> Its written into our Code of Ethics in Canada that all Engineers are to put the public good above that of our own personal gain or that of our employer.
That's great. Which part of "protecting the motherland against terrorists" would not satisfy that code? I'd bet that the vast majority of the (necessarily quite competent) engineers that built the NSA infrastructure believed (and possibly still do) that that is what they're doing. It would surprise me severely if a majority of them was making a trade-off between "family eats" and "the right thing to do".
We're not talking about people that plausibly do not have alternative employment available. These are highly competent engineers and they could go work for any number of companies with decidedly less evil businesses if they felt their ethics were being compromised.
That's great. Which part of "protecting the motherland against terrorists" would not satisfy that code? I'd bet that the vast majority of the (necessarily quite competent) engineers that built the NSA infrastructure believed (and possibly still do) that that is what they're doing. It would surprise me severely if a majority of them was making a trade-off between "family eats" and "the right thing to do".
We're not talking about people that plausibly do not have alternative employment available. These are highly competent engineers and they could go work for any number of companies with decidedly less evil businesses if they felt their ethics were being compromised.