Code Ethics Review Process

This question asks whether your development team has a formal process to check if the software you're building could cause ethical problems. Think of it like a safety check for fairness - ensuring your code doesn't accidentally discriminate against certain users, violate privacy expectations, or create harmful outcomes. It's particularly important if you use AI or machine learning that makes decisions about people.

Having an ethical code review process protects your company from PR disasters and legal liability. Without it, you risk building features that discriminate against protected groups, leading to lawsuits, regulatory fines, and damaged reputation. Companies with strong ethical review processes build more trustworthy products, attract socially conscious customers, and avoid the massive costs of fixing ethical problems after launch. This is especially critical for enterprise sales where buyers scrutinize vendor ethics.

The biggest mistake is assuming ethical issues only apply to AI companies - any software that processes user data or makes decisions can have ethical implications. Another common error is treating ethics as a one-time checkbox rather than an ongoing review process integrated into your development cycle.