FACEBOOK ETHICAL ISSUE
Introduction
Facebook has been involved in several ethical issues in the past few years. Since it collects and saves confidential data relating to millions of users, it is responsible to take care of the privacy and confidentiality of Facebook users. The ethical issue that has been identified in the case of Facebook revolves around the proper protection and safeguarding of user data. The lack of a robust security model can have adverse implications on the users. It can be a major ethical problem for the users as it could reveal deep secrets that are meant to be kept private.
Ethical Issue facing Facebook
Facebook is one of the most popular social media networking sites which is used by millions of users from all around the globe. Due to the large customer base, the business undertaking has access to a lot of information about every user of Facebook (Chaudhuri & Basu, 2018). So it is the responsibility to safeguard the sensitive details and information of the users so that their details will not be revealed to the public or any unauthorized users. Even though Facebook can be termed as the storehouse of information and details relating to the Facebook users, at no point this set of information must be leaded or misused.
The privacy regulations that are implemented by the Facebook organization have gained a lot of attention in the past for all the wrong reasons. The vital ethical issue has been faced by the business as it has failed to place itself in the shoes of its users. The business concern has shared the sensitive data of many users which have given rise to major ethical concerns.
It is the social responsibility of the business concern to safeguard the personal details relating to its customers. But the privacy policies of the concern have been questioned by numerous factions of society. This is because there have been occurrences where sensitive private data of users have been made public (Feltman, 2015). Facebook even makes it easier for online marketers using the social media platform to target the audience to advertise their offerings based on age, gender, race and religion. Facebook has failed to effectively safeguard the details and personal information relating to the users. The privacy policy that has been introduced by the business entity has not been properly implemented. This has in fact, given rising privacy issues that are major ethical challenges that Facebook must resolve urgently (Lunnay et al., 2015).
Recommendations
To effectively protect and safeguard the confidential information of the users, the Facebook organization needs to make relevant changes in its privacy policies. As technology is evolving at a rapid pace, privacy tools need to be upgraded regularly (Matthias, 2016). This approach will minimize the vulnerability of Facebook users on the social media platform. The policies and standards relating to privacy can act as the guiding element which will enable the business entity to focus on the confidentiality model.
Facebook must effectively manage the customer data by not sharing sensitive details to the marketers who use the platform to market their brand. At no point, the social media platform must share sensitive user details with any third party without the knowledge and consent of the customers.
The behavioural information that Facebook has relating to the users must not be stored after a specific timeframe. In case the business undertaking intends to store this data in its database then it must save it in a bulk or aggregate manner.
The customers or users of Facebook must be placed in the central position when any changes are being made to the privacy model of the business. The non-intrusion theory must be implemented so that the personal space of the users would not be invaded in any manner. The theoretical framework would guide the business entity to respect the personal space and privacy of its users.
Such an approach would help Facebook to get an insight into major privacy concerns of the customers. The brand would thus be able to build a robust social media networking site that would be safe for the users. These approaches can be introduced by Facebook so that the existing ethical issues and challenges can be addressed in the best possible manner.
References
Chaudhuri, S. and Basu, A., 2018. Ethical issues in sharing patients’ information on social media. Indian journal of public health, 62(4), p.319.
Feltman, D.M., 2015. Re: delivery room research: when does poor quality evidence become an ethical issue?. Pediatrics, 135(5), pp.e1368-e1369.
Lunnay, B., Borlagdan, J., McNaughton, D. and Ward, P., 2015. Ethical use of social media to facilitate qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research, 25(1), pp.99-109.
Matthias, C., 2016. Ethical questions abroad. Veterinary Record, 179(19), pp.496-496.
Spilioti, T. and Tagg, C., 2017. The Ethics of Online Research Methods in Applied Linguistics: Challenges, opportunities, and directions in ethical decision-making. Applied Linguistics Review, 8(2-3), pp.163-167.
