Code With a Conscience: Ethics in Software Development

Worldwide, software developers are competing for success in the dynamic and highly unpredictable market. They are acquiring various skills to keep themselves updated. They are learning new concepts and languages, adapting themselves to the latest tools and frameworks, and keeping up with advanced technology integration. However, one area that’s crucial in these times but is ignored by many is the ethical aspect of technological advancement in software development. 

Through this blog, we are discussing various angles of ethics in software development, the lack of the same, the impact on society as a whole, the challenges in dealing with malpractices, and the efforts that the top software development companies are putting in to maintain the integrity of this field. So, let’s take it up one by one, starting from the problem to the solution!   

Cause of the Problem

With rapid technological advancement, the challenges in software development are growing manifold. Globally, debates are on for issues such as automation, AI, and big data, and how all of these becoming an integral part of software development can pose threats to society!

What are the perceived threats?

Profits vs. Privacy

Businesses work for the ultimate aim of profits. They are competing with each other to maximize their profits. For this, it is essential to attract new users and retain the existing. Customization and personalization in user experiences are recognized as the key to attracting and retaining users and ensuring that the application succeeds. 

In the process of offering personalization, businesses must collect user data, do profiling, and analyze the data for better outcomes. But who decides the limit to what data should be collected? Businesses need data such as user choices, preferences, and patterns of search, and many collect every bit of user interaction through the application and store it to analyze it! Is it not a breach of user privacy? 

AI Bias 

AI models learn from historical data and so largely depend on the quality of this data. If this data itself is biased or poor in quality, the software application promotes discrimination and bias, which is ethically a serious matter. As such, developers cannot be blamed for the data that is fed into the system, but the application should definitely aim at eliminating bad quality data or flagging such issues to prevent bad outcomes.  

Security Vulnerabilities

Many things are not in control of the developers, yet they still face the blame and brunt of it! Businesses often give tough and unachievable deadlines to the developers, pressuring them to release the app without much security testing. Some businesses do not want to spend on continuous maintenance, and in the absence of updates, even a secure app can become unsafe with time and technology changes.  

Dark Design Practices

Not all the vulnerabilities are circumstantial or just byproducts of developing an engaging or performing app. Some businesses deliberately play with privacy, transparency, and security, only to achieve high profits or even, at times, just to keep the user engaged. For example, many apps of websites make it difficult for the user to cancel subscriptions or opt out of certain features. Many don’t understand the consequences of such acts.    

Consequences of Ignoring Ethics

With the abrupt or uncontrolled use of certain technologies, the biggest concern is on the ethical front. While some of these technologies are contributing to development by making lives easier for users, there have to be clear guidelines on where and when to stop! 

Haven’t you read articles on AI replacing humans in thousands of jobs worldwide? There are many such issues being discussed. Undoubtedly, there are serious consequences of ignoring ethics while marching towards development and technological advancement. Let’s now look into these consequences. 

Many countries have strict data privacy laws, such as GDPR (Europe) and CCPA(US). Businesses violating the regulations face fines, lawsuits, and loss of trust. Poor ethics around security also cause data breaches, leading to financial losses. Thus, ethical decision-making is crucial in software development, and ensuring that all aspects of ethical conduct are taken care of is core to quality software development. 

Irrespective of the regional aspect of the regulatory norms, software development services worldwide must keep themselves aware and prepared for addressing these. For example, software development firms in Australia developing applications that have users in Europe can’t ignore GDPR.   

Should Developers Give Up Technological Advancement?

You must have heard about seminars and conferences, especially for discussing the scary consequences of misuse of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Big Data. It can convince many that these technologies can lead to bigger, more serious consequences. And, for sure, it is worth giving a thought if the technologies are interfering with user privacy or security!

Then you will also hear many debating why these technologies are needed and if we are fine without them! So, the first question that we need to answer is whether we can live without these technologies, or, rather, if we should!

