C12XML 06/29/2012 16:6:2 Page 372 372 c Chapter 12 Using Information Ethically c KEY TERMS accessibility (p. 365) accuracy (p. 364) cookie (p. 361) green computing (p. 357) identity theft (p. 366) information ethics (p. 352) privacy (p. 359) property (p. 365) social contract theory (p. 354) stakeholder theory (p. 353) stockholder theory (p. 352) c DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Private corporate data is often encrypted using a key, which is needed to decrypt the information. Who within the corporation should be responsible for maintaining the \"keys\" to private information collected about consumers? Is that the same person who should have the \"keys\" to employee data? 2. Check out how Google has profiled you. Using your own computer, go to Ad Preferences: www. google.com/ads/preferences. How accurate is the picture Google paints about you in your profile? 3. Consider arrest records, which are mostly computerized and stored locally by law enforcement agencies. They have an accuracy rate of about 50%about half of them are inaccurate, incomplete, or ambiguous. These records often are used by others than just law enforcement. Approximately 90% of all criminal histories in the United States are available to public and private employers. Use the three normative theories of business ethics to analyze the ethical issues surrounding this situation. How might hiring decisions be influenced inappropriately by this information? 4. The European Community's Directive on Data Protection strictly limits how database information is used and who has access to it. Some of the restrictions include registering all databases containing personal information with the countries in which they are operating, collecting data only with the consent of the subjects, and telling subjects of the database the intended and actual use of the databases. What effect might these restrictions have on global companies? In your opinion, should these types of restrictions be made into law? Why or why not? Should the United States bring its laws into agreement with the EU directive? 5. Should there be a global Internet privacy policy? 6. Is sending targeted advertising information to a computer using cookies objectionable? Why or why not? 7. What is your opinion of the British Identity Card discussed in this chapter? CASE STUDY 12-1 ETHICAL DECISION MAKING Situation 1 The help desk is part of the group assigned to Doug Smith, the manager of office automation. The help desk has produced very low quality work for the past several months. Smith has access to the passwords for each of the help desk members' computer accounts. He instructs the help desk supervisor to go into each hard drive after hours and obtain a sample document to check for quality control for each pool member. C12XML 06/29/2012 16:6:2 Page 373 Case Study 12-1 b 373 Discussion Questions 1. If you were the supervisor, what would you do? 2. What, if any, ethical propositions have been violated by this situation? 3. If poor quality was found, could the information be used for disciplinary purposes? For training purposes? 4. Apply PAPA to this situation. Situation 2 Kate Essex is the supervisor of the customer service representative group for Enovelty.com, a manufacturer of novelty items. This group spends its workday answering calls, and sometimes placing calls, to customers to assist in solving a variety of issues about orders previously placed with the company. The company has a rule that personal phone calls are only allowed during breaks. Essex is assigned to monitor each representative on the phone for 15 minutes a day, as part of her regular job tasks. The representatives are aware that Essex will be monitoring them, and customers are immediately informed when they begin their calls. Essex begins to monitor James Olsen, and finds that he is on a personal call regarding his sick child. Olsen is not on break. Discussion Questions 1. What should Essex do? 2. What, if any, ethical principles help guide decision making in this situation? 3. What management practices should be in place to ensure proper behavior without violating individual \"rights\"? 4. Apply the normative theories of business ethics to this situation. Situation 3 Jane Mark was the newest hire in the IS group at We_Sell_More.com, a business on the Internet. The company takes in $30 million in revenue quarterly from Web business. Jane reports to Sam Brady, the VP of IS. Jane is assigned to a project to build a new capability into the company Web page that facilitates linking products ordered with future offerings of the company. After weeks of analysis, Jane concluded that the best way to incorporate that capability is to buy a software package from a small start-up company in Silicon Valley, California. She convinces Brady of her decision and is authorized to lease the software. The vendor e-mails Jane the software in a ZIP file and instructs her on how to install it. At the initial installation, Jane is asked to acknowledge and electronically sign the license agreement. The installed system does not ask Jane if she wants to make a backup copy of the software, so as a precaution, Jane takes it on herself and copies the ZIP files sent to her onto a thumb drive. She stores the thumb drive in her desk drawer. A year later, the vendor is bought by another company, and the software is removed from the marketplace. The new owner believes this software will provide them with a competitive advantage they want to reserve for themselves. The new vendor terminates all lease agreements and revokes all licenses on their expiration. But Jane still has the thumb drive she made as backup. Discussion Questions 1. Is Jane obligated to stop using her backup copy? Why or why not? 2. If We_Sell_More.com wants to continue to use the system, can they? Why or why not? 3. Does it change your opinion if the software is a critical system for