Ethical Use of Technology

“Technology has the incredible power to change the world. It’s how we use it that determines if the impact is good or bad. At Iternal, we believe in building technology that can be used to positively change the world and better society for generations to come.” – John Byron Hanby, IV, Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

It’s our collective responsibility to ethically use technology.

Over the last 150 years, the number of technological milestones that shape our world today, are simply incredible. There has been so much positivity that has come from innovation in technology, but we also recognize the massive responsibility we as the human race bear in responsibly creating and developing technologies. We believe the technology and innovations we develop should always be used in an ethical manner that upholds human decency and the fundamental human rights granted to every living person. We know that ethical and responsible use of our technology will lead to a better world for everyone, and by extension, more success for our customers. We take great care, to the best of our abilities, to ensure our technology and the implications of our technology are clearly thought through and discussed both internally within Iternal and externally with experts.

We strive to have meaningful and open discussions with our employees, customers, and partners. Hearing a variety of perspectives and having productive discussions allows us to do our best to answer and create a path forward for really complex decisions. We also rely on the advice and guidance from experts in both corporate and academic circles to help our teams create a framework for responsibility.

If you would like to support our goal of responsible technology use, or have something to report, please contact us at [email protected]

 

 

Beyond the significant and very important social impacts of our decisions, smart, ethical, and responsible choices are also good for business. A Business and technology ethics survey conducted by Salesforce Research in October 2018 found:

CONSUMERS SEE HUMAN RIGHTS AS A BUSINESS IMPERATIVE

  • 90% of consumers believe companies have a responsibility to improve the state of the world
  • 87% of consumers believe companies have a responsibility to advocate for human rights

GOOD ETHICS ARE GOOD BUSINESS

% of consumers who:

  • Are more loyal to companies that demonstrate good ethics 86%
  • Would consider not buying from companies that demonstrate poor ethics 75%
  • Spend more money with companies that demonstrate good ethics 69%

TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP OR HARM SOCIETY

% of consumers who are concerned about emerging technology’s potential to bring:

  • Misinformation 93%
  • Surveillance 91%
  • Job losses 88%
  • Threats to democracy 85%
  • Damage to the natural environment 83%
  • Increased/widened inequality 77%
  • 67% of consumers say technology is neither good nor bad — how it’s used is what matters
  • 81% of consumers believe emerging technology can make the world a better place

Base: 2,403 consumers in the United States.

To read the original study please visit this page.