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Welcome to the fifth issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, dedicated to the subject of Ethics. In this edition Agis Tsaraboulidis provides an overview of the current state of Ethics in technology; Adrian takes inspiration from the medical field and proposes the establishment of an "Hippocratic Oath" for software developers; and in this issue's subscriber-only article, Graham explains what needs to be done to raise the standards of ethics in our field.
Over the course of the last couple of years more and more press has surfaced about companies and their unethical practices and processes —how they’ve manipulated or exposed user’s privacy or data for their own gain. This isn’t new, with many of the reported incidents having happened in 2012-2013 and before.
Here is a non-revolutionary idea. One that many have had before, and one that many will have after this article. One that might never become true, because of the forces at play and the strength of some contrarian opinions. Here the author proposes the establishment of the equivalent of the "Hippocratic Oath" for the software industry.
The title of this article has been used and re-used by socialists throughout history. Luke puts it into the mouths of the crowd listening to John the Baptist. In response to their question, John suggests that those who have surplus clothing and food share with those who do not have enough.