This is a question of ethics and ones moral compass. Regards, Scott
On Friday, September 18, 2015, Richard Pinion <rpin...@netscape.com> wrote: > I understand the point you are making, that an employee is told > to do something that they know is illegal or immoral, and they > do it anyway. Having worked for a non-profit health insurance > company many, many years ago, I was often asked if we intentionally > programmed the system to automatically reject a claim on first > submission, regardless of whether the claim met all criteria for > processing. I was never asked to do that, nor was I aware of > any such code within their claims processing system. Yet, the > public perspective was that the company did that. > > Not sure how that story fits into the discussion at hand, but > it is late in the day, and I'm looking for ways to fill my time > until "Miller" time. > > > > --- jba...@ngssallc.com <javascript:;> wrote: > > From: "John P. Baker" <jba...@ngssallc.com <javascript:;>> > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU <javascript:;> > Subject: Re: Volkswagen Programmed Vehicle to Deactivate Pollution Control > Systems > Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 16:54:45 -0400 > > Richard, > > I think that there is a big difference here in that the programming staff > at Volkswagen, if the initial reports are accurate, could not reasonably > not have known that what they were coding was in furtherance of a crime. > > John P. Baker > > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > <javascript:;>] On Behalf Of Richard Pinion > Sent: Friday, September 18, 2015 4:30 PM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU <javascript:;> > Subject: Re: Volkswagen Programmed Vehicle to Deactivate Pollution Control > Systems > > As an employee of a company who deals with HIPPA controlled/protected > data, I feel very uncomfortable knowing that I can be charged either with a > civil or criminal violation in the event that HIPPA data, under my control, > is accidentally lost or stolen. And I am not talking about an intentional > leak of protected patient information. What really floored me this year, > when I took the yearly HIPPA certification online class, was HIPPA is > administered under the Office of Civil Rights. > > Regardless of my personal political theology, it makes me uncomfortable > that if I offend a person or persons, the friendly neighborhood OCR > representative could be asked to "look at" my activities as relating to > HIPPA compliance. I'm sure an unbiased and diligent OCR employee might > uncover some violation(s) if they > investigated long and hard enough. > > --- jba...@ngssallc.com <javascript:;> wrote: > > From: "John P. Baker" <jba...@ngssallc.com <javascript:;>> > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU <javascript:;> > Subject: Volkswagen Programmed Vehicle to Deactivate Pollution Control > Systems > Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 15:56:34 -0400 > > > http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2015/09/18/epa-says-vw-intentionally-v > iolates-clean-air-standards/?intcmp=hpbt1 > > In the referenced article, it is being reported that Volkswagen had their > programming staff intentionally program the computers controlling the > pollution control systems on certain 2008-2015 Audi and Volkswagen diesel > vehicles to activate the full pollution control systems ONLY when the > vehicle was undergoing official emissions testing. At all other times, the > pollution control systems were inactive and the vehicles were putting out > emissions as high as 40 times the legal limit. > > The company is facing $18 billion in fines. > > It is unclear whether the Volkswagen executives who directed the scheme > will face criminal charges. > > It is also unclear whether the programming staff who wrote the code will > face criminal charges. > > Even though this is not a mainframe issue, it is an issue that directly > affects us and our industry. Hackers are already a significant black eye. > This is much worse. It makes legitimate programmers look suspect. > > It raises the uncomfortable question of whether or not we can or should be > held criminally liable if we are directed to code a program or a change to > a program that we know would have the effect of violating the law and we > then knowingly proceed to code that program or a change to a program. > > It has been suggested in the past that programmers should be licensed > and/or bonded. > > I am not particularly fond of either idea. However, I would like to hear > what others think. > > John P. Baker > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email > to lists...@listserv.ua.edu <javascript:;> with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > _____________________________________________________________ > Netscape. 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