Tag: ethics

Technology and ethics in the coronavirus economy

Loknath Das

The last two decades have ushered in significant change and transformation. I believe the 2020s will be dispositive in redefining the pillars of our economy, and COVID-19 magnifies this greatly. As of this writing there are 3,611,394 confirmed cases, and the U.S. accounts for 33% of those. We are now dealing with a 4.8% Q1 GDP contraction and expectations for Q2’s shrinking runs into the 25% range, more than 30 million unemployed and a $7 trillion federal intervention — in a span of six weeks. Eric Schmidt recently predicted that…

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TECHNOLOGY ETHICS CAMPAIGNERS OFFER PLAN TO FIGHT ‘HUMAN DOWNGRADING’

Loknath Das

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Technology firms should do more to connect people in positive ways and steer away from trends that have tended to exploit human weaknesses, ethicists told a meeting of Silicon Valley leaders on Tuesday. Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin are the co-founders of the nonprofit Centre for Humane Technology and the ones who prompted Apple and Google to nudge phone users toward reducing their screen time. Now they want companies and regulators to focus on reversing what they called “human downgrading,” which they see as at the…

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House Republicans drop rule change gutting ethics watchdog

subhadip

House Republicans were forced into a humiliating climbdown on Tuesday after Donald Trump tweeted criticism of their move to gut an independent congressional ethics watchdog. Members ditched their plan to severely weaken the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) at an emergency meeting just before the start of a new legislative session on Capitol Hill in Washington. The original rule change, carried out without warning and behind closed doors, had provoked a fierce backlash from Democrats and transparency activists when first announced on Monday night. But it was flexing of…

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NACAC amends code of ethics to improve transparency in agent use

subhadip

On Saturday, September 24, NACAC added two amendments instructing institutions to ensure agents they work with tell students which institutions are compensating them. “International students are often unaware that the agencies who are advising them are doing so on a per-capita commissions basis” And in their own promotional materials targeting international students, institutions should “offer to verify whether they have authorised any third party agents to represent them and indicate how students may request this verification”. NACAC’s members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the latest amendments to the SPGP at…

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