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https://www.engprax.com/post/75-of-software-engineers-faced-retaliation-last-time-they-report-wrongdoing>
"London & Edinburgh; 20th November 2023 - As AI continued to bring public
concerns about computer systems to the forefront, earlier this year FTX’s
former Director of Engineering plead guilty to his role in wrongdoing at the
now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange. Meanwhile, the Horizon IT Inquiry
continues to investigate how faulty accounting software has been blamed for
multiple suicides and what has been described as “the most widespread
miscarriage of justice in UK history”, with those wrongly imprisoned including
a pregnant woman.
An investigation1 conducted by Dr Junade Ali CEng FIET has uncovered systematic
ongoing failures affecting software engineers and therefore computer systems
used by broader society.
53% of software engineers surveyed by the polling firm Survation say they’ve
suspected wrongdoing at work. Of those who speak up, 75% report facing
retaliation the last time they reported wrongdoing to their employers. This
amounts to ~145,000 active software engineers in the UK having experienced
retaliation the last time they reported wrongdoing to their employers, more
victims than there are Regular Forces in the British Army, Royal Air Force and
Royal Navy combined. In instances where software engineers stayed silent, the
top two reasons cited were potential retaliation from management (59%) and
potential retaliation from colleagues (44%).
Some companies have also sought to bypass public interest disclosure laws by
getting employees to agree to warranty clauses during severance stipulating
they know of no grounds to make protected disclosures. Such protected
disclosures can include matters related to criminality, failure to comply with
legal obligations, miscarriages of justice, health and safety dangers, or
environmental damage."
Via Diane A, who wrote "Well yeah… I’ve seen things they absolutely would have
“disappeared” me and left no evidence I existed…"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
