Scenario #1

A manufacturer advertises that its hand sanitizer kills the "Covid-19 virus on contact." The manufacturer has tested its hand sanitizer for effectiveness against other viruses, but not Covid-19. It uses the same marketing material for Covid-19 as other viruses, such as influenza and the common cold.

Scenario #2

Recently, Microsoft filed a patent application for a "meeting insight computing system" that would monitor body language, facial expressions, and other features of participants in order to assign a "quality score" to workplace meetings. According to the filing, the system could be applied both to in-person and remote meetings. Microsoft also introduced a "Productivity Score" that allows organizations to monitor employees' use of Microsoft products.

Microsoft quickly backtracked in response to public outcry and eliminated the individualized tracking feature. Worker surveillance has rapidly increased with the transition to remote work due to COVID-19, and many organizations with on-site workers are instituting surveillance systems with the stated goal of protecting public health.

Topic Questions:

1. Regarding the first scenario, is this advertisement deceptive? Why or why not?
2. Regarding the second scenario, is this type of employee monitoring legal? Why or why not?

Reflection Questions:

1. Is there anything you learned that will cause you to change your behavior from what it was before working on this module? What is it? Please discuss.
2. Which topics were confusing, complicated or contradictory? Why?