Case study questions?
1) Perform an ethical analysis of Facebook. What is the ethical dilemma presented by this case?
Facebook serve as the connection between all people around the world and Facebook wants more money and have many user’s, Facebook have more user’s privacy data and more Facebook knows about you it make Facebook serve more relevant advertisement that they are giving users data to the company as their research for the advertisement because the main revenue for Facebook it’s from advertisement and Facebook servers would keep user information permanently whenever the user has deleted their account.
Facebook does not have diverse array of hot new gadgets or a full inventory of software for sale; instead, it has your personal information, and the information of hundreds of millions of others with Facebook accounts.
Facebook can serve ads using highly specific details. For example, an Atlanta woman who posts that she has become engaged might be offered an ad for a wedding photographer on her Facebook page.
However, Facebook’s goal is to get it users to share as much data as possible, because the more Facebook knows about user, the more accurately it can serve relevant advertisement to users.
The only option that user have is that Internet companies should be forced to ask for permission before using user’s personal information and want the ability to opt out of online tracking.
Ethical dilemma in this case study is Facebook monitors its subscribers and then sells the information to advertisers and app developers. 2) What is the relationship of privacy to Facebook business model?
The relation between user’s privacy and Facebook business model is important because Advertising is the mainly revenue of Facebook. 70% of its five million users log in every day and they all between 18 and 24 that advertisers want to collaborate with Facebook to make profits for both.Talking privacy to Facebook is a bit ironic. Facebook’s entire business model is based on aggregation and sharing user information. They give people a free social media platform to use and in turn sell advertising and insights based on what they learn about user. Facebook has massive capabilities to collect, store and analyze data.This allows Facebook to sell much targeted advertising. Therefore, privacy is the Facebook business model. Facebook states its regulations concerning to the rights and responsibilities derive from the Facebook Principles, and govern the relationship with users and others who interact with Facebook.
3) Describe the weaknesses of Facebook’s privacy policies and features. What management, organization and technology factors have contributed to those weaknesses?
The weakness behind Facebook’s privacy issues was a lack of communication between Facebook and its users. Users were not aware that they were able to control what information was being shared with external parties. In the introduction of the “news feed” was met with opposition from users because they felt it was too invasive. Instead of only sharing status updates the news feed shared additional information such as profile updates, adding new friends, and adding new applications. FB incorrectly handling user information when deleting their accounts also caused a backlash for Facebook. Facebook servers would keep user information permanently, with the reasoning that it would be easier for the users to reactivate their accounts if they chose to.
Facebook states its regulations concerning to the rights and responsibilities derive from the Facebook Principles, and govern the relationship with users and others who interact with Facebook. The relevant statements include Privacy Policy, Payment Terms, Platform Policies, Ads Guidelines, Promotion Guidelines, Claims of Intellectual Property Infringement, Claims of Copyright Infringement, etc. All Facebook parties must comply with this policy.
Management: Facebook assumed it had the consent of users to share information about them that it collected through the Beacon advertising service if they did not use the opt-out feature. Facebook changed Beacon to be an “opt-in” service and gave users the ability to disable it completely. The company utterly failed to grasp the extent to which the service violated its users’ privacy as well as the uproar such a service was likely to cause. The same thing occurred when Facebook introduced its News Feed feature.
Organization: The personal information collected on the site represents a mother lode to advertisers, but one that will remain largely untapped if Facebook users do not feel comfortable enough or have sufficient incentive to share it. Users that attempted to delete their accounts were met with resistance and often required outside assistance from watchdog groups.
Technology: Privacy and user controls over the information granted to Facebook are the biggest concerns most users have with the site. Facebook grossly miscalculated user privacy demands when it launched the company’s Beacon advertising service because it shared information about users that they had not explicitly intended or agreed to share. The service originally began as an “opt-out” feature. Even after users opted-out, the service continued to send information to Facebook regardless of whether or not the user was logged into Facebook at the time. The company’s servers maintain copies of information indefinitely in accounts that have been deactivated.
4) Will Facebook be able to have a successful business model without invading privacy? Explain your answer. Are they any measure Facebook could take to make this possible?
Yes, by make active changes to improve users’ privacy. So If Facebook continues to wish to use the information that people post on their accounts a clear distinction must be made to the users about what they are using the information for and what information they will be using in order to reduce the legal risks and solidify the legality of their advertising. Once the Facebook management can do this then a broader, more organized and more successful advertising campaigns can be launched.