Computer and data scientists are the nuclear scientists of our age, proprietors of technology that can be used for good or ill. They must write their own set of principles, governing not the actions of government´s spies but their own use of power when they are asked by those spies and governments — as well as their own employers — to violate our privacy or use our own information against our best interests or hamper and chill our speech. They must decide what goes too far. They must answer that question above — whose side are you on? I suggest a technologists´ Hippocratic oath: First, harm no users.
(Den übersetzten Text gibt’s auch auf der Webseite einer überregionalen deutschen Wochenzeitung, aber wenn ich daraus einen Absatz zitiere, nehmen die mir nachher – Stichwort Leistungsschutzrecht – noch Haus und Hof weg.)
Update, 19.12.: Hier noch ein bisschen LSR-Follow-Up.
