Answer To: HC2121 Comparative Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Assessment: Individual Essay T...
Parul answered on May 26 2020
Order No. 31294
Introduction
We live and work in a complex business environment that cut across many boundaries, cultures and time zones. Companies small or big addresses abundance of issues that raises questions on moral grounds and ethics. Any and every organization requires to comprehend the issues relating to ethics especially related to running the business, dealing with employees and the broader public. With reference to news article by Liptak (2018) ‘Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook data was a ‘grossly unethical experiment’, on March 17th of this year every newspaper and TV news channels reported one of the biggest blow to every person who has his/her account on social media platforms like Facebook. My paper is organises in such a manner that it provides a brief background of the case that occurred very recently this year dates us back to around 3 months, further building the arguments and explaining any legal or governmental implications involved after the ethical angle inserted in the context. Furthermore, I have critically evaluated the case in point with the spectacles of ethics and whether the decision taken was ethically correct or not. In the nutshell will share my opinion are the end and provide few other examples of many other ethical issues reported in the news and media. I have dedicatedly based my decisions by emphasizing the ethical theories utilized for taking the decisions.
Background of the Case
News channel constantly reported that analytical firm Cambridge Analytica, who had worked and managed the campaign for present President of United States, Donald Trump in 2016 involving another related company SCL, Strategic Communication Laboratories had actually stolen and used the data without any consent of around 50 million accounts of active users on the Facebook. Not only this news channels released a series of videos, tapes and pictures taken undercover over past couple of days. These were used by executives of the company - Cambridge Analytica in order to blackmail, threaten and extort the politicians such that it could assist to proliferate issues that could help their client, taking reference from article by Cadwalladr and Graham-Harrison (2018). ‘Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach’ revelation of something so grave and serious that implied that Facebook had permitted the use this data and use it a way that influences the elections had sparked a fire that threatened to taint and spoil the reputation of this giant firm of social media.
After the news broke out and create a wild fire all across of world where there are people who use Facebook as they were genuinely concerned about their personal safety and integrity since no one wants to broadcast data that are private to them to the whole world. Facebook had announced splits from Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) and Cambridge Analytica on the grounds of violating its service agreement. Gathering and using the personal data of around 50 million Facebook users for gain of their client
Analysis of the Case
This incident is an eye opener to comprehend the core business model of social media giant, Facebook that is to furnish individualized advertisement to its users which can be misused to derive personal gains. This Exploitation raises a lot of agonizing questions about the integrity. How data might have been dissected and interpreted in the past in order to influence something as critical and confidential like campaigns for president in 2016. Owned by Robert Mercer who is a hedge fund billionaire, organisation Cambridge Analytica had committed to focus on every individual voter such that these voters could be caught by unconscious psychological biases by the virtue of using huge number of data to develop profiles on personality that could utilised to generate extremely particular and precise advertisements. Taking reference from Cellan-Joner (2018). ‘Cambridge University saw 'no issue' with Facebook research’ as per the social media platform, Kogan obtained the access to this information in a licit way and also through permissible channels that was under the compliance of Facebook, however the way in which the information was used was unethical. Approximately the data of around 50 million users was also passed to another organization SCL that used the same without the consent for personal gains of their client. Facebook had realized that information...