[cephi]

If someone is going to get paid to build it anyway, I might as well be the one getting paid for it.

[catoc]

This attitude is the reason “someone is going to get paid”.

If you see a unattended laptop in a coffeeshop, do you steal it because “someone will steal it, so it might as well be me”?

[nertirs3]

Why stop here? We can also blame the people, who implemented such features on the TVs, the people who worked at companies, who used data acquired by these devices for advertisement, the people who worked on the mentioned ads for such devices and the people who bought products from companies, that spend money on such marketing techniques.

At this point you might as well blame the average guy for global warming...

[aliceryhl]

Where I'm from, it probably would not be stolen by anyone.

[cryptonym]

Where do you draw the line?

Ready to do anything for money as long as it seems legal-ish or your ass is covered by hierarchy?

[abirch]

If something should not be done: make it illegal. Trying to have a gentlemen's agreement not to do something seems like a futile position.

[Sharlin]

Yeah, there are reasons why "someone is going to do it anyway" is a classic example of an ethically unsound argument.

[torstenvl]

It isn't ethically unsound. It's a commons/coordination problem. What is the optimal strategy in infinite-round prisoners dilemma with randomized opponents? The randomization effectively makes it an infinite series of one-round prisoners dilemma. So the best strategy is always to defect.

The only way you can change this is very high social trust, and all of society condemning anyone who ever defects.

[whacko_quacko]

Care to articulate them?