Adherence to ethics in the present day is important for all business organizations because it makes sure right practices are followed and also social media readily exposes any organization that fails to observe business ethics in their organization (Weiss, 2014). Business ethics refer to the culture, policies and procedures that dictate the right way of doing things in an organization and often also provide guidelines in the event of occurrence of controversial issues. Observance of ethical principles assures the stakeholders in an organization of the security of their interests and improves the trust that investors and other stakeholders have in an organization. There have been cases where individual and public companies have broken ethical codes and got themselves in the bad books of the law, stakeholders and the public at large. The most recent case of ethical breach is the Facebook scandal which has been aired on several media outlets. This paper explores the ethical issue at Facebook as a public company, the policy that the company has with regard to the resolution of ethical issues, the relevance of the ethical issue and also the importance of resolving the issue in question.
Facebook CEO and founder has been in the hot seat over a data breach that was reported at the public company. According to a former employee, turned whistleblower at Cambridge Analytica, there has been inappropriate collection of user personally identifiable information from a large number of Facebook users by Cambridge Analytica since 2014(Keach, 2018). It is reported that the later organization used the information to influence voter opinion in favor of politicians. Cambridge Analytica is a UK based company which was at the center of President Donald Trump’s campaign. The information collected by Cambridge Analytica was inclusive of the public profiles, likes, birthdays and also the important events to the users. The organization was able to use the personal information of the users which it had acquired to design psychological profiles that were customized to the subject. These profiles were used in persuasive advertisement in relation to political events. It is reported that more than 87 million users were affected by the data breach (Spangler, 2018). Some sources reveal that Facebook was aware of the datamining that was going on.
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Facebook as a social media company has a business model that is built on the collection of data. The track record of the company on privacy is not commendable. According to the law, a data breach constitutes the extraction of personal information that is used for a purpose which the owner of the information did not consent to. Therefore, despite the wrangle on other social media sites over what may have been right or wrong at Facebook, facts remain that the company violated the privacy of its users. Alexander Kogan, A Cambridge University researcher was able to harvest the information and pass it to Cambridge Analytica. The company violated the data policy and terms of service at Facebook. Apparently, Cambridge Analytica lied about deleting the collected data. Facebook is at a crossroads whereby it cannot agree that this was a data breach so as to protect itself but at the same time, the company insists that the data use was unauthorized. The ethical violation presents the ethical question of whether the company should inform the users who were affected that their data was exploited. At the moment, there are several celebrities and prominent individuals who have proceeded to delete their Facebook accounts and have inspired large followings to follow suit. Also, the company’s shares and market ratings have tanked following the firestorm that was caused by the scandal. The procedures that the company users to protect the data of their users has come into question with special attention to third party app developers.
Facebook has a data policy that has come into question after the data breach by Cambridge Analytica was revealed. The policy reiterates the mission of the company which is to keep the world more open and connected. It describes how information on the social media platform is collected and shared. In the data policy, it is evident that Facebook was aware of the data mining which was being conducted by Cambridge Analytica. The policy states that the company collects information when the user visits or uses third party websites and apps that are linked to Facebook. Also the company collects information on the use of Facebook services on these websites and apps as well as information that the developer of the app or publisher of the website provides.
Facebook data policy shows that the company uses the information that it collects to be able to develop, improve and provide custom services. The information is used to tailor the services provided by the company to specific users. It is used to enhance communication in terms in marketing services and also increasing awareness about policies and terms. The policy indicates the extent to which Facebook can share information with third parties and the purposes for which this can be done.
It is evident that Cambridge Analytica and Strategic Communications Laboratories violated the terms of service and the data policy of the company (Solon, 2018). According to a statement released by Facebook, it is evident that Facebook is committed to protecting the personal data of its users. According to Facebook, the users whose information was used by Cambridge Analytica had thought that the information was for science. The researcher, Kogan Aleksandr made many Facebook users believe that the data was being collected for the purposes of personality prediction. The user who downloaded the app gave their consent to the researcher, therefore, Facebook categorically states that it was not a data breach.
This scandal has brought many technology companies that mine data from their users into scrutiny. The stakeholders, these are the users and investors, are beginning to question how the collected data is used. The data breach is an ethical issue that is relevant to the discussion of how technology companies use data collected from their users and what implications the data may have. There is a hot debate on how technology giants package user information so as to rack in profits. The main question is, if voter information was influenced and compromised, what is to be said about the economic future of the users of technology companies?(Ball, 2018).
For Facebook to regain its credibility and avoid further losses, the ethical breach has to be resolved. The CEO of the company, Mark Zuckerberg announced that there shall be new privacy tools and settings unveiled so as to allow users to have more control of how their information may be shared. The suspension and dissociation of the partisan companies that is Cambridge Analytica and Strategic Communications Laboratories, from Facebook has also given the public some reassurance. The CEO has come out in public and faced trial before the Congress where he admitted his mistakes and made a commitment to fixing the situation. The act of owning up to the mistake has been considered logical and truthful and has helped to reassure the users of the social media platform. It is a first step in mending the breach of trust that has been created by the data privacy scandal (Guynn, 2018). The company is still looking into whether it shall notify the users whose data was compromised.
In conclusion, the society has become a watchdog with regard to the adherence of ethics by public companies. Facebook has been panned following the data breach that occurred at the company leading to the information of more than 87 million users being compromised. The offending party, Cambridge Analytica violated the terms of service of Facebook. Facebook has owned up to the mistake and also made attempts to fix the ethical problem.
References
Ball, J. (2018). The Facebook scandal isn’t just about privacy. Your economic future is on the line. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/23/facebook-scandal-privacy-data-equality-wealth
Guynn, J. (2018). Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally speaks on Cambridge Analytica: We need to fix 'breach of trust.' USA Today . Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2018/03/21/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-finally-speaks-cambridge-analytica-we-need-fix-breach-trust/445791002/
Keach, S. (2018). Facebook data breach explained – what happened with Cambridge Analytica and are you safe? The Sun . Retrieved from https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/5843838/facebook-data-scandal-cambridge-analytica-safe/
Solon, O. (2018). Data scandal is huge blow for Facebook – and efforts to study its impact on society. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/18/data-scandal-is-huge-blow-for-facebook-and-efforts-to-study-its-impact-on-society
Spangler, T. (2018). Facebook Under Fire: How Privacy Crisis Could Change Big Data Forever. Variety. Retrieved from http://variety.com/2018/digital/features/facebook-privacy-crisis-big-data-mark-zuckerberg-1202741394/
Weiss, J. (2014). Business Ethics; A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach . San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
