Ethical Design Could Become Standard In 2019

New year, new you? While individuals all over the world begin to ponder this annual predicament of reflection and self-improvement

- Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan

THE NEW YEAR COULD BRING NEW ATTITUDES

New year, new you? While individuals all over the world begin to ponder this annual predicament of reflection and self-improvement, isn’t it about time tech giants around the globe did the same? 2018 will hopefully prove to be a watershed in design, development and above all, ethics in the production of the tech that we love, but have begun to distrust.

And this is no surprise. Last year saw an unnerving plethora of data breaches and scandals hit the news, the most notable of which was the Cambridge Analytica scandal. However, the most worrying aspect of each extensive breach was arguably not the incredible numbers involved, but instead how long they had gone unnoticed. In fact, in some instances, it wasn’t until the data breaches hit the newsstands that the rest of the world found out.

This only further helped to cultivate widespread distrust of the companies involved. If such firms can’t be trusted to admit mistakes – which people, businesses and organizations are all susceptible to – then how can they be trusted to keep our data and information safe in the future? Well, currently, many of them can’t – but this could actually prove to be a very positive starting place, for both tech giants and consumers.

AN ENFORCED CHANGE FOR GOOD

The stock market reaction to the Cambridge Analytica scandal last summer was record-breaking. Facebook’s shares plunged almost 20 per cent in one day, while three million users in Europe alone abandoned the network. Since then, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has faced questions from members of the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, and admitted that changes will inevitably need to be made.