Ethics in software development: The consequence of "Doing as you're told".

In recent news, the Head of VW's Diesel Competence Unit Jaimes Liang who was responsible for designing the software that enabled VW diesel cars to cheat on US emissions tests has been sentenced to 40 months in prison and fined $200 000.

What was Jaimes defense? He was instructed to do design a method to cheat the emissions test by his employer. He was simply following orders. This has not stood up in the US court of law and Jaimes was found guilty of defrauding the federal government in the US and violating the Clean Air act. The judge, Judge Cox, chose the higher end of the maximum allowable jail sentence for his crime and gave him 10 x the fine that the federal prosecutors asked for.

This is an interesting and enlightening decision, and one that software development professionals (around the world) should take close notice of. As a developer, or any member of a development team, you cannot bury your head in the sand and plead ignorance to the goings on in your product. "Just doing what you're asked" is not a good enough defense, and this case has made a good example of that.

In the age of big data, IoT and increasing connectivity; developers have more and more access and insight into confidential information and where it goes. Poking into data you're not authorized to, storing information that isn't yours to store, even "innocently" using client's data to test your system can find you guilty in various data privacy laws around the world.

Where does ethics come in? What is "right" and what is "wrong"? As an individual in your development team, you own the responsibility to understand what is legal and what is not, and you should never knowingly break the law even if you are asked to by your employer. At the end of the day; this case is point that as an individual you can and will be held accountable for your actions - do the right thing always!