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To make a long story short, my daughter has allergies and she was sick yesterday. I was supposed to come yesterday, but the flight I was initially on was delayed, so they moved me to another flight that ended up being delayed.
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In the middle of that, I somehow lost my bag during one of the five Ubers I took that day. The Uber driver supposedly left it at a Safeway while picking up his next passenger instead of calling me back when I requested my bag. One star for that! Thankfully, about an hour ago, Safeway called and said, 'Hey, somebody left this bag here, and it's got your phone number.' I said, 'Fantastic! I'll have my babysitter come get it.' So all's well that ends well.
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Now, who am I and what am I doing here? Why is there a random lawyer on stage at the Ruby on Rails conference? The answer is that the majority of my career has focused on trying to save engineers and coders from themselves. Not that you all need saving all the time, but sometimes it's about helping to refine ideas and understand possible blind spots.
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I want you all to be vocal and interactive; I am more of an interactive person. Typically, talking at people isn’t my jam. I know most lawyers aren't that way, but it makes me a special unicorn: a black woman lawyer working in tech who doesn’t like to talk at people.
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Today, we are going to discuss ethical issues in the law and tech, particularly around product ideation, creation, and shipping. The reason I believe this message is important is that you are truly on the front lines. In the last two years, we've seen design, engineering, and coding lead to the subversion of democracy and various other mishaps.
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I apologize if anyone believed there was no subversion of democracy; I have beachfront property in Idaho to sell you! The reality is that you all are on the frontline of defense, and I understand that some of you may feel like junior coders or may be more senior. Raising your voice in a room, particularly as a woman or a person of color, can be challenging. It’s hard to raise dissenting voices.
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For many of you, raising your voice may cause worry about how your ideas are received, particularly when considering issues of accessibility and marketing in product development. Every good lawyer will tell you that diction matters; how you define a word is paramount.
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Diversity, inclusion, equity, and parity are kind of the four buzzwords associated with discussions about diversity in tech. Raise your hands if you actually like the word 'diversity.' Personally, I don’t, as I’m more of a fan of inclusion. Inclusion seems easier in the context of leading discussions because everyone has a story about exclusion.
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When you lead with ‘diversity,’ I find that people often check out because they think it doesn't apply to them. They think, 'Well, I’m not a woman, I’m not disabled, I’m not LGBTQ; this doesn’t pertain to me.' But it is very much about you because you are present in rooms that marginalized folks aren't in. Therefore, it is imperative that you think through these blind spots and issues and be an ally.
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Does anyone know how equity got thrown into this mix? If you do, just raise your hand. So we’re going to learn something today! First, let’s define diversity. I see that as counting – it's spring, and tech companies are rolling out their diversity reports on how many black people, women, differently abled individuals, and veterans they employ.
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However, that doesn’t inform us on how these people's work is valued at the company; it just indicates who is occupying seats. Inclusion is the more significant piece because it means those individuals have a seat at the table, helping to design, ideate, and test things that will be shipped. Without inclusivity, diversity doesn’t matter.
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Equity means you’re actually seen at the right levels. When you look at diversity reports, note how many people are in senior management. Typically, black, brown, and differently-abled individuals are not in leadership roles, and that’s a problem.
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Principles and profit go hand in hand; everyone wants to ship fast. However, that often leads to things being missed. I served as an attorney at Facebook and during product creation discussions, particularly around Live features, some of us questioned, 'Do you have a kill switch?' The response was, 'We don’t need that; people self-regulate behavior.' Well, that’s not always the case.
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The self-serve ad platform allowed people to exclude certain demographics (e.g., targeting ads solely to white women between 25 and 40) and inadvertently led to housing discrimination. If someone who could have raised that issue was present or had considered how a tool could be used for nefarious purposes, such discussions would emerge. Ethical concerns arise when we think about the consequences of product decisions.
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A fun fact about that HUD lawsuit is that the only reason it was filed was because Facebook wouldn’t allow the Department of Housing and Urban Development to access Facebook data. I see this as a positive sign; they would rather be sued than let someone have unfettered access to your profile.
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When discussing ethical issues, I’d outline three big ones: The lack of diversity can expose you to bad product creation; for instance, consider the live feature or as an ad platform. Access payment via Messenger allows for certain abuses, like hosting activities on a free platform that could be exploited.
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Another concern is unintended disparate impacts, particularly in AI, such as facial recognition technology, which often misinterprets slang, invalidating languages and dialects of various communities. If you don’t have diverse teams problem-solving these technologies, you’re likely to create tools that are less effective and inclusive.
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Lastly, think about marketing and publicizing your products; I once saw a Twitter ad that played into very condescending stereotypes about a Latinx family needing lottery tickets to escape poverty. Who approved that? Other examples include misconstrued advertising, such as the ancestry.com ad that romanticized slavery.
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You need to consider who is in the room making decisions. Diversity isn’t just about hiring; it’s about engaging different voices when making hard decisions that shape products. Sometimes having a conversation about economic equity also feeds back into these decisions, like understanding societal complexities within gentrified communities.
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Legal and ethical issues intersect with diversity problems, as seen with Cambridge Analytica and voter suppression. Essentially, data was taken from individuals on a platform and used to suppress minority participation in elections, which creates significant ramifications.
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As the tech landscape evolves, more conversations should center around how we handle data—specifically that access should not equate lack of accountability or transparency. Apple’s cognitive diversity issues show us that some companies confuse differing beliefs with actual diversity.
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Authentic diversity includes different lived experiences, so fostering meaningful conversations in tech spaces is imperative. This also extends to addressing why companies must invest in a culture that values diversity.
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I encourage everyone to be proactive about inclusivity. I’m here to stress that it should be a foundational aspect of your thought process and product development. When working on initiatives, think about whether blind spots arise.
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Articulate your perspectives and listen actively to community voices that are often left out in these spaces. Having representatives from marginalized communities involved in discussions leads to better outcomes.
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Lastly, remember that this isn't just a short-term situation; this is a long-distance run. Stay engaged, be thoughtful, and ask yourself how you can integrate these principles into actual practice.
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So, let’s open it up for questions. I love for things to be interactive, and I promise this is a safe space. Feel free to ask me anything!
