Abstract
Morality should be at the center of every decision in human life. On many occasions, people face a lot of challenges, some of which emerge because of poor ethical decision making. For instance, engineering is part of the world. Engineering’s role in making a better world is indisputable. However, there many occasions where engineers face a moral dilemma, and their final decisions on such occasions either lead to disaster or a better world. A recent example is the case of Uber, which is a giant American company that operates Taxi-driving in America and other countries in the world. The giant-rider company operates on an online basis where the customers download the Uber app, spot the nearby drivers, and call for services. The company's Greyball scandal is an example of an ethical dilemma that needs a critical ethical decision. The Greyballscandal is a software application which the company allegedly was using to avoid law enforcement in countries where its operations were illegal.
Introduction
Uber's Greyball scandal is a perfect choice in this case because it signifies the importance of ethics in business. The Greyball application usage was targeting the police officers in the areas where the Uber drivers were operating. The application setting was made to delude the officers through the use of officers’ data within a particular area. The aim was to avoid providing services to any police agency or any person the company was suspected to be a police officer ( Munn, 2019). In this sense, the police agencies could see the Uber car icons around, but there was no physical car to pick them.
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The issues, in this case, raises different ethical questions about software engineering. The core concern, in this case, is whether the Greyballwas meant to provide security to the drivers, or it was an application that was to help the drivers avoid providing services to the police agencies. The matter of concern, in this case, links to the ethical framework in many cases. First, the application's use of a set of data on the police agency information is of moral concern. Another ethical framework is the intent of application creation. Was it made from a moral point of view or was built to serve the purpose of the company while undermining ethical codes of engineering ( Wong, 2019). Notably, the engineering code of ethics demands honesty, integrity, and fairness from an individual engineer ( Balakrishnan, Tochinai, &Kanemitsu, 2019). The concern, in this case, is whether the engineers that came up with the idea of Greyball application were in line with the individual ethics of engineering.
An Analysis of the case
From this story, there are critical issues to make it clearer for ethical analysis. First, the use of the Greyball application was in countries where the company’s operations were illegal. In this case, it is tempting to conclude that the use of this application in such countries was intentional with a hidden agenda. Another fact is that the Greyball application was specific to its selection. The victims were police agencies and no other ordinary people. From this fact, it is also tempting to conclude that the police agencies were the target in this case. A moral question thus comes in. Why was it relevant for the application to select the authorities in totality? Why was the company, through the use of Greyball application withholding its services from the officers?According to the company, it was its moral duty to protect the drivers. If so, why was the company selecting the police agencies? Such are questions which can help find a solution and also understand the Uber's Greyball ethical case better.
Evidence from the story
The case of Uber Greyball analysis thus presents numerous facts and pieces of evidence that need a critical understanding to find a better approach. First, the application use was in countries where the company’s operations were illegal. Secondly, the Greyball application setting was targeting the police officers because the police agencies’set of data was the target. Thirdly, the police agencies in areas where the Greyball applications were in use were not to acquire Uber services. Lastly, the sources of Greyball data were from different accounts of people who were working for police agencies. Calo & Rosenblat (2017) argue that there are critical facts from the story that should define the direction of revealing the intent of engineering and using Greyball by the company.
Options for solving the moral case
There is two option for solving this case. First, Uber Company was in a deep concern for its drivers following numerous cases of attacks. The company is also on the books stating that some traffic officers were colluding with dangerous people to harass and kill the drivers. In this sense, the company had a moral obligation to protect the drivers and ensure that they were safe while discharging their duties. The second way to look and solve this case is on the intent of the application’s creation ( Wong, 2019). The Application's central role was to monitor the areas of operations to ensure that the authorities did not catch the drivers at any time during the process of their work. In this sense, the application was to help the drivers identify the officers and dodge them so that they could not face any legal obligation.
The choice
The second option is the correct choice. First, if the creation of the Greybull app was ethical, it could have numinous and diverse data and not only the police agencies’ data. Further, the restriction of the use of the application in countries where the company was not operating legally also makes the second choice valid. In this sense, Uber is supposed to face charged for violating ethics in engineering.
References
Balakrishnan, B., Tochinai, F., &Kanemitsu, H. (2019). Engineering ethics education: A comparative study of Japan and Malaysia. Science and engineering ethics , 25 (4), 1069-1083.
Calo, R., &Rosenblat, A. (2017). The taking economy: Uber, information, and power. Colum. L. Rev. , 117 , 1623.
Munn, L. (2019). Cash Burning Machine: Uber’s Logic of Planetary Expansion. tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique. Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society , 17 (2), 185-201.
Wong, J. (2019). Greyball: how Uber used secret software to dodge the law. Retrieved 4 October 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/03/uber-secret-program-greyball-resignation-ed-baker
