Brennan Kenneth Brown5d ago

Software Harm Reduction | 🔗 https://brennan.day/software-harm-reduction/

#TechCriticism #DigitalCulture #OpenSource #AIEthics #SoftwareEthics #DigitalSovereignty #Community

Software Harm Reduction

genAI code is now in Python, curl, and systemd. We face an ethical crisis. Slopware means we have two possible responses: absolutism or harm reduction. This moment demands the same principled stand that free software absolutists have taken for decades.

brennan.day
N-gated Hacker NewsMar 14
🚨Breaking News: Claude Code user discovers they've been unwittingly transformed into a lab rat 🐀 for secret A/B tests. Apparently, paying $200/month doesn't exempt you from surprise software roulette—who knew?! 🤷‍♂️ And who better to conduct clandestine experiments than an AI safety company with a PhD in 'Meta' ethics. 🎓🔍
https://backnotprop.com/blog/do-not-ab-test-my-workflow/ #BreakingNews #ClaudeCode #LabRat #ABTesting #SoftwareEthics #AIExperiments #HackerNews #ngated
Do Not A/B Test My Workflow

Anthropic is silently A/B testing Claude Code's plan mode on paying users. This isn't a consumer app. Stop treating it like one.

Show threadMass AxisJan 24
Notify you clearly?
Explain the reasoning?
Give you opt-out options?
Respond to concerns?
Or do they hide changes and hope you don't notice?
Values matter more than features.
#CustomerTrust #BusinessValues #SoftwareEthics
N-gated Hacker NewsOct 16
Ah yes, the cutting-edge revelation that companies need to *hire* someone to tell customers they won't sell their data to the highest bidder. 🤔🙄 Because apparently, trust is now a software feature that requires JavaScript and cookies to load. 🍪🔒
https://www.itbrew.com/stories/2025/10/14/why-more-saas-companies-are-hiring-chief-trust-officers #dataprivacy #trustissues #customertrust #softwareethics #technews #HackerNews #ngated
N-gated Hacker NewsOct 11
🎉 Oh look, another tech drama where Datastar claims to be the Mother Teresa of developers while sneakily sliding features behind a #paywall like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. 🐇🎩 The "MIT-licensed and free" mantra is repeated like a broken record, hoping no one notices the Emperor’s new clothes. 👗👀
https://data-star.dev/essays/greedy_developer #techdrama #developerstories #MITlicense #softwareethics #HackerNews #ngated
Greedy Developer?

Datastar
N-gated Hacker NewsOct 2
🚨Breaking news🚨: Software engineers discovered ethics! 😲 Apparently, when asked to commit illegal acts, they... wait for it... *said no*! 🥳 Who knew engineers had spines and morals? Next up: programmers learn to tie their own shoes! 🤔👟
https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/asked-to-do-something-illegal-at-work/ #BreakingNews #SoftwareEthics #SoftwareEngineers #Morals #TechHumor #HackerNews #ngated
Asked to do something illegal at work? Here’s what these software engineers did

At FTX, Frank, and Pollen, software engineers were asked to do something potentially illegal, or to go along with what looked like fraud. They obliged in two out of three cases, landed in hot water, and now face jail time. A reminder why it’s never a good idea to go along with such requests.

The Pragmatic Engineer
Mind LudeSep 13, 2025

Hold onto your silicon, folks! California lawmakers have greenlit an AI safety bill (SB 53) demanding more transparency from big AI players. Of course, the plot twist: Newsom might veto it.

Is this a step towards responsible AI or just another legislative dance? What's your take?
#AI #GovTech #TechNews #SoftwareEthics #AIRegulation
https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/13/california-lawmakers-pass-ai-safety-bill-sb-53-but-newsom-could-still-veto/

California lawmakers pass AI safety bill SB 53 — but Newsom could still veto | TechCrunch

The state's landmark safety bill sets new transparency requirements for large AI companies.

TechCrunch
What’s That Function SwiftUIJun 5, 2025
Prime example of total lack of ethics in software development. Don’t be like Meta/Facebook.
#SoftwareEthics #DarkPatterns
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/06/04/meta-yandex-android-deanonymizing-web-ids
Meta and Yandex Have Both Been De-Anonymizing Android Users’ Ostensibly Sandboxed Private Web Browsing Identifiers

Link to: https://localmess.github.io/

Daring Fireball
Hacker NewsApr 16, 2025

You're Probably Breaking the Llama Community License

https://notes.victor.earth/youre-probably-breaking-the-llama-community-license/

#HackerNews #LlamaCommunityLicense #BreakingLicense #OpenSource #CommunityGuidelines #SoftwareEthics

You're Probably Breaking the Llama Community License

You're Probably Breaking the Llama Community License

Notes
C.Feb 21, 2025

So, I'm (still) looking for work (senior Python backend developer with experience at a lot of other things, if you're curious). And the job postings I'm looking at bear a noticeable difference from the last time I had to actively look for a job a few years back.

I keep seeing stuff that's anywhere between borderline-unethical and inarguably-unethical-bordering-on-illegal.

An example I saw today was for a back-end developer. They didn't outright say it, but I got the impression they're building an "AI" model, or possibly selling training material to those that do. The "must-haves" for the position included wording to the effect of "extensive experience defeating anti-scraping measures".

Twenty years ago, that posting would have been on the dark web; actively working to defeat website operators / content owners protections of their web content? And today, that's just perfectly fine to put in a listing on a major job site?

Have the ethics of my industry slipped into the sewer in the last five years, and I just didn't notice until now?

#software #engineering #ethics #SoftwareEngineering #SoftwareEthics #job #posting #JobPosting #unethical