Martin Kleppmann

Not really wanting to prescribe too much like a particular approach there, but

at least to point out there is this thing such as data protection legislation now, which we do have to think about in the architecture of our data systems.

And there is an ethical responsibility.

People say that you get into tech in order to change the world.

If you want to change the world, then thinking about the impact that your technologies have on the world is part of your job.

It's a really essential part, really.

And something that engineers are often prone to ignoring is we focus just on the technology and less on the effects that that technology will have out in the real world.

And so this chapter is really just an attempt to get people thinking about it a bit.

And it's sort of a...

a reflection of my own process as well, because as I started working on these systems, I didn't really think about ethical things particularly either.

So I felt like I had to put that section in there for myself as well as for the readers, because it was my own way of grappling with these questions a bit.

Exactly.

I think engineers have a very strong voice there.

And like we talked about earlier, engineers need to articulate trade-offs in such a way that business leaders can then make educated decisions about how to address those trade-offs.

And part of those trade-offs is pointing out risks.

And risks include not just technical risks, like the data might get corrupted, but they include societal risks as well.

For example, like what negative effects, what harms might arise from this technology, what sort of unintended consequences possibly, or what like risk for reputational damage if it turns out that a technology has some harmful effects.

You know, that can reflect badly on the company that made it.

And that has to be part of the trade-off discussion.

And I just want people to make intentional and deliberate decisions about those kind of things and not just sweep it under the carpet.