As tech companies are increasingly exposed for their exploitative practices and willful abuse of users’ privacy rights, no doubt we’ll hear lots of apologies and suggestions for ‘how we will do it better’. Does anyone believe this? When you, the user, are the product, there is no really better way. Your data, your behavior, your interactions are the business and no amount of window-dressing or option boxes will change this.
But while all eyes now are on Facebook and the like, you can expect a few noises from Business schools and Engineering colleges about the need to teach ethics. Yeah right, more window-dressing by academic programs that have placed higher premiums on fundraising and PR than on doing the right thing. Education is becoming an extension of business and it’s getting harder and harder to break the profit drive.