Where do users draw the line? An extensive study into perceptions of ethical concerns in software and users’ readiness to act on them

Abstract Software is a crucial component of modern everyday life. However, ethical issues in software, such as privacy issues, censorship and behavior manipulation are prevalent in software applications. To develop ethical software, it is essential to understand the ethical concerns of its end-users. To provide these insights, we conducted a survey among 725 participants and analyze which ethical concerns they have regarding software and why, as well as the actions they are willing to take when confronted with ethical issues in software. The results indicate that privacy, scam and misinformation are important ethical concerns for the wide majority, with scam prompting the strongest reaction in all unethical software scenarios. Reasons for these concerns included—but are not limited to—the exposure of personal sensitive information, perceived societal harm and fear of material loss. The most common reactions to ethical issues in software are to stop using the software and encourage friends and family to do the same. We also find that perceived importance and reactions to unethical scenarios in software products varies significantly by gender, education, and continent.