We_Sell_More.com? If it is a non-critical system? Explain. C12XML 06/29/2012 16:6:2 Page 374 374 c Chapter 12 Using Information Ethically Situation 4 Some of the Internet's biggest companies (i.e., Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, IBM, and Verisign) implemented a \"single sign-on\" system that is now available at more than 50,000 Web sites. As corporate members of the OpenID Foundation, they developed a system that is supposed to make it easier for users to sign on to a number of sites without having to remember multiple user IDs, passwords, and registration information. Theoretically, users also have a consistent identity across the Web. Under OpenID, the companies share the sign-on information for any Web user who agrees to participate. They also share personal information such as credit card data, billing addresses, and personal preferences. Discussion Questions 1. Discuss any threats to privacy in this situation. 2. Who would own the data? Explain. 3. Who do you think should have access to the data? How should that access be controlled? Situation 5 SpectorSoft markets eBlaster as a way to keep track of what your spouse or children are doing online. Operating in stealth mode, eBlaster tracks every single keystroke entered into a computer, from instant messages to passwords. It also records every e-mail sent and received and every Web site visited by the unsuspecting computer user. The data is sent anonymously to an IP address of the person who installed eBlaster. eBlaster could also be installed onto a business's computers. Discussion Questions 1. Do you think it would be ethical for a business to install eBlaster to ensure that its employees are engaged only in work-related activities? If so, under what conditions would it be appropriate? If not, why not? 2. Apply the normative theories of business ethics to this situation. Situation 6 Google, Inc. had a unique advantage as of March 2012. By combining information about user activity from its many popular applications (such as Gmail, Google and YouTube), Google algorithms were able to alert users when things might be of interest. This vast amount of information, analyzed properly, gave Google a way to compete. By combining data with information from Internet searches, Google could better compete against applications such as Facebook. But this was a departure from its earlier privacy policy. In June 2011, the Executive Chairman of Google had declared, \"Google will remain a place where you can do anonymous searches [without logging in]. We're very committed to having you have control over the information we have about you.\" This may be possible for users who don't login to a Google account, but for those with Gmail or other personal accounts or an Android mobile phone, it's more difficult to remain anonymous. Offering a counter viewpoint, Chirstopher Soghoian, an independent privacy and security researcher said, \"Google now watches consumers practically everywhere they go on the Web [and anytime they use an Android phone]. No single entity should be trusted with this much sensitive data.\" C12XML 06/29/2012 16:6:2 Page 375 Case Study 12-2 b 375 Discussion Questions 1. Do you see any ethical issues involved in Google's new approach to combining information from a particular user? Why or why not? 2. How might users change their behaviors if they were aware of this new approach? 3. How is Google's combining data about individuals in one central location any different ethically from the United Kingdom placing all individual's necessary information on an identity card? 4. Apply the normative theories of business ethics to Google's new policy about combining user information? Situation 7 Spokeo is a company that gathers online data for employers, the public or anybody who is willing to pay for their services. Clients include recruiters and women who want to find out if their boyfriends are cheating on them. Spokeo recruits via ads that urge \"HR-RecruitersClick Here Now.\" Discussion Questions 1. Do you think it would be ethical for a business to hire Spokeo to find out about potential employees? If so, under what conditions would it be appropriate? If not, why not? 2. Do you think it is ethical for women to hire Spokeo to see if their boyfriends are cheating on them? Why or why not? Sources: Situations 1 to 4 adapted from short cases suggested by Professor Kay Nelson, Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale. The names of people, places, and companies have been made up for these stories. Any similarity to real people, places, or companies is purely coincidental. Situation 6 is from Julia Angwin, \"Google Widens Its Tracks,\" Wall Street Journal (July 30, 2010), http://online.wsj.com/article/ SB10001424052970203806504577181371465957162.html?mod=djem_jiewr_IT_domainid (accessed on January 28, 2010). Situation 7 is from Lori Andrews, \"Facebook is Using You,\" The New York Times (February 5, 2012), SR7. CASE STUDY 12-2 MIDWEST FAMILY MUTUAL GOES GREEN Midwest Family Mutual Insurance Co., an insurance company with nearly 100 million in written premiums in 2011, considers itself to be \"operationally green.\" Through a variety of initiatives it has reduced its annual energy, natural gas, and paper consumption by 63%, 76%, and 65%, respectively. Ron Boyd, the carrier's CEO, attributes most of the improvements in energy usage to creating a virtual work- from- home office environment. As a result of implementing a series of electronic processes and applications. These include imaging and workflow technology, networking technology, and a VoIP network. In 2006, the year these savings were reported, all but two of Midwest Family Mutual's 65 employees worked from home. In addition to the energy savings that Midwest Family Mutual has directly experienced, Boyd estimates that the company's telecommuting policy has resulted in fuel savings of at least 25,000 gallons