Does your tech have a conscience?

For a long time, most people chose technology for very practical reasons: price, convenience, and popularity. The cheapest phone, the app everyone else used, or the service with the best features usually won.

Recently, though, another factor has started entering the conversation: ethics.

More people are beginning to think about questions like:

• Who makes this technology?
• What are they doing with it?
• Who might it empower—or harm?
• Where is my data going?

This shift doesn’t represent a single organised movement. Instead, it’s a mix of discussions happening across tech communities, governments, and online forums. But the underlying idea is the same: technology choices can reflect values, not just convenience.

AI Ethics and the “Should I Use This?” Question

Artificial intelligence has become one of the clearest examples of this debate.

A recent controversy involved the AI company Anthropic and its chatbot Claude. Anthropic reportedly refused to allow its system to be used by the U.S. government in ways that could involve surveillance or autonomous weapons.

When negotiations failed, the U.S. government turned instead to OpenAI, whose systems—including ChatGPT—were approved for use in government environments.

This sparked a wave of debate online. Some users argued that collaborating with governments on military-related AI crosses an ethical line. Others pointed out that governments have historically worked with technology companies, especially when national security is involved.

For a small but vocal group of users, the response was simple: stop using ChatGPT and switch to other AI systems instead.

Whether or not those boycotts have a lasting impact, the episode highlights how AI tools are increasingly judged not just on their capabilities, but also on what people believe the companies behind them stand for.

Smartphones: Ethical Choices Get Complicated

Ethical tech debates aren’t limited to software. They also show up in hardware decisions, especially smartphones.

For example, some users decide they want to move away from the ecosystem of Apple. That can mean switching to Android devices from companies like Samsung or other manufacturers.  (Please visit our shop for a quote on a business mobile of your choice).

But these decisions quickly become complicated.

Many Android devices are produced by Chinese companies such as Xiaomi, Huawei, or Oppo. For some buyers, that raises concerns about geopolitics, state influence, or data security.

Others focus on entirely different ethical issues, such as labour conditions in manufacturing, environmental impact, or device repairability.

In other words, avoiding one ethical concern can easily introduce another. Choosing technology ethically often means navigating a maze of trade-offs rather than finding a perfect answer.

Europe’s Push for “Digital Sovereignty”

Another version of ethical tech choice focuses less on corporate behaviour and more on geopolitics and control over digital infrastructure.

Across Europe, policymakers and technologists have increasingly talked about the idea of digital sovereignty—reducing reliance on foreign technology companies.

This conversation partly stems from concerns that large American platforms dominate essential services like cloud computing, search, productivity tools, and operating systems. Some governments worry that relying too heavily on a small number of foreign tech companies could create economic or security vulnerabilities.

Projects like EuroStack aim to build a stronger European technology ecosystem covering everything from cloud platforms to AI infrastructure. A grassroots example is European Alternative to Digital Products which lists tools designed or hosted in Europe, things like replacements for Google services or Microsoft Office.

The goal isn’t necessarily to eliminate global tech companies entirely. Instead, supporters argue that building a healthier ecosystem of regional options could reduce dependence on a handful of dominant platforms.

But, but…

Some switches are easier than others. Free, open-source alternatives to Microsoft have existed for decades, and because they can save in formats which are compatible with Office you can make the switch relatively easily. But if everybody else is using WhatsApp, there’s little incentive to move to Signal or Telegram. And if you’ve got the ChatGPT app on your phone, it’s simpler to just continue using it than installing Claude, or stopping using AI altogether because of concerns over its energy and water use.  It all depends on what drives your buying choices!