Blog Entry 7

Chapter 6: Personal Privacy and Computer Technologies

Consider the scenario in which a group of your fellow students approach you to see whether you are interested in participating in a project that is intended to be a commercial venture. The group has come up with a novel approach to obtaining large numbers of e-mail addresses. This requires the development of some software, and once this is used it will be possible to develop a very extensive e-mail address list. Subsequently, this information is to be sold to companies involved in spam advertising. You voice some initial reservations based upon your concern that this may not be entirely legal/ethical. However, you are normally based overseas – specifically in third world countries. Since the team is to be based in the UK and the software is going to be used to locate e-mail addresses that are normally based outside the UK, you are assured that you will be breaking no UK law.

How would you proceed? Do you consider that this is a legal/ethical undertaking? In the case that you are not entirely happy with the possible ethical aspects of this venture(but are satisfied that you will not be breaking UK law), would you still be willing to participate if the level of remuneration is sufficient? At what point would personal remuneration override any ethical reservations that you may have?

Let us suppose that you do become involved in this undertaking but that you subsequently find that the software that you helped to develop is not being used to locate e-mail addresses that are normally based outside the UK, but in addition e-mail address within the UK, and these are being sold on to companies who specialize in spam advertising? Does this compromise your legal position?

Answer

For me, the wrong in the first place will still end up a wrong in the future. Considering the scenario, the actual actor in the scene is to be decided by you. Joining the team with the project will surely turn you into a non-ethically person. Law is just made by humans to protect their own premises and to conserve their belongings. Thinking like you are going to make a mistake if you join the project will end up a mess at your work. Rather than convincing the others to think like you are holy, why not consider you’re self as a sinner the moment you will sign the terms and agreement of the project.