  While some users may assume that search engines are “neutral” or value-free, critics argue that search engine technology, as well as computer technology in general, is value-laden and thus biased because of the kinds of features typically included in their design. For example, Brey (1998, 2004) and others (see, for instance, Friedman and Nissenbaum 1996) have argued that computer technology has certain built-in features that tend to favor some values over others. Brey worries that some of these technological features have embedded values that are “morally opaque.” Because the values embedded in these features are not always apparent to the technical experts who develop computer systems, Brey believes that a methodological framework, which expands upon what he calls the “standard” applied-ethics model typically used in “mainstream computer ethics,” is needed to identify or disclose the “hidden” values at the design stage. He refers to this model as “disclosive computer ethics” (Brey 2004, 55–56).