[em-bee]

we can separate technology from ethics, but should we? and if yes, how do we do it? the problem is not that we couldn't, but that the debate around this seems to be polarized. either the separation is 100% or there is no separation at all.

if we take google, amazon, etc, for example, clearly their products are of benefit to a lot of people but on the other side they do a lot of bad things too. if we didn't insist on separating ethics from technology then maybe more people would protest and refuse to use their tools and services. on the other hand, sometimes you are forced to use a tool because there are no alternatives, or because you can't afford to quit your job or reject a client over it. so some separation is necessary.

mullvad is a milder case. the company is clearly doing something positive, and many just disagree with the personal actions/opinions of one of their founders. some people are comfortable to separate that and others are not.

personally i would approach this from the question: how strongly do i want to send a message to this person that i am not ok with their actions. how strong i feel vs how much i depend on the tool/service will affect my choice.