should you care who your customers are?

As a marketer, there’s a key principle that I live by: Know your customer. You have to really understand your customers in order to serve them well, with products that benefit them, and through messages that resonate. Customer empathy makes good sense and good business.

But what if you knew your customer used your products/services to run an illegitimate business? Should you care, and would you do business differently (would you do business with this customer at all)?

I came across an interesting CNN Money report, linking the rise of prostitution in Silicon Valley to certain technologies that have made payments in the industry much easier and more convenient. One example mentioned was the Square card reader, which is apparently used by sex workers in the Valley to accept credit card payments for their “consultative” services.

So, if you’re Square, do you care that your card reader potentially plays a prominent role in sex trade payments? What if you can’t actually identify the sex trade customers apart from your other non-sex trade customers (all you see is “Jane Doe” or “Joe Smith” with occupation “Consultant”)? Is it really your problem? Is it your responsibility?

I have to admit that I know very little about tech companies’ policies regarding these types of matters. I don’t even know what business or trade laws apply, or what precedents exist. What do firearms dealers do when their guns are used for crime? Or knife manufacturers? Or chemical labs (think Breaking Bad and Walter White’s Blue Sky business)? If it’s at the discretion of the producer/seller of the product/service, then I wonder how often producers and sellers think about their customers and whether or not their products and services are being used for bad or good.

Thoughts? Do enlighten!