Google Engineers Refused to Build Security Tool to Win Military Contracts

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Keio University Distinguished Professor  
Tokyo Japan  Cell +81 ‭‭70  4490 7275‬‬

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: June 24, 2018 at 00:05:46 GMT+9
> To: nnsquad () nnsquad org
> Subject: [ NNSquad ] Google Engineers Refused to Build Security Tool to Win Military Contracts
>
>
> Google Engineers Refused to Build Security Tool to Win Military Contracts
>
> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-21/google-engineers-refused-to-build-security-tool-to-win-military-contracts
>
>      Earlier this year, a group of influential software engineers in
>    Google's cloud division surprised their superiors by refusing to
>    work on a cutting-edge security feature. Known as "air gap," the
>    technology would have helped Google win sensitive military
>    contracts. The coders weren't persuaded their employer should be
>    using its technological might to help the government wage war,
>    according to four current and former employees. After hearing
>    the engineers' objections, Urs Holzle, Google's top technical
>    executive, said the air gap feature would be postponed, one of
>    the people said. Another person familiar with the situation said
>    the group was able to reduce the scope of the feature. The act
>    of rebellion ricocheted around the company, fueling a growing
>    resistance among employees with a dim view of Google's yen for
>    multi-million-dollar government contracts. The engineers became
>    known as the "Group of Nine" and were lionized by like-minded
>    staff. The current and former employees say the engineers' work
>    boycott was a catalyst for larger protests that convulsed the
>    company's Mountain View, California, campus and ultimately
>    forced executives to let a lucrative Pentagon contract called
>    Project Maven expire without renewal. They declined to name the
>    engineers and requested anonymity to discuss a private matter.
>
> - - -
>
> One of the side-effects of cultivating an ethical corporate culture, is
> that you tend to attract ethical employees -- which isn't always
> "convenient" down the line.
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren 



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