Benefits of Technological Advancements in Software Development

If we discuss how these technologies are benefitting the world, the blog will continue for pages! So, before going any further, let’s summarize the positives of these technologies and what we have gained from them. 

Artificial Intelligence

AI enhances code quality by providing intelligent code suggestions, auto-completions, and error detection, helping developers write cleaner and efficient code. AI is also used for analyzing code bugs, security vulnerabilities, and performance in real time. This helps in code maintainability, ensuring reliability.  

AI has also empowered the automation of many manual tasks that were prone to delays and human errors. It further eliminates human biases when it comes to decision-making based on voluminous data. 

While there are many benefits of AI in applications and software development, the biggest turning point brought by AI is the delivery of personalized user experiences using data of user interaction, patterns, and behavior. Most applications are offering products and services based on user preferences, which helps the user save time, keeps them engaged, and increases the probability of conversion. 

Automation

Almost all of us have experienced the advantages of automation in business processes to the extent that we can’t even imagine how bad it would have been in the absence of automation. Automation increases productivity and facilitates continuous improvement despite scalability. It also reduces human errors irrespective of the bulkiness of tasks. 

As human intervention reduces, systems can be configured to run smoothly without security risks. 

Big Data 

It is important to understand your market, competitors, and users to succeed in the market. However, understanding all of these is not easy, and it requires a lot of time, effort, and money. So, most businesses had to manage with limited data and so could not succeed in gauging the market, competition, and users. 

The problem becomes more pronounced when a software development outsourcing company in India develops an application for users in Canada. Previously, it was very difficult to assess the market and users of far-off locations. But now, with the availability of big data, the developers in India have access to data as much as the software development companies in Canada. Over the years, big data has become a boon for businesses. 

Big data collected through various sources, including user interactions, gives an accurate idea of user preferences and behavior. The patterns are analyzed and interpreted for better decision-making in product design, support, advertising, marketing, and many other business purposes. 

Predictive analytics also helps businesses predict user behavior over certain periods and develop applications to act accordingly to cater to seasonal demands or manage the times of highs and lows in business cycles.  

Big data analytics further helps in performance optimization by analyzing the best practices and trends. It is used in studying the sources of fraud and the vulnerabilities that cause breaches, overall helping developers to enhance cybersecurity. 

Developers Taking a Lead in Addressing Ethical Dilemmas

The leading software developers are adept at addressing the ethical concerns. Here’s what they are doing. 

Adopting Ethical Coding

Developers must follow industry standards for secure and transparent software development. Privacy must be a part of the design itself. Regular audits of AI models and data channels are a must for the best outcomes. 

Prioritizing User Privacy

Privacy in software development often faces dilemmas as data is needed for a lot of purposes, including offering personalized experiences. However, the best practices in software development were always focused on collecting minimal data that is necessary for offering the right functionality. Also, incorporating privacy settings where the user can control privacy levels is always a good idea, as it also makes the users trust your application.  

Promoting Transparency

AI models involved in decision-making should also provide enough reasoning for such decisions so that the users can put their discretion on what and when to reject. 

Keeping Updated 

Like in all areas of software development, it is necessary for developers to keep themselves aware and updated on ethical issues related to software development, especially involving high-end technologies such as AI. For this, the developers must participate in ethical software development groups, seminars, workshops, etc. The culture of remote, online events has made it possible for developers to attend such events virtually. For example, software developers in India can participate in such events taking place in Australia, New Zealand, or anywhere else in the world without any hassles.  

Wrapping Up!

Over the decades, effective software development has evolved from writing code, testing, and periodic maintenance to taking complete responsibility for the application that you are developing. The top software development companies have achieved this position by managing these end-to-end, and businesses are willing to shell a few extra bucks for this responsibility that they are sharing. Finding such developers who will take care of everything is the key to success!

Have you identified the best software development company for your next project? If not, Goodtal’s list will help you in your search.