Humans, technologies and ethics

In an era where morally flexible corporations impose their (un)ethical practices, it's more important than ever to establish our ethical practices and values to preserve our fundamental human rights, reduce inequalities and stay aware of the sociological impact of technologies.

Thoughts, possible solutions and case studies to awaken us to our role as actors in the field of technology.

Transcript

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8. 2.3 billion monthly active users
   on Facebook in Q4 2018
   

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10. Case #1
    

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11. Therac-25
    Software that kills
    

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12. Therac-25
    ✦ bad software design and development practices
    ✦ impossible to test in an automated way
    ✦ no independant review
    ✦ error states could be overriden by operator
    

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13. Case #2
    

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14. Knight Capital
    Losing 460M$ in 45min
    

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15. Knight Capital
    ✦ lack of peer review of code and deployment steps
    ✦ absence of tooling to consistently deploy software
    across servers
    ✦ lack of clear procedures for deployments and incident
    response
    ✦ lack of pushback against aggressive delivery schedule
    

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16. Case #3
    

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17. Case #3
    

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18. Case #3
    

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19. Case #3
    

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20. Facebook
    Ad targeting by race
    

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21. "If we are going to make the
    most of it, we need to take the
    chance to shape the digital
    world before it shapes us"
    — Martha Lane Fox
    

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22. A manifesto
    

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23. Responsible technology
    Does not knowingly deepen
    existing vulnerabilities and
    inequalities, or create new ones
    

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24. Responsible technology
    Protects existing democratic
    and human rights
    

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25. Responsible technology
    Is made by teams that are mindful
    of their ethical, social and human
    impact
    

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26. Responsible technology
    Has controls in place to react to
    and guard against unintended
    consequences
    

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27. Responsible technology
    Is designed with security and
    safety in mind
    

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28. "Be a good ancestor"
    — Alan Cooper
    

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30. Thank you
    

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31. Questions?
    

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34. We are hiring!
    ✦Backend / DevOps
    ✦Mobile
    ✦Frontend
    poka.io
    

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