Ethics Issues of sharing personal information with advertisers by internet pages
Lack of privacy has become an increasingly alarming concern in cyberspace. There have been a high number of cases where internet pages share personal information about an individual with advertisers or where a breach of security occurs and an individual’s online activity are able to be tracked by other parties. Thus, this enables the advertisers know who to target, in order to strategize how to position themselves and their products to the potential customer. The personal information may even include the individual’s credit rating, marital status and online activities. The tracking of a person’s personal information and activities is highly unethical and can only be stopped by providing suitable ethical alternatives. It is a violation of privacy and theft of one’s personal information since the individual may not be aware that the transfer of information is even taking place.
Websites collect personal information from users through registration pages, user surveys, online contest, application forms and order forms. Some websites also collect information in more discrete methods such as the use of cookies, which enable them to track the online activities of the individual. These websites then allow other parties to use the information gathered about an individual for a fee. Banks for example may use this information to conduct a background check in order to assess the credit rating and financial position of an individual.
One of the ethical alternatives to the issue of sharing of personal confidential information is the development and implementation of a code of conduct and ethics that will govern the actions of all websites that acquire confidential information from an individual. The government should put concerted effort in ensuring that the privacy is strictly upheld within the online community. This can be done by putting in place an effective method of detecting the theft of personal information. From a deontological perspective, the government has an obligation to protect the rights of its citizens. Thus, it should ensure that they are able to access the internet safely without any threat of privacy violation. This can also be analyzed from a utilitarian perspective whereby the theft of one’s personal information violates the rights of the internet community and hence makes them wary of entering into transactions or disclosing any information about themselves freely, thus hampering their freedom.
Websites that require individuals to give personal information about themselves should indicate clearly and explicitly on its homepage that it observes a code of ethics in dealing with the information obtained from users. The website should also outline whether it reveals any information to third parties, so that the user is able to assess the suitability of the website for his privacy requirements. From a deontological perspective, it is the duty of the website to make known its practices before entering into a transaction with an individual. The individual has a right to know the terms and conditions under which he is revealing personal information about himself. This can also be analyzed from a Unitarianism perspective whereby the consequences of revealing information are positive for the individual because he is able to decide for himself whether he wants to continue using the website or not. Non-disclosure on the other hand bears negative consequences such as lawsuits when the individual realizes that the information he reveals is being disclosed to other parties.
Thirdly, the websites should give the consumers a choice of whether or not to disclose their information to other parties such as advertisers. Therefore, if the consumer so wishes, his information can be disclosed but if not, his information should be kept strictly confidential. This is ethical from a deontological perspective because the website has to meet its obligation towards the consumer’s privacy and protection. From an Unitarianism perspective, this is an ethical action because the consumer has a right to be given options that grant him the desirable consequences.
Fourthly, the consumers should also be empowered such that they can control a situation where they find themselves victims of privacy violation. Policies should be implemented to ensure that the consumer could adequately stop further disclosure of the information or locate where the information is being leaked. From a deontological perspective, a consumer should have the right to defend himself from cyberspace violations and to protect his rights. This is also ethical unitarily because it bears positive consequences for the consumer.
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