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Ethical Thinking

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Ethical issue
The issue is whether it is ethical for Google to collect payload data using its Street View vehicles through unencrypted Wi-Fi network. Google's street view project was intended to capture images and also Wi-Fi data which are then used to map businesses and landmarks. However Google was found to be collecting 'payload' data which was unnecessary for its location database project. Numerous investigations ensued, questioning the ethicality of the Street View debacle.
Theoretical Perspectives
This section will look at 3 schools of ethical theories. From a virtue ethics point of view, though Google's s slogan "Don't Be Evil" and its Google Code of Conduct established a baseline for honest decision-making, it is more action-based rather than character based. Being an Internet service provider that handles an immense amount of data, Google should aspire to be an organisation that is honest and truthful. Therefore a virtue ethicist will say that Google's data sniffing debacle is unethical since it is against what a virtuous organisation ought to do.
Consequentialist theories can be classified based on the type of consequences, the primary beneficiary of the action and if it is agent-centered or agent neutral (Frost). Using the theory of ethical egoism, the consequences for the agent are taken to matter more than any other result. In the design document of the Street View Project, it was stated that Wi-Fi data Google gathered would "be analyzed offline for use in other initiatives." (Federal Communications Commission , 2012)Though it is unclear what the data will be used for, we can safely speculate that it could be analyzed to better understand user profile for Google to design and market products more effectively. This will certainly lead to positive outcomes for Google; hence this theory would see Google's action as being ethical.
Deontological ethics states that a moral action is only ethical if it conforms to moral principles. Using this theory, Google's action would be unethical as it is a violation of individual's right to privacy. However, it can be argued that individuals who chose to transmit data over unencrypted networks accept that it will be accessible to the public and hence have relinquished their right to privacy.
Uncertainties inherent in the issue:
One of the uncertainties is whether unsecured Wi-Fi networks are protected by law and therefore if Google's actions violated individual's right to privacy.
According to the Wiretap Act, it is not considered wiretapping to intercept an "electronic communication [that] is readily accessible to the general public.” However, it is argued that the language of the current statute should be interpreted in a way that "addresses concerns about Wi-Fi sniffing and user's expectations of privacy". (Potnuru) U.S. District Judge James Ware, said that the interpretation applied only to “traditional radio services” like police scanners. (Potnuru) also argued that while users may know that an unsecured network allow others to access the same network, they may not understand the underlying technology enough to know that data transmitted over an unsecured network are not private. This gives users a false sense of privacy and a "reasonable expectation of privacy". If users have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in unsecured Wi-Fi communications, the Fourth Amendment will prevent government searches without a warrant. (Potnuru) This can be applied to Google as well. Hence, Google's actions were a violation of privacy, which is both unethical and unlawful.
Another issue is practical use of ethical egoism theory in the current context where businesses sees the value of ethical behaviour and are focused on building a moral corporate culture (Schneider & Bowie, 2011). Due to increased pressure from key stakeholders – media, consumer awareness and government regulations, business that are centred on profitability alone will find their very existence threatened. Hence, it is unlikely that businesses or Google will use the theory of ethical egoism to justify a moral action.
On another note, many companies have included user satisfaction, compliance with governmental regulation and media relations as part of their overall performance indicator. This means that the goals of the company and that of the public become more aligned and hence negative consequences on users such as the violation of their rights are undesired by Google as well. Therefore, it can also be argued that applying ethical egoism will still lead to negative outcomes for Google, and hence the action is still unethical.
Effects on key stakeholders and self
Since Google's collection of payload data came to light, there had been much public protest. In Germany, a deputy mayor of Molfsee organised a group of residents in a protest. (Streitfeld & O'Brien, 2012) Many private ligations were also filed against Google for its data collection practices.
The governments and privacy watchdogs of many European Countries have launched investigations into Google's data collection practices, with a few threatening sanction of Google View project. Despite FCC's finding that Google is not guilty of violating the Communication Act, it triggered a call for review of the current US federal statutes, namely the Wiretap Act. FCC chairman is also of the view that "the law should protect people even if they have unencrypted Wi-Fi." Hence, Google's data collection debacle led to greater motivation for lawmakers to keep in pace with technology changes.
To protect itself, Google was slow and reluctant to cooperate with investigations. This resulted in a fine of $25,000 by the FCC. Google was also threatened with Street View Sanctions and put under pressure from various privacy watchdog and consumer groups to destroy or submit the data it had collected. However, other than the PR nightmare, Google was otherwise unhurt. This is largely due to the fact it is difficult to hold Google accountable when technology constantly outpacing the legal platform. With our heavy reliance on Google's internet service, it is also unlikely that any government will act on threats of sanctions.
Conclusion
The case of Google shows us that corporations can exert significant influence and can sometimes overpower any governmental regulations, legal restrictions or societal obligations. When large and influential corporations overstep their boundaries, regulatory bodies should definitely step in to act as a control, but their powers are limited and it is often circumvented by red tapes and legal restraints. Hence ultimately, it is still up to Google to have to moral conviction to be more than just legally compliant and be an ethical business. To create a corporate culture that is ethical, values-based, Google definitely have to put in more work than just "Don't Be Evil", it needs to identify fundamental values that benefit the long term sustainability of its business.

