, some guy in marketing makes all those decisions." I'll address these objections one at a time.
Friendly fire
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This objection goes like this: "I know that some people might get hurt, but most will be served." This is a version of utilitarianism or "the greatest good for the greatest number of people." I believe that the collateral damage from thoughtless (or perhaps merely careless) database practices can result in unacceptable risks to personal safety and well-being. If I can't achieve 100% precision in identifying which customers are willing to share their personal information, I should be forced to suffer the consequences, not the customer.
If I don't do it, someone else will
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This kind of thinking leads to the conclusion that anything anybody could do and get away with is okay. A close corollary to this excuse: people whose description of their jobs includes the expression "...and it's perfectly legal!" The underlying theme is the substitution of self-interest in place of any kind of external authority. I certainly wouldn't want to hire someone with such a view as my database administrator, nor would I want to resort to these excuses to justify my own work.
Somebody else's problem