Apple – Slowing Down iPhones
Background
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- Apple installed software on all iPhones made before 2017 to slow down the processor speed. Apple claimed it was to preserve battery life
Why is it problematic?
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- With every new software update previous iPhones are intentionally being slowed making the consumer decide between having a slow iPhone and upgrading to a new one
- While there is nothing wrong with the software in and of itself, it is unethical to reduce the value of a product after it’s released in order to encourage users to upgrade. Apple took a step past planned obsolescence. By not offering users a choice whether they wanted the software change they violated their responsibility to their users.
- Another major issue was Apple’s attempts to conceal the changes they made and the effect they would have on sales. Apple claimed they only slowed down phones to make them more usable but internal documents indicated that they knew users would upgrade as the only option to make their phones usable. In response, users filed a class action lawsuit and were rewarded
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Engineer vs. Product Behavior:
- This ethical issue regarding Apple is not fully engineer or product behavior. Company management who proposed and approved this idea to gradually slow down iPhones with software updates have to uphold certain ethical principles for the sake of their customers regarding this software. On the other hand, the software engineers also have an obligation to consider the morality of software features they are producing.
Social Media Platforms – Notification & Dopamine Engineering
Background
- Social media platforms have become an inherent aspect of our lives. In 2022, over 4.59 billion people were using social media world-wide, more than half of the global population. Many social media companies employ systems designed to keep users engaged and returning to their platforms, as increased engagement often leads to higher advertising revenue; however, their approach to this leverages psychological principles, such as the dopamine reward system.
Why is it problematic?
- These social media platform notification systems exploit users’ desire for positive reinforcement. By calculating the times for and content of notifications given to users, scientists developing these systems maximize short-term hits of dopamine, making users feel good when they receive them. Chemically manipulating these dopamine reward systems change mental pathways for users, exploiting users’ desires for positive reinforcement and leading to potential addiction.
- This issue also comes with a lack of transparency. Users are unaware that these morally ambiguous strategies are being used on them. Consent can not come from those who are uninformed so the burden is on the companies to explain to users what is going on behind the scenes.
Engineer vs. Product Behavior:
- The ethical issues of notification engineering do not fall squarely on any one group. On one hand, those who thought of and enabled these techniques do carry responsibility for the ethical ramifications of the software. On the other, those developing this software also have an obligation to consider the morality of the tools they are developing.
Ashley Maddison – Online Cheating
Background
- Ashley Madison is an online dating service and social networking service marketed primarily to people who are already in relationships. The slogan for the website was “Life is short. Have an affair.” In 2015, the site was at the center of a media storm when hackers exposed the personal details of its users, leading to significant public shaming and personal crises for its users, many of whom were already in the public eye.
Why is it problematic?
- At the most obvious level, the service encouraged and facilitated infidelity. While cheating is a personal choice and responsibility, Ashley Madison created a platform that made it easier and even normalized it. This contributed to the breakdown of trust in personal relationships and family structures. The service’s core value proposition, which was to facilitate secret extramarital affairs, is unethical. Encouraging actions that lead to broken families, emotional distress, and potential harm to the children involved is problematic.
- The 2015 hack exposed the personal details of millions of users, resulting in significant harm. Some faced public shaming, blackmail, and emotional distress, and even reports of suicides linked to the exposure. The company had an ethical duty to protect its user data, and it failed in this respect.
Engineer vs. Product Behavior:
- The ethical quandaries surrounding Ashley Madison touch on both the behavior of the engineers and the nature of the product. The platform’s engineers enabled its core value proposition. While they might argue that they were simply meeting market demand, they were complicit in creating a tool that encouraged and facilitated potentially damaging behavior. Engineers, ideally, should consider the ethical implications of the tools and platforms they help create. Simultaneously, companies should be responsible for ensuring their products do not cause harm and that they protect user data.