I know if I don't do it someone else will so it doesn't really make a difference - but at least I can retain some sense that I'm not the kind of person who does bad things, and that's worth something.
With web tracking you can at least be 'careless' in your implementation and 'accidentally' make it not work very well because most of the time nobody will ever test it properly. No way to get away with that with this "Bossware" stuff, it'll be in active use all the time.
Hope you find something better soon.
And users can normally install tracking blockers, either in browser or DNS-based (in your home's router), to at least prevent some thirdparty stuff from loading, so that's some defense against it.
Of course it's not always possible. But the chances that a user can do something against a web service tracking them are still better when compared to an employer's in-device tracking.
I completely agree with making sure things work as much as possible and look OK when stuff like that is blocked and even when JS is disabled.
Analytics can be useful and ads are a necessary evil for the prevalent web business model. Tracking is, ugh, I guess in theory acceptable with informed consent - though I've tested a couple of those "consent frameworks" that popped up after GDPR etc and even ignoring the dark UI patterns let's just say they didn't stand up well to scrutiny regarding doing what they say they do.
Nah it wasn't my intention to give that kind of impression[0]. I was just trying to add to the part I quoted from your comment (also the keywords from my first comment (not the one with the quote) were "barely" and "reluctantly").
It's not that I think it's okay, but I probably should have used the word "tolerate"[1] instead of "accept".
So basically I agree with you. I wouldn't work on something like GFW[2], or ad[3]/gambling/porn/blockchain/dating companies, or "VPN" services (in the diluted sense of the word), or Discord, or smart TVs, or software for IoT, stuff like that.
But I also know that if I want to get a remote job, I'll have to compromise somewhere.
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[0]: Mic and cam recordings can be trivially circumvented by anyone who knows how to turn on a computer, for example, but even if I have permission/access to them, I won't touch those things unless it's to do something the end user wants to do.
[1]: There's probably a word that better captures the nuance tho. English is not my first language.
[2]: Or anything from countries who don't even try to appear like they follow the GDPR.
[3]: Where the ads are the product/service being sold. Or in other words, if a company uses adsense it's a maybe-work-for-them-but-try-to-find-something-else; if the company is adsense, it's a straight no.
I recently struggled with this. My situation was likely different given the outcome. I was able to prevail on both the sense of decency in the client and their marketing firm by explaining the PII ramifications of what they asked for, and was also able to prevail on how their customers would perceive it.
Not everyone has the luxury of clients and marketing agencies like that. I wasn’t sure whether or not I did until I tried it. I can’t know for sure until it’s needed whether I would have simply refused. I really wrestled with the idea of not doing my level best work as a technical implementer.
I found Kevin Burke’s “Ethics” to be a really great way of working [1]. He based it on an earlier piece by Kyle Kingsbury [2].
For me it's just right to reject every potential company installing bossware alone for your personal health. People burn out under constant monitoring forced to be 100% productive all day. Have a bad day? Sad for you, it lowers your numbers. Sick leave instead? "Oh what a weak person, how unreliable". People with utilizing computers to effectively slave-drive people should be held responsible for the damage they cause. They should pay for the treatment if they drive people into depressions and burnout and neither health insurances or the society.
I also outright refused to work on a project for the RIAA at one time as well.
I noped the hell out of there without even having spent a week working for them. The fact that they even accepted those kind of jobs told me our sense of ethics was way too different, and I didn't want to contribute to that. If it were "just" web tracking, then I would be able to (barely) accept it, if a bit reluctantly. But that's more or less where I draw the line.
I still haven't found a job since then, and I'm currently barely surviving through freelance gigs. Professionally speaking, leaving that job might have been a mistake; but I still think it was the correct decision.