Where Do Users Draw the Line? Ethical Concerns about Software

Software is an integral part of modern everyday life. However, recent ethical issues in software, such as privacy issues, censorship and behaviour manipulation are prevalent in software applications. To develop ethical software, it is crucial to understand the ethical concerns of its end-users. To provide these insights, we conducted a survey among 511 participants and analyze which ethical concerns they have regarding software and why. The results indicate that privacy and scam are important ethical concerns for the majority. Reasons included—but not limited to—are the exposure of personal sensitive information and fear of material loss. Our results show that end-users’ gender and education level significantly influence the perceived importance of several ethical concerns. Moreover, whether someone is from the Global North or Global South significantly influences how one would respond when faced with an ethical issue.