Computer Ethics

Paper Summary:

The paper explores the issue of benign surveillance and the ethics of capturing customer data and analyzing it to find new strategies to get customers to buy more. The paper also discusses the unethical practice of reselling the information captured from Internet-based marketing campaigns. The paper shows how consumers have become increasingly concerned that their data will be sold without their knowledge, leading to identity theft and junk mail. The paper focuses on the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and examines the strategies of consumers to protect their identities.

Outline:
Executive Summary
The Ethics of Analyzing Data Obtained Through Benign Surveillance
The Ethics of Creating Strategies Using Data Derived From Benign Surveillance
An Explicit Requirement for Transparency and Ethical Use of Data
Benign Surveillance and Consumers Rights: Interpretations of the 4th Amendment
Opt-Out Options Needed from Data Collected Through Benign Surveillance

From the Paper:

"The ethical issues of whether benign surveillance is a commentary of a modern high-tech society or a precedent for ethical misconduct and harm to others is discussed in this paper. There are also the considerations of how data captured and stored in data warehouse is used by programmers and management analysts in the devising of selling and loyalty program strategies (Albrechtslund, 63). The ethical considerations of using data warehouses and data marts constructed from data accumulated through benign surveillance requires an entirely different set of standards, practices and processes (Danna & Gandy, p. 374, 5). The ethics of strategies based on data obtained through benign surveillance have conflicting assessments (Ess, p. 220, 221) that highlight the polarity of the use of online data and enterprise-class predictive analytics software applications to ascertain customer segments and understand their preferences."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anders Albrechtslund 2007. Ethics and technology design. Ethics and Information Technology 9, no. 1 (March 1): 63. http://www.proquest.com (accessed April 12, 2008).
• Josh Bernoff, Charlene Li. 2008. Harnessing the Power of the Oh-So-Social Web. MIT Sloan Management Review 49, no. 3 (April 1): 36-42. http://www.proquest.com (accessed April 12, 2008).
• Terrell Ward Bynum 2006. Flourishing Ethics. Ethics and Information Technology 8, no. 4 (November 1): 157-173. http://www.proquest.com (accessed April 20, 2008).
• Terrell Ward Bynum 2001. Computer ethics: Its birth and its future. Ethics and Information Technology 3, no. 2 (January 1): 109. http://www.proquest.com (accessed April 14, 2008).
• Anthony Danna, Oscar H Gandy Jr. 2002. All that glitters is not gold: Digging beneath the surface of data mining. Journal of Business Ethics 1 40, no. 4 (November 1): 373-386. http://www.proquest.com accessed April 10, 2008).

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