It\u2019s not like any of us went to a store for unethical people and told the clerk to load us up with dozens of products and services developed by companies that have no regard for personal privacy, human rights, or the future of our planet.<\/p>\n
But here we sit. There\u2019s a good chance that the company that makes your phone\u2019s OS develops AI for the military and\/or uses legal loopholes to avoid paying fair taxes. And, in the US, your phone carrier probably helped destroy net neutrality. Let\u2019s not even get into the company you ordered your smart speakers from, who owns the email servers you use at home and work, and how the browser most people will read this story on is actively breaching their privacy.<\/p>\n
But what can we really<\/i> do about it?<\/span><\/p>\n Well, turns out there\u2019s a few resources that can help. One of those is Ethical.net<\/a>, an advocate site that\u2019s curated a list of links to ethical companies. It has information on non tech-related things too, but its sections<\/a> containing ethical alternatives to technology products and services is especially notable. <\/span><\/p>\n The companies listed are either independent, not-for-profit, open-source, or ethically-focused. That means you\u2019ll see the usual names \u2013 Duck Duck Go, Firefox, Signal \u2013 you\u2019ll also see lesser known alternatives for everything from team collaboration software to ethical game stores. <\/span><\/p>\n We may have painted ourselves into a corner with our reliance on big tech, ethically speaking, but the resources curated at Ethical.net provide a way out for those with the patience to try. <\/span><\/p>\n Extricating ourselves from our dependence on giant, dangerous companies is not only incredibly hard \u2013 big tech got big for a reason \u2013 but in many cases, it simply isn\u2019t feasible. Most people aren\u2019t tech luminaries or millionaire executives. We simply don\u2019t have the option to tell our shift manager or department head that we won\u2019t be using our work email anymore because it doesn\u2019t suit our ethics.<\/p>\n The good news is that real change \u2013 the kind that\u2019s going to save our planet and pressure the Ubers, Googles, and Amazons of the world to respect basic human dignity \u2013 doesn\u2019t require everyone to take radical measures.<\/p>\n Just check out the page, click through a few sections, and see if you can find any alternatives to some of those services or products you use now that you wish you didn\u2019t. Just by using ethical tech solutions you\u2019re supporting their development. You can take things a step further by providing feedback to the developers \u2013 especially if its an open-source community. Finally, spread the word whenever you find an ethical alternative you like.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2019\/06\/ethicalalt.jpg\")
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