HP names ethics officer
HP today announced the appointment of an Ethics Officer, Jon Hoak, former GC of NCR.
I don't know Mr. Hoak and know nothing about him except for his record at NCR which was apparently very good and the fact that he is a lawyer.
I'm disappointed that he is an attorney because it's a continuation of the national delusion where we confuse good behavior with legal behavior. Ethical officers shouldn't even be needed, right? Everyone should be an ethical officer. But if you have to have one, IMHO, they should be anything but a lawyer. Same as the Chief Privacy Officer. There should be tension with the General Counsel, not collegial legal back-slapping.
Ethics is an everyman's sport. Privacy is a universal right. The law is a game that everyone has to play and ony some of us are allowed to know the rules.
Posted on October 13, 2006
