> [Geofeedia] has let go 31 of its approximately 60 employees, a spokesman said Tuesday
We need to watch these people like hawks for at least five years. Too easy for them to jump ship and/or restart this crud under a new name.
Although I feel the product / business was unethical, that reflects more on leadership than it necessarily does on the individual employee. It's never a good outcome when decent people lose their livelihood; I wish all involved luck on the road ahead.
quite a stretch to call them decent. They knew what the product was and what it was used for.
They knew it was a social media aggregation tool which collects publicly shared information. They also knew it was used by law enforcement, public safety, emergency management, first responders, ambulance authorities, search and rescue orgs, and other people who benefit from a tool which streamlines the deluge of openly and decidedly public info people post online during emergency, crisis, and potentially criminal incidents. Sound like decent folk to me..
Pretending employees weren't very aware of the precise use case is being deliberately obtuse. It was well known for feature planning, prioritization, and development.
It's sad to see people lose their jobs, but this sounds like something that the world would be better off without.
Now the other half, then the 200 other similar firms, and we have a start.