1.Perform an ethical analysis of facebook.What is the enthical dilemma presented
ID: 356769 • Letter: 1
Question
1.Perform an ethical analysis of facebook.What is the enthical dilemma presented by this case?
2.What is the relationship of privacy to Facebook's business model?
3.Describe the weakness of Facebook's privacy policies ans features. What people, organizations, and technology factors have contributed to those weakness?
4.Will Facebook be able to have a successful business model without invading privacy? Explain your answer. Could Facebook take any measures to make this possible?
BUSINESS PROBLEM-SOLVING CASE artment of Labor helps connect io families find los soldiers to stay e efforts and chance to solidify their brand Facebook Privacy: What Privacy college students into a publicly traded company with pets; Facebook allows active-dut a market worth of $226 billion in 2015. Facebook In less than a decade, Facebook has morphed from gives smaller com small, niche, networking site for mostly Ivy League employers; Facebook has hened touch with their families; it eres the money coming from to service 1.4 billion larger companies a chance worldwide subscribers? Just like its fellow tech titan and, perhaps most obviou a chance to further thein sl y. Facebook all boasts that it is free to join and always will be, so entirely from advertising. Facebook does not have restaurants, and in short, just about all th a diverse array of hot new gadgets like Apple does, are interested in more easily. The a global network of brick-and-mortar retail outlets so many people use Facebook-it like Walmart does, or a full inventory of software for users. sale. All Facebook has to sell is your personal infor to keep in touch with your al Google, Facebook's revenue comes almost re the reasons However, Facebook's goal is to get its u mation and the information of hundreds of millions share as much data as possiblecusethe no Facebook knows about you, the more accuratelyi can serve relevant advertisements to you of others with Facebook accounts. Advertisers have Facebook's unprecedented trove of personal infor- CEO Mark Zuckerberg often says that peonle long understood the value of want the world to be more open and connected. It's unclear whether that is truly the case mation. They can serve ads using highly specific details such as relationship status, location, employ- ment status, favorite books, mo and a host of other categories. For example, an Atlanta woman who posts that she has become en- gaged might be offered an ad for a wedding photog- , but it certainly true that Facebook wants the world to be more open and connected because it stands to make more money in that world. Critics of Facebou are concerned that the existence of a repository of rapher on her Facebook page. When advertisements personal data of the size that Facebook has amasse are served to finely targeted subsets of users, the requires protections and privacy controls that ex response is much more successful than traditional types of advertising. far beyond those that Facebook currently offers Facebook wanting to make more money is understandable, but the company has a checkered A growing number of companies both big and small have taken notice. In 2014, gener ated $12.4 billion in revenue, 88 percent of which (S7 doubts about whether it should be respons billion) was from selling ads and the remainder from the personal data of hundreds of millions selling games and virtual goods. Facebook's rev enues in 2014 grew by 58 percent over the previous consumers the right to know what data companie year, driven mostly by adding new users and sho 40 percent more adst Facebook gener- past of privacy violations and missteps that raise There are no laws in the United States that give e Fa a year ear edi crease its revenue ata Facebook has gathered about you user? More than ever, companiess the Facebook one try to change it. It's different in Euro r a report of all ert 14 ver, your every move, every c social networks is being used by outside e assess your interests and behavior an cbook's goal is to serve advertise accurate picture da ments that are more relevant n the web, but the personal information it gath- to you than anywhereagencies use social network an ad based on this knowledge. Law en on tax evaders and other cri in ers about you both with and without your can also be used against you in other ways to gather evidenc consent Facebook has a diverse array of compelling and al networks to make decisions a candidates for jobs: and datahe cal ing as much informationa to the highest bidder. Faceb useful features. Facebook's partnership with the the about you as caExplanation / Answer
1. Facebook is a social media platform that connects people all across the globe. People share their sentiments and emotions in the form of pictures and status on the platform, which can be accessed by almost everyone if the account is not protected. But did one ever think, the main agenda of Facebook about offering such a platform? How do they make money?
Facebook does not just hosts different social media users. It also hosts a series of advertisers. Facebook actually shares the data about its users to these advertisers. Advertisers, catering on the information provided, can customize and provide offers to the user. Facebook does employ user’s data protection policy but the Facebook’s data servers are easily accessed by the advertisers for their business motives. This is the ethical dilemma in this case.
2. Facebook keeps talking about data protection and privacy. This is ironical as its business model is entirely based on sharing user’s information. People see the privacy policy and trust Facebook. They start sharing views, opinions and milestones of their lives. However, they do not know that all their data is immediately fed to the advertisers’ servers who can easily manipulate with the user data. The relationship between privacy and Facebook’s business model is that the fundamental of data privacy is used as a cover up for their business model of data and information sharing.
3. Lack of clear communication lines is the weakness in Facebook’s privacy policies and features. Users lack the awareness of how their data is being used and that they have a control on what information can be shared by Facebook to external entities. When Facebook introduced news feed on user’s home page, users got a bit awareness and they shared their hesitation in sharing so much detailed information like their profile updates, the new friends on their profile and the array of applications that they are using. Facebook keeps users’ data even after account deactivation or the death of the person. This is incorrect handling of user’s information and is a black spot on Facebook’s privacy policy.
People and Organization: The Facebook management has taken everything under assumption. They assume that when a user is sharing his ideas on Facebook, he is giving them the access to share their information to external entities.
Technology: The usage of Technology in user’s data protection is the ultimate breach in user’s information privacy. If the user wants to opt out of apps like Beacon and news feed, technology must be so equipped as to delete the user’s data from such apps. But it’s the leniency of technology that instead of deleting information, Facebook is maintaining multiple servers to hold user’s information.
4. To have a successful business model, without invading user’s privacy, Facebook will be required to establish clear communication and awareness lines with the users. The user should have the sole control of what information can be shared and what information should be clearly protected.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.