Data Privacy as an Ethical Issue – The Case of Facebook Strengths Weaknesses Customer service Low Profit Margins Strong Brand Name Past Failures Market leader Limited physical presence Adaptability and Innovation Imitable business model Resources Opportunities Threats Sustaining market leadership Cyber Security Issues Global expansion Intense Rivalry in the Technology Sector Strategic partnerships Cultural challenges Increasing physical presence Local Regulation Creating own crypto currency International Regulation Improving policies and company culture Geopolitics The world has exponentially become more digital as technology advances. Several aspects of societal life including entertainment, business, education and even politics have shifted from media and physical spaces to the cyberspace. In order to take part in the use of the technologies that have emerged, organizations and individuals increasingly have to avail sensitive information about themselves and their activities to online platforms. It is at this point that the data privacy ethical dilemma arises. On one hand, in order for online platforms and provisions such as ecommerce to operate efficiently, they need user data such as identities and bank details. Furthermore, knowing the behavioral patterns and interests of consumers is a useful way of improving the customer experience. Regardless of all these positive benefits of availing data to online platforms, online sharing of data also has a downside that borders on ethics. In the first place, technology companies are ethically expected to ensure that the data they collect from users is securely kept and not compromised by any parties either from within the technology company or outside. Unfortunately, headlines in the media have repeatedly reported incidences where technology companies have unethically sold what is supposed to be the private data of their users. For example, in 2018, Facebook made headlines when Christopher Wylie, former employee of Cambridge Analytica leaked that the private data of millions of Facebook users was harvested by a third party organization and was used for political advertising (Chan, 2019). Although it had not been clear that Facebook had a direct involvement in this scandal, the company was also fined for failing to safeguard the data of its users. Consequently, as technology continues to increase in scope and depth of application, technology firms will have a lot of related ethical issues to navigate. Right up to this day data privacy continues to make headlines in the area of ethics. As companies like Facebook negotiate their way across the ambiguous terrain of data privacy ethics, they will be expected to draw a number of features of the general model of ethics and values. As learnt in this course, ethics is not a clear cut subject of black and white. As such, there is need to use as much theory as possible to interpret complex ethical scenarios. Ultimately, key considerations will be made in terms of identifying an ethical issue when there is one. This will involve asking questions such as: What constitutes ethical use of private user data? What is prevailing best practice in terms of handling user data? To what extent is a technology company ethically liable when the data of its users is compromised? In the event of ethical crises related to data privacy, the decisions made by the company in addressing that problem must reflect a genuine attempt to ethically solve the issue. Observing the increased emphasis on corporate citizenship and corporate social responsibility, technology firms have to make sure that they draw elements of utilitarianism as a way of ensuring that they are ethically dealing with stakeholders (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2016). Meanwhile, considering stakeholders needs does not imply self-sabotage. As such, elements of egoism will also help the companies to live to their potential and bring out their very best (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2016). Supplied with such critical and sensitive data, technology corporations like Facebook have the responsibility store and utilize this information only in the way that assures a win-win situation for all the stakeholders. Three key questions that will always help Facebook and other tech companies as they deal with user data include the following (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2016): Is the proposed data handling action legal? Does the action maximize shareholder value? Is the action ethical? Will avoiding the action be unethical? If all these questions are appropriately answered then the firm would be in a better position to know whether to take the action or not. References Chan, R. (2019). The Cambridge Analytica whistleblower explains how the firm used Facebook data to sway elections. Retrieved August 26, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/cambridgeanalytica-whistleblower-christopher-wylie-facebook-data-2019-10?r=US&IR=T Stanwick, P. A., & Stanwick, S. D. (2016). Understanding business ethics. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.
