Thread by @soychicka

Problem: there are plenty of companies whose products have 'features' - or are considering adding features to their apps - that enable privacy violations that enable domestic and sexual violence and stalkers.

& there is nowhere for whistleblowers to go.
washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost…

When the Office of Technology Assessment is finally revived, there needs to be a path to those working in the tech industry to seek help in obtaining information about the law surrounding privacy protections, help dissuading employers from pursuing these projects,

or a pathway for whistleblowers to report projects that violate user privacy regulations (which, unfortunately, we also need), and a mechanism for those projects to be shut down (ie stop collecting/analyzing any user data) until any violations are remediated.

Do we need to ensure that any for-profit, enterprise, or publicly-accessible (i.e. post beta, > 50 users) apps and sites that collect personal data adhere to a basic set of standards for protecting user identity and data?

Should there be some sort of licensing for PII?

I don't know.

All I know for sure is that this is one area where there needs to be a monopoly on trust, because if numerous private initiatives spring up, any certifications will end up being as useless as calling products 'natural.'

But NO ONE involved in software development should ever avoid saying something about a project that puts users and the general public at risk because they risk losing their job;

whistleblower protections for those in tech would help keep us ALL safe.