Introduction
Google is a search engine that helps to search for information about something or someone on the internet. The search engine was founded in 1998; it has an ease of use that makes it stand out compared to other search engines, like Yahoo Search. Due to the speed and efficiency, google gained popularity and extended its ventures into other areas such as social networking and advertising. The company has developed into the most valued search engine globally. Although the company has to experience ethical issues and be accused of violating laws and copyrights, Google has continued to adhere to the internet privacy policies. The paper analyzes how Google can improve its stakeholders' lives by respecting their privacy and retaining its lucrativeness.
Case Analysis
Google can improve its stakeholder's lives by ensuring the confidentiality of their information. The company has a wide range of stakeholders from the company employees, governments, advertisers, and customers. Google has the power to develop techniques to secure users’ information and files. The company states that any information linking to a user should have their permission before being distributed to third parties (Google, n.d.). It also claims the information they collect can only be shared with the partners, and it's anonymous to the third-party. It is vital for the company to notify its stakeholders about their privacy and how their business is related to their privacy. The company can also develop privacy policies that are not confusing to the stakeholders and time-conscious for the stakeholder to navigate. Having that power, the company is in full capacity to protect its stakeholder’s private information.
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I believe that Google has the capability of maintaining its profitability and maintain user privacy. The company had had a separate user privacy policy until 2012, where it unified the policies into one that would control the entire organization's practices. The policy enables the users to determine where to share their information and turn off some features. The company also has a wide range of ventures from social networking, advertisements, and YouTube that generate high income. It can still maintain user's privacy and maintain its profitability. The company can improve on its privacy and transparency to its users and ensure their rights are protected.
Google operates globally, and therefore, it has many rules to adhere to depending on the countries laws and regulations concerning internet services. The company is affected by different laws in different countries. For example, government laws have impacted Google's operations in China, tracking user information and surpassing privacy information. Google has identified a business opportunity in China, but its performance was restricted by government regulations such as blocking its search engine, making it slow and inconvenient for users (Ferrell et al., 2013). The government has formed new laws that regulate the information that Google can collect on the internet, limiting its tracking activities. Due to such laws, google has developed features such as "do not track" that enable users to avoid being tracked. The government laws have become a threat to the company’s performance.
Regarding WhatsApp's new policy, I think it is very much important for the security and confidentiality of WhatsApp users. The company has ensured that personal information is kept private, such as the user's location. WhatsApp has kept the users in control of their data, and the end to end data encryption is ensured (WhatsApp, n.d.) . The policy also limits sharing personal information on Facebook, which has improved user’s privacy. I think the policy will be crucial in securing users’ information to the third-parties.
Conclusion
Google has made an impressive growth since it started. The company's impressive services have enabled it to venture into various areas such as social networking and advertisements. However, the company has faced many ethical issues concerning the user's privacy issues. The company can improve its stakeholders’ services by improving the security of their data. The improve on its profitability and data privacy by introducing security features that help users know the tracked information. The government laws have impacted the company by internet restriction and tracking user data, which improves profitability. The WhatsApp policy is important in improving the security of personal data.
References
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2013). Case 7: Google: The Quest to Balance Privacy with Profits. In BUSINESS ETHICS: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (10 ed., pp. 458-474). Cengage Learning.
Google. (n.d.). About: EU user consent policy . https://www.google.com/about/company/user-consent-policy/
WhatsApp. (n.d.). Help Center: Answering your questions about WhatsApp’s Privacy Policy . https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/security-and-privacy/answering-your-questions-about-whatsapps-privacy-policy/?lang=fb
