Ethical Issues in Using online Data

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the competitive advantage over the company. Secondly, he could end up in jail or fired. Thirdly, the data could be used to take down the company, especially if it has evidence of some malicious, illegal or undesired activities (Zimmer, 2010). Therefore, though Alex is in dire need of money, his conscience tells him not to cash in the chat history. Even though he is not satisfied with the company, he feels that it is unethical and is afraid of the consequences.

In spite of the choice that Alex makes, he has to hurt either the company or his family. He has to pick between his company and his family. In my opinion, many people in such a situation would choose to betray their company and save their families. This is common in the present society whereby people leak data and information leaked in social media networking platforms (Chopra & Dexter, 2009). As a result, this case highlights how unsafe is the data stored in social media and the internet. Other than individual data, there have been instances where large multinational companies have been attacked by cyber criminals and lost large sums of useful data (Zimmer, 2010). For example, some online shopping and shipping companies have lost their client’s credit card information which has led to the loss of their account balances. In some case, company’s data is leaked deliberately, for instance, in the scenario; Alex may choose to leak the information for money. This underpins the risk of user’s data in the hands of other internet users.

Ethics in using online data

According to Try Pernille and Gry Hasselbalch, all organizations and companies should always take ethics to be a social responsibility (Wolfinger, 2016). If they do so, then they will always have a competitive advantage over others (Wolfinger, 2016). Ethics should also be held during online communication. However, multiple people do not comprehend what is to be ethical when dealing with online data.

Many people wonder whether the social media should be considered public or private. It is true that it is publicly accessible. This makes it justifiable for its purposes of research (Chopra & Dexter, 2009). However, since its data collection involves human subjects, it comes with certain ethical challenges (Zimmer, 2010). For instance, during signing up, Facebook users consent their personal data to research; posts and comments in public groups can be used for research purposes. However, it is still questionable if social media users are informed of the use of their data given that many do not go through Facebook terms and conditions (Cocking et al., 2012). The British Psychological Society explains that social media can be considered as private or public based on the expectations of its users on their data (Wolfinger, 2016). For instance, data in public groups is open while data in private groups is private (Wolfinger, 2016). Besides, closed groups in Facebook have some privacy. In such groups, strangers cannot access information (Zimmer, 2010). In such private sites, visitors who want to access data must either contact password gatekeepers or administrators for permission to the right of entry of data. In such sites, such data is considered to be private. However, this is not always the case. Data is viewed as private is not always ‘private.’ Such data may be leaked either accidentally or by consent. Accidental leakage may occur if the data is accessed by a third party, such as hackers and cyber criminals. For instance, in the scenario presented above, Alex may leak the data to a third party (Zimmer, 2010). On the other hand, administrators and password gatekeepers may leak the data to a third party (Zimmer, 2010). This shows that private sites are not always ‘private.’ However, this is unethical. Regardless of whether it is unethical or not, Alex can leak the company’s information. This explains why companies should take ethics as their social responsibility.

Unethical use of data found in internet networking and social media sites may also arise if the data is published in a manner that gives restrictions on how other users should use it (Zimmer, 2010). For instance, there were a time when certain high school students demonstrated against teachers using their Facebook profile images to show the dangers of posting one’s private information to networking sites (Wolfinger, 2016). They viewed as a violation of their privacy. This demonstrates that it was unethical to not respect the students’ expectations of privacy of their data in Facebook (Wolfinger, 2016). This implies that it is still unethical if Alex does not leak out the chat history of the board member, but uses it to help the finance company execute its plan. This is because should respect the board member’s expectation of his chat data and information (Chopra & Dexter, 2009). It is expected that chat history is private, and therefore, Alex should not go through it, leave alone leaking it to a third party. It is also unethical to use the member of the board’s chat history without his consent (Zimmer, 2010). Alex is not supposed to access and use personal data of any of the board members.

Besides, it is also unethical to use the company’s data with ill motives or selfish interests (Zimmer, 2010). If Alex chooses to cash in the chat history of the board member, then he is not doing it for the progress and well-being of the company. He is doing it to get money to support his family, save his wife’s and father’s health, pay for her daughter’s college education, and save himself from the pressures of his wife. Therefore, the motive behind leaking the private information would be to satisfy his selfish interests. Besides, he may also be pushed by his job frustrations. That is, lack of promotion over six years and lack of salary increment. All in all, his rationale for selling the company’s secrets is not ethical.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, one can conclude that Alex may leak out the data for his personal gain. In the contemporary society, many would choose to leak the company’s data. This shows that companies need to, as earlier explained, take ethics as a social responsibility. They should train their staff on the importance of being ethical and the consequences, as well the dangers of being unethical. If workers are not ethical, then they can easily leak a company’s private information online. This would take to zero, all the company’s investment in cyber security. Other than training employees on ethical issues, they should also ensure that their working conditions are favorable.

References

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