References:

Electronic Privacy Information Center. (n.d.). Investigations of Google Street View. Retrieved from epic.org: http://epic.org/privacy/streetview/
Federal Communications Commission . (2012). Notice of Apparent Liability For Forfeiture . Washington, D.C.
Frost, M. (n.d.). Consequentialism. Retrieved from www.matinfrost.ws: http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/consequentialism.html
Lachowski, R., Alberti, M., & Hofmann, K. K. (n.d.). Unsecured Residential Wireless Networks. Florida Atlantic University.
Pandia Search Engine News. (2007, July 2). Pandia Search Engine News-Google:one million servers and counting. Retrieved from Pandia Search and Social .
Potnuru, M. (n.d.). Litmits of the Federal Wiretap Act's Ability to Protect Against Wi-Fi Sniffing. Michigan Law Review.
Schneider, M., & Bowie, N. E. (2011). Business Ethics for Dummies. Indianapolis, Indiana: Wiley Publishing Inc.
Streitfeld, D., & O'Brien, K. J. (2012, May 22). Google Privacy Inquiries Get Little Cooperation. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/technology/google-privacy-inquiries-get-little-cooperation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

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[ 1 ]. 'Payload data included e-mail and text messages, passwords, Internet usage history, and other highly sensitive personal information.' (Federal Communications Commission , 2012)
[ 2 ]. Rather than identifying a set of virtues that Google as a corporate citizen aspires to be, its Code of Conduct is mainly written for employees as a set of ethical rules and duties to abide by, failing which their relationship with Google will be terminated.
[ 3 ]. Google has been estimated to run over one million servers in data centers around the world (Pandia Search Engine News, 2007)
[ 4 ]. "Agent-focused" theories demand that agents act for ends in which they have some personal interest or motivation to pursue. "Agent-netural" theories demand that agents act for ends perhaps disconnected from their own interests and drives.
[ 5 ]. In 2008, Engineer Doe, an engineer who developed the code for the Street View project, examined payload data to determine whether it might be useful in other Google products or services. (Federal Communications Commission , 2012)
[ 6 ]. A California federal judge presiding over about a dozen lawsuits accusing Google of wiretapping Americans.
[ 7 ]. A door-to-door interview conducted in Boca Raton, Florida found that many residents were surprised of the security risks of their unsecured home Wi-Fi networks. (Lachowski, Alberti, & Hofmann)
[ 8 ]. A heavily redacted version of the FCC report was first released at the request of Google to protect itself against "substantive competitive harm". It was only when Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FCC that Google was forced to release the unredacted report.

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