ITM 102; Case Study “Facebook Privacy: Your Life for Sale” Answered

Case Summary In this case study the well-known social media platform Facebook is surrounded my critics about their privacy policy they have. Facebook users have been complaining about the amount of personal information Facebook has been collecting and giving accurate advertainments for a specific user. Although Facebook has stated that this was stated in terms and conditions that users have agreed to, they may be storing more information than what they have stated. Case Study Question 1 Perform and ethical analysis of Facebook. What is the ethical dilemma presented by this case? Facebook describes itself as a platform that gives people the opportunity to build communities and bring the world closer. But some actions of Facebook that not all users are aware of is that Facebook paints an accurate picture of what your life is like. They do this by using details such as your job information, location, relationship status and other information you may have put into the system. You may wonder why they do this, this is to serve more relevant advertisements to users all over the web. Facebook uses this personal information with and without users consent. Facebooks objective is to collect as much personal information of people’s lives so they can provide more accurate advertising, meaning they can charge higher amounts to companies wanting to advertise their goods or services on the platform. Facebook also permanently stores information even after accounts are deleted. The ethical dilemma presented by this case is that Facebook collects and sells their user’s personal information to advertising companies sometimes without their consent. Critics that have brought this to our attention request that Facebook extends their privacy and protection controls to better protect user’s personal information. Case Study Question 2 What is the relationship of privacy to Facebook’s business model? The relationship between the privacy of users and Facebook’s business model is crucially important since advertisement is Fakebook’s main source of revenue. The value of a business model depends on how much privacy is provided to users. For example, the less privacy provided to users by Facebook, more information is available to be collected to be sold to advertisers. If more privacy was provided, information will be less relevant leaving advertisers uninterested. Facebook provides a free social platform in return for personal information to sell to advertisers. In 2013, Facebook made a rough estimate of a whopping amount of $55 billion in adverting. Case Study Question 3 Describe the weakness of Facebook’s privacy policies and features. What management, organization, and technology factors have contributed to those weaknesses? Facebooks privacy policies and features have poor protection and control. Users information and activities are forwarded to third parties without their consent. Another weakness is Facebook’s privacy protection rules are different in various country making it unfair for users around the world. Management: False assumptions were made by Facebook regarding consent to use personal information for advertisement purposes. This violated the privacy of profile holders Organization: Facebook made deleting profiles unnecessarily difficult often requiring assistance from other parties. Technology: Facebook user’s friends aren’t informed that their data is being collected through the user’s page. Features like these are enabled without consent when profiles are opened leaving users unaware of who can see what. Case Study Question 4 Will Facebook be able to have a successful business model without invading privacy? Explain your answer. Could Facebook take measures to make this possible? In my opinion, I don’t think Facebook will be able to have a successful business model without invading the privacy of profile holders. This is because the platforms main source of revenue comes from using personal information and turning it into data to sell to advertisers. Since advertisement is Facebook’s back bone, it would be greatly difficult to avoid invading user’s privacy. However, there are ways to improve the privacy of users by: