Public and professional interest in the effects of technology on culture (particularly on privacy) are ever making headlines. A recent New York Times article has just touched on evil and goodness in web services...."These companies give away a ton of value, a public good, with free products like Google search, that transforms cultures,” said Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn) to Quentin Hardy (New York Times article "Don’t Be Evil, but Don’t Miss the Train").
What I found particularly interesting about this article is Hoffman's statement on how the tech industry has to acknowledge the way its products are shaping society. “We need something more than, ‘We’re good guys, trust us,’ ” he said. “There should be an industry group that discusses overall issues around data and privacy with political actors. Something that convinces them that you are good guys, but gives them a place to swoop in.”
Surely this group would benefit from a set of positive computing guidelines ;-)
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