Topic 4: The ethical challenges of social media

(Credits: Frissdoteu2)

One of the ethical issue raised by business use of social media is data sharing leading to privacy invasion, without the individual’s consent. According to Gary Chuang (2012), “Barack Obama was doing a Q&A online. Obviously, it wasn’t Obama himself who was answering questions, it was many of his representatives. How can we trust people through social media sites when it is so easy for them to conceal their identity? Further, what a lot of social media users aren’t aware of is that the space they are using is being observed by its creators. ‘Stalking’ individuals in real life and gathering information isn’t welcomed however it’s done every day on social media sites, so why is it acceptable through a cyber platform?”

(Credits: AddToAny)

Data sharing between people or companies is an ethical issue, as it can cause negative impact to an individual. With reference from Justine Sacco’s case, according Jon Ronson (2015), “I was among the first people to alert social media. Within minutes, it was everywhere. Amid the hundreds of congratulatory messages, I received, one stuck out: “Were you a bully at school?” Jon Ronson is an example of someone guilty for data sharing.

(Credits: Fortune.com)

“Cross-agency integrated data systems, meanwhile, go even further. Most are local, operating at the county or city level, often with a university partner playing a key role. Most focus primarily on the “administrative” data held by various government agencies, often with a focus on human-services records. All contain far more sensitive information than what is generally collected by an app, school system, or state education department alone.” Benjamin Herold (2015).

Personally, I feel that data sharing and privacy invasion is a significant ethical issue because there is a grey area to the protection of personal information. Whether is it for educational or business use, the sharing of data between government agencies and between schools is a struggle to protect people’s privacy while making use of the data collected on them.

This video shows Eric McMillen explaining Privacy and Security issue and how avoid being a victim of it as well as things to look out for when we are posting on different social media platforms.