A senior software developer at global fintech firm ApexPay, accused of deliberately implementing code that secretly overcharged low-balance users, has told an industry disciplinary panel that he was simply complying with official company protocol.
Developer 'K' faces permanent banishment from the Professional Software Engineering Council at a hearing in London.
The developer’s defence argued that aggressive monetisation targets set by the executive board were the root cause of the predatory algorithm. The panel heard that the Vice President of Engineering, who supervised 'Operation Liquidity', explicitly ordered developers to bypass standard ethical checks and "prioritize immediate revenue harvesting above all else." The defence representative stated: "My client only faces sanction because he was obedient to the precise, mandatory instructions of his technical superiors."
Developer 'K' has maintained that he is not personally to blame. The panel will continue hearing testimony next week.
Identify one psychological issue raised by the above article. Support your answer with evidence from the article.
128 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Responses to people in authority, covering Milgram (1963): Obedience and Bocchiaro et al. (2012): Disobedience and whistle-blowing